Hardeep Puri slams opposition, emphasises ‘sense of proportion’ on National Emblem above new Parliament building

Jul 13,2022

Housing and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday took a dig at opposition parties over their allegations of “distortion” in the depiction of lions in the National Emblem cast on the roof of the New Parliament Building, saying that the ‘experts’ should know the difference in size with the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka.

He said one needs to appreciate the impact of angle, height and scale when comparing the two structures and if the Sarnath emblem was to be scaled up or the emblem on the new Parliament building is reduced to that size there would not be any difference.
He said that the bronze National Emblem above the new Parliament building was “a perfect replica”.

The minister, who made a series of tweets, shared a pictorial representation of the Emblem with measurement and said that the original placed in Sarnath is at ground level while the new emblem is at a height of 33 meters from the ground.

“If an exact replica of the original were to be placed on the new building, it would barely be visible beyond the peripheral rail. The ‘experts’ should also know that the original placed in Sarnath is at ground level while the new emblem is at a height of 33 meters from the ground,” he said.

The Union Minister said that the original Sarnath Emblem is 1.6 meters high whereas the emblem on the top of the new Parliament building is huge at 6.5 meters height.

“Sense of proportion and perspective. Beauty is famously regarded as lying in the eyes of the beholder. So is the case with calm and anger. The original Sarnath Emblem is 1.6 meters high whereas the emblem on the top of the new Parliament building is huge at 6.5 meters height,” the minister said.

“One needs to appreciate the impact of angle, height and scale when comparing the two structures. If one looks at the Sarnath emblem from below it would look as calm or angry as the one being discussed. If the Sarnath emblem was to be scaled up or the emblem on the new Parliament building is reduced to that size there would not be any difference,” he added.

PM Modi had unveiled the national emblem cast on the roof of the new Parliament building on Monday.

Congress, RJD and Trinamool Congress leaders accused the government of “distorting” the national emblem. The opposition parties also objected to the manner in which the emblem had been unveiled.

Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the Centre should check if the national emblem of Parliament represents “the statue of Great Sarnath” or “is a distorted version of GIR lion”. “Please check it and if it needs, mend the same,” he said in a tweet. He said the unveiling event held on Monday has drawn a flurry of questions “including constitutional propriety, let alone democratic values”.

Trinamool Congress MP Jawahar Sircar said the depiction of Ashokan lions is ” unnecessarily aggressive and disproportionate”. The National Emblem above the New Parliament Building is made of bronze with a total weight of 9500 kg and is 6.5 m in height. It has been cast at the top of the central foyer of the New Parliament Building. A supporting structure of steel weighing around 6,500 kg has been constructed to support the Emblem.

The concept sketch and process of casting of the National Emblem on the roof of the New Parliament Building went through eight different stages of preparation from clay modelling and computer graphics to bronze casting and polishing.