BENGALURU: One of World War II’s most iconic images — Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima — is being replicated in Bengaluru. The Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph by Joe Rosenthal is one of the most recognised visuals exemplifying US victory in the war.
Now, a new park coming up at Deve Gowda Petrol Bunk Junction (officially Kittur Rani Chennamma Circle) in Padmanabhanagar, has a larger-than-life replica depicting four soldiers hoisting a flag — on the lines of United States Marine Corps War Memorial at Arlington, Virginia. Only the finishing touches and painting works are pending at the city park. While the original image is of six American soldiers hoisting the star-spangled US flag atop Mount Suribachi, the Bengaluru version will showcase the Indian tricolour. Even the soldiers are suitably modified to look more Indian.
The idea for a park, which is to be named after the late Chief of Defence Staff Bipin Rawat, came from revenue minister R Ashoka, who happens to be the local MLA. It is being constructed on 1 acre and 5 guntas of land recovered from illegal encroachment.
Mahantesh Buranpur, BBMP executive engineer (projects-south), said the project was approved four months ago and will be completed in the next 10 days. “This park is the brainchild of minister Ashoka. He helped us retrieve and take possession of the encroached land and decided to get a park built there,” he said.
The park has a walking area of 300m, 30 granite benches, a gazebo, and a dedicated area for senior citizens with gym equipment. The total cost is Rs 2 crore, with Rs 15 lakh being spent by the horticulture department.
A park at this place wasn’t the only proposal. BBMP officials said senior JD(S) leaders mooted construction of an old-age home on the recovered land, but the government turned down the idea.
The BBMP executive engineer, however, said the decision to build a park was a unanimous one. “On retrieving the land, we had a public consultation, wherein everybody proposed a park. It was only after the sad demise of General Bipin Rawat that the name of the park was decided,” said Buranpur.
On who suggested the idea of replicating the famous US war image, Buranpur said it was a private contractor and a close aide of Ashoka; sculptor Manju Mahesh was roped in to design it.
The 1945 photograph was replicated as a sculpture at the United States Marine Corps War Memorial in 1954, dedicated to all US soldiers who fought for America since the 18th century.
Mahesh and his team took two months to complete the concrete sculpture. “We are a team of eight who worked relentlessly for eight hours over two months to finish this setup. The armature work took most of our time, followed by drying of concrete,” he said.
Though the move to reclaim the encroached land and convert it into a park has been largely appreciated, one question being raised is: “Why are we doing a replica of a US war memorial with an Indian flag, instead of coming up with something original?”
