Karnataka is beginning the rollout of 87 Gandhi memorial pillars at locations associated with Mahatma Gandhi’s visits to the state, with the first pillar scheduled to be unveiled at the Government Arts College campus in Bengaluru on October 2. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar will inaugurate the memorial, while Mysuru sculptor Arun Yogiraj, whose institution is producing the pillars, will attend as a special invitee, according to the state Information Department as reported by Prajavani.
The project was conceived as part of the Gandhi Bharat Centenary celebrations organised by the Karnataka government in 2024 to mark 100 years since the 1924 Congress session held in Belagavi under Gandhi’s presidency. The planned memorials are to be installed in Bengaluru, Belagavi, Mysuru, Nanjangud’s Badanavalu, Hassan, Mandya and other places that Gandhi visited in Karnataka.
Production of the pillars is under way in Mysuru and is nearly complete. The work has been assigned to Kashyapa Shilpa Kalaniketana, an institution led by Arun Yogiraj. The memorials are being carved from granite brought from Andhra Pradesh. Their design draws on Hoysala-era architectural elements, including pillars and arches used as decorative framing.
Each structure includes a four-headed lion capital, the Ashoka Chakra and a carved representation of Gandhi seated in meditation. The lower portion carries an image of the charkha. The pillars will also communicate the message of the “seven social sins” associated with Gandhi’s teachings, according to the report.
The planned structure is 10 feet high, 3.25 feet wide and one foot thick. Two feet of the monolithic stone will be set below ground in a cement-concrete foundation, leaving eight feet visible above the surface. The civil works at the memorial sites are being undertaken by the Public Works Department.
Arun Yogiraj told Prajavani that the stone selected for the pillars is expected to last 500 years and require limited maintenance. He said the team had been working on the project for eight months and that the work was almost complete. Advice was also sought from the Lalit Kala Akademi during the design and production process.
The first installation carries a specific historical connection to the Government Arts College campus in Bengaluru. Gandhi visited Bengaluru for the first time with his wife, Kasturba, on May 8, 1915. During that visit, a portrait of Gopal Krishna Gokhale was unveiled at the college auditorium, according to the report.
The state government has allocated ₹5.09 crore for the overall project. Its implementation places the memorials within the state’s public-works system, combining site-level civil construction with a standardised sculptural design intended for multiple locations. The first unveiling on October 2 is the next stated milestone in the rollout.
