Three months of light, culture, and national memory begin today at the foot of the world's tallest statue. Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel on Saturday, 17 October 2026, flagged off the 'Ekta Prakash Parv 2026' at the Statue of Unity in Kevadia, Gujarat — a festival designed to celebrate the unity of India through the twin legacies of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat' vision.

In his post, CM Patel wrote that 'Lohpurush Sardar Saheb' (the Iron Man, Sardar Saheb) carried the mantra of unity, and that PM Modi is now advancing it through the 'One India, Best India' concept. The festival, he said, is a celebration of that same power and light of unity. The Parv will remain open to the public for the next three months — an unusually long window designed to maximise reach across the country.

What Ekta Prakash Parv promises visitors

CM Patel's post carries a direct invitation: 'Do visit.' The pitch is specific — every Indian citizen who comes to Kevadia will experience, in his words, the culture of their own community and the heritage of their state. That framing makes the festival more than a light show; it positions the Statue of Unity site as a living exhibit of India's diversity, anchored at its most potent symbol of integration.

The three-month run takes the festival well into January 2027, covering a period that includes several major national occasions. State-specific cultural showcases, performances, and immersive heritage experiences are expected to draw domestic tourists from across India.

Sardar Patel's iron legacy, Modi's living framework

The Statue of Unity, inaugurated by PM Modi on 31 October 2018 — Sardar Patel's birth anniversary — stands at 182 metres in Kevadia, making it the tallest statue in the world. It was conceived explicitly as a monument to national integration, commemorating the man who stitched together over 500 princely states into a single Indian Union after independence in 1947.

The Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat scheme, launched by the Centre in 2015, built a structural policy layer onto Patel's legacy — pairing states and union territories to exchange culture, language, and tradition. Ekta Prakash Parv extends that logic spatially, pulling citizens from across those paired states into a single, shared geography.

A three-month open invitation from Kevadia

The extended duration of the festival is itself a statement. Rather than a one-day commemoration, the Gujarat government is offering a sustained public engagement — one that invites families, school groups, and tourists across the full winter travel season. Visitor turnout and whether individual states bring specific cultural delegations to Kevadia will be the real measure of how widely the message lands.

From the Iron Man's unfinished riverbank to a prime-time three-month festival of light — Kevadia is asking the rest of India to come and see itself.