Srinagar (Jammu and Kashmir): Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday unveiled the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district near the Line of Control. A senior police officer said that an equestrian statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was installed in 41 Maratha Rifles (Maratha LI) near the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district.
Cultural Affairs Minister Sudhir Mangantiwar and Jammu and Kashmir Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha were also present on the occasion. Sources said that the soil and water were brought for the statue from five forts namely Shivneri, Torna, Rajgarh, Pratapgarh and Raigarh. The statue is ten and a half feet high. The statue was built in collaboration with 'Amhi Ponekar Foundation' and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Smark Samiti.
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The statue was brought to Kupwara last week after covering a distance of about 2200 km. Notably, Shinde met Jammu and Kashmir Lt. Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday after landing in Srinagar. Earlier, on the 350th anniversary of the coronation of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde celebrated Diwali with the troops at LoC Kupwara.
Earlier, two statues of the Marathi ruler were erected by the Maratha Regiment in Jammu and Kashmir in January 2022. One of them was installed at an altitude of 14,800 feet above sea level near the LoC. Ahead of unveiling the statue of the Maratha ruler Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on said it is a matter of pride that a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji was to be unveiled in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district.
