PNS|Hyderabad
The Martyrs’ Memorial Centre which is all set to be unveiled on June 22 is symbolic in many ways.
While Vemula Prashanth Reddy describes it as a place where the martyrs will be remembered every day like the way gods are remembered in temples every day.
“This Centre is not just a stupa where we offer floral tributes on important occasions. It is a memorial with all facilities,” he added.
The reflection of the secretariat is symbolic as the sacrifices of Telangana Martyrs are reflected in this new administration building. Ramana Reddy, the designer of the memorial, says that of the four designs he showed the CM, the CM picked the diya (lamp) shaped one.
“Stainless steel architecture is new. Cost-wise it is expensive and curvature is not generally possible. Engineering wise too it is indeed a challenge. In India, no other person has done this kind of structure. I went to China, Dubai and the US and studied the models there.
The structure is made of 316L shiny mirror-finish steel and was fabricated in Dubai. 500 sheets were used through double bending and micro millimetre bending processes,” Ramana said.
“The flame is made of low carbon structural steel and has a height of 26 metres. It turns golden yellow when illuminated with external warm lighting,” he added.
The memorial centre will be open to the public and will have a cafeteria at the top. The six-floor structure with two floors in the basement and four above can accommodate 400 cars. It is spread on 3.29 acres (13,317 sq.m) with an elliptical diya shape with a major axis length of 54 meters and a minor axis length of 37 meters.
The height of the diya is 26 meters on one side and 18 meters on the other side with a flame structure of 26 meters from the terrace. The overall height of the flame is 45 meters from ground level.
The first floor has a museum, a photo gallery, an audio-visual room with a seating capacity of 70, toilets and an escalator. The second floor has a convention hall with a capacity of 400 to 500 persons, a lobby area and toilets.
The third floor has a restaurant with seating and a pantry area, toilets, a viewpoint and open terrace seating. The mezzanine floor has a restaurant with a glass roof and an overhead tank. The cost of entry has not been decided.
