NTR's statue in Krishna avatar to adorn Khammam lake

Hyderabad: A statue of N.T. Rama Rao, the former Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh and legendary actor, is being installed in Telangana's Khammam town.

According to officials, the statue at Lakaram lake will add as a tourist attraction on Tank Bund, developed on the lines of one in Hyderabad.

The TDP founder's statue is being stalled with the initiative of Telangana's Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar, who comes from Khammam district.

He took to Twitter on Saturday to thank the state government for granting permission.

According to officials, work is on to make 40-feet tall statue of NTR in an avatar of Lord Krishna. About Rs 3 crore is being spent.

Members of Telugu Association of North America (TANA), some industrialists and businessmen have come forward to make contributions.

They have hired the services of a sculptor from Nizamabad and other artists for the work. The work was on to erect a base on which the statue will be installed.

NTR had played the role of Lord Krishna in mythological movies like 'Mayabazar' (1957), 'Sri Krishna Tulabharam' (1966) and 'Dana Veera Soora Karna' (1977).

The statue was originally scheduled to be unveiled on May 28, the 100th birth anniversary of NTR.

His grandson and famous actor Jr NTR was expected to unveil it. However, the work was delayed.

NTR, who enjoyed the status of a demi god among Telugus for various mythological roles he played, had entered politics by floating TDP on March 29, 1982 on the slogan of Telugu self-respect. He changed the course of politics in the then undivided Andhra Pradesh.

Hailing from Krishna district, he enjoyed immense popularity in all the regions of undivided state. He died 1996 at the age of 72.

Though Telangana was carved out of Andhra Pradesh as a separate state in 2014, NTR is hailed by all parties as one of the greatest leaders.

Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao was also with TDP before he quit the party and floated Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to revive the Telangana movement two decades ago.

On NTR's birth centenary, several Telangana ministers and TRS leaders had paid tributes to him at NTR Ghat near Hussain Sagar lake in Hyderabad.

They demanded the Centre to confer Bharat Ratna, country's highest civilian award, on NTR.