HIS big toe is roughly the height of a basketball hoop.

You’d have to climb 182 meters, or 597 feet, into the sky to reach the top of the Statue of Unity, the world’s tallest statue and a tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, an Indian independence leader who was crucial in uniting a fractured country.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was on hand yesterday — Patel’s birthday, known as National Unity Day — to unveil the mammoth statue, which looks over green hills and the Narmada River in the western state of Gujarat.

For perspective: It’s almost twice the height of the Statue of Liberty, which, including the pedestal, reaches to 305 feet. Without her pedestal, it would take more than five Lady Libertys standing head-to-toe to reach the statue’s head (or four if you count the tip of her torch).

It’s the equivalent of almost two American football fields stacked vertically, minus the end zones.

The statue was designed by Ram V. Sutar, 93, who is among history’s most prolific monumental sculptors. It opened over the objections of local tribal leaders who were upset by the destruction of land for the project and the US$400-million price tag.

But it will not remain the tallest for long. India is planning to open the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Memorial in 2021 on a 15-acre (6-hectare) plot in the Arabian Sea, reaching 212 meters into the sky, or 695 feet.

A wave of statue-building has swept India in recent years. With a few notable exceptions, most of the country’s tallest examples have been built within the last 15 years. The structures are often dedicated to deities or other religious figures from Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Buddha is a popular choice, as is Shiva, the monkey god Hanuman and the 12th-century philosopher Basava. (SD-Agencies)