Modi takes a hovercraft to lay foundation stone for Rs 3,600 crore Shivaji memorial in Mumbai

MUMBAI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday travelled in an Indian Coast Guard hovercraft to perform a symbolic 'jal-pooja' for the proposed Rs 3,600 crore memorial of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

The 'Shiv Smarak' is coming up in the Arabian Sea, around 1.5 km from Mumbai shoreline opposite Marine Drive.

Descendents of the great Maratha warrior, Udayan Raje Bhosale and Sambhaji Raje Bhosale were also present along with other dignitaries, as the large ICG hovercraft set off from the Girgaum Chowpatty on Saturday afternoon.



The massive scale in which the ceremony was conducted BJPare part of a concerted effort to pacify the Maratha community. The community, which has Shivaji as its icon, has held protest marches across the state to demand reservations.

"Previous governments only made announcements, but we are fulfilling the dream of every person in the state. All the required permissions have been received, and the first phase of the project will be completed by 2019," said Vinod Tawde, minister for culture who is overseeing arrangements for Saturday's event.

#ShivSmarak will be an engineering marvel & would create visual motivational impact and to make this iconic structure as knowledge centre. pic.twitter.com/QwV40NQ3GH

— Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) December 24, 2016

That day , the entire city will be decked up so that it resembles the culture and grandeur of the Maratha kingdom. For this, the state has roped in Bollywood set designer Nitin Chandrakant Desai.