Statue of ripe orange installed at Putalibazaar

By Arjun Kafle,Syangja, July 8: To emphasise its identity as the city of oranges, Syangja's Putalibazaar Municipality has erected a statue of orange in its main market. 

The statue is bright orange in colour and has two green leaves, and stands inside the tower at Sahid Chowk, Putalibazaar–1, on a pedestal 32 metres tall. It weighs 50 kilograms and was made by Nawalparasi's Nar Bahadur BK using different types of metal. According to the municipality, it took three months and cost Rs. 500,000 to make and install the statue.

According to Mayor Tulsi Ram Regmi, the statue was put up to promote oranges, as the identity of the municipality and the entire district is attached to the fruit. Regmi said that the ripe orange placed at Sahid Chowk, which lies on the Siddhartha Highway, will represent Syangja in front of passersby. The district alone produced oranges worth Rs. 1.38 billion last fiscal year.

A statue of King Mahendra used to formerly stand at Sahid Chowk. But it was vandalised after the abolition of the monarchy and had to be removed. In its stead, a tower was built later at a cost of Rs. 3.1 million. 

The previous municipal assembly, where the CPN-UML held a majority, had decided to erect a statue of the communist leader Pushpa Lal Shrestha there but the plan was stopped after the Nepali Congress opposed it.

The present municipality assembly, where Congress has the majority, decided to place an orange statue in the tower.