Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao inaugurated the ‘Telangana Martyrs’ Memorial‘ on Thurszday, 22 June — the concluding day of the 21-day decennial celebrations of the state’s Formation Day.
The ₹177.5-crore Martyr’s Memorial is claimed as the “world’s largest” seamless stainless-steel structure.After paying tributes to the martyrs around 7 pm and unveiling the memorial afterwards, KCR and other ministers watched a documentary about the Telangana movement at the audio-visual hall inside the structure.
He also lit the golden-coloured memorial flame — Amara Jyoti — standing at the top of the edifice.
The dignitaries and the crowds at the event also paid homage to the martyrs of the statehood movement by lighting candles.
A drone show also took place with drone-mapping.
Several artists, poets, intellectuals, and journalists involved in the movement for a separate state attended the inauguration.
Slogans such as of “Jai Telangana”, “Johar Martyrs” and “Jai KCR” were raised.
On the occasion, CM KCR said that the monument, constructed on the banks of Hussainsagar, will keep alive the flame of the ‘Telangana agitation’ and ‘Telangana spirit’ forever.
He also emphasised the importance of the memorial’s location, as it was from here (Jala Drushyam) in 2001 that Chandrashekar Rao had launched the TRS to embark on a struggle for statehood.
“Jala Drushyam was the residence of veteran freedom fighter Konda Laxman Bapuji.He allowed us to use his residence as the TRS office.After TRS won a good number of seats in zilla parishad and mandal parishad elections in Telangana in 2001, the then government of undivided AP took over the building, threw away all our belongings and razed the building in our absence.
I decided to build the Telangana Martyrs Memorial at the same place, where the Telangana agitation was humiliated,” Rao said.
The Chief Minister said that the flame atop the structure will continue to glow and reflect the spirit of those who had fought for statehood.“It will stand not just as a memorial for their sacrifices, but also an inspiration to the future generations,” he said.
Rao said that the Hussainsagar has become a landmark for Hyderabad, with its grandiose new Secretariat, 125-ft Ambedkar Statue, Buddha Statue and now, the Telangana Martyrs Memorial.
