Over 100 artisans and craftsmen from various parts of the country worked for over nine months to create the massive national emblem cast.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the 9,500-kg National Emblem atop the new Parliament building in Delhi in a special ceremony that was attended by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Union Housing Minister Hardeep Puri on 12th July, 2022. The emblem is an adaption of the Lion Capital of Ashoka at Sarnath.
During the event, Modi also spoke with the labourers, who have been employed to finish the structure to meet the October-November 2022 deadline.
Over 100 artisans and craftsmen from various parts of the country worked for over nine months to create the massive national emblem cast, officials said.
The emblem, made of bronze, weighs around 9,500 kilograms and is 6.5 metres high. A supporting steel structure weighing around 6,500 kilograms has also been constructed to support the emblem.
The Lion Capital has four lions mounted back to back on a circular abacus.
The conception sketch and casting process of the new grand National Emblem on the roof of the building has undergone eight different stages of trials, from computer graphic/clay modelling to bronze polishing and casting.
The emblem is part of the new Parliament building project. The building, which is the highlight of the government's Central Vista project, is being built by Tata Projects.
The new Parliament building is scheduled for opening later this year during the Winter Session of Parliament. The new structure, triangular in shape will be a four-storey structure with a seating capacity of 1,224, at a cost of Rs 970 crore.
Bimal Patel of HCP Designs, Ahmedabad, is the architect in charge of the building, and according to Patel, the construction is earthquake-resistant.
The new complex has 888 seats in the Lok Sabha chamber and 384 seats in the Rajya Sabha chamber and it was have an open space of 2,000 sq metres for a banyan tree.
Speaker Om Birla said on Monday that the new Parliament building will “most likely be completed in time by October-November 2022”, in time to hold the winter session this year, to coincide with 75th year of India’s independence.
The building is part of the Central Vista Project.
The redevelopment project of the Central Vista -- the power corridor of the country -- envisages a new triangular Parliament building, a Common Central Secretariat and the revamping of the three-km-long Rajpath from the Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate and new residences for the prime minister and the vice president.