Eight years after he unveiled the world's tallest statue on this very ground, Prime Minister Narendra Modi returned to Ekta Nagar, Gujarat, on Saturday, 31 October 2026 — this time to visit Vriksh Vatika, the tree garden at the heart of the Statue of Unity tourism complex. Union Culture and Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat shared a live broadcast of the visit on X, drawing attention to one of India's most ambitious domestic tourism destinations.

Ekta Nagar: from a dam colony to a flagship tourism hub

Ekta Nagar — formerly known as Kevadia — was transformed from a modest dam-colony township into a full-scale tourism corridor anchored by the Statue of Unity, the 182-metre iron-clad tribute to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel that PM Modi inaugurated on 31 October 2018. That date — Patel's birth anniversary — has since become a recurring focal point for national commemorations and high-profile visits to the site.

Over the years, the complex has expanded to include a valley of flowers, a jungle safari, a seaplane service, a tent city, and multiple themed gardens — among them Vriksh Vatika, the tree-park garden that features a curated collection of rare and indigenous tree species. The broader Ekta Nagar project is one of the central government's most visible bets on cultural tourism as an economic engine.

The significance of 31 October at Ekta Nagar

PM Modi's visit on this particular date carries deliberate symbolism. 31 October is Rashtriya Ekta Diwas — National Unity Day — observed annually to mark Sardar Patel's birth anniversary, the same occasion on which the Statue of Unity was inaugurated eight years ago. High-profile activity at Ekta Nagar on this day has become a pattern, reinforcing the site's identity as both a tourism draw and a political statement about national integration.

As the minister responsible for both culture and tourism, Shekhawat's decision to broadcast the visit live underscores the government's intent to amplify Ekta Nagar's profile and direct domestic tourist footfall toward Gujarat's western corridor.

Tourism infrastructure and what Vriksh Vatika represents

Vriksh Vatika is part of a broader greening and landscaping push within the Ekta Nagar complex, designed to add ecological depth to what began primarily as a monumental site. Gardens of this kind serve a dual purpose: they extend visitor dwell-time and position the destination in the nature-tourism segment alongside the monument-tourism draw of the Statue of Unity.

India's domestic tourism sector has seen significant post-pandemic recovery, and sites like Ekta Nagar — built with substantial central government investment — are positioned as proof-of-concept for the 'transformative tourism' model the Ministry of Culture and Tourism has been championing.

With Rashtriya Ekta Diwas once again anchoring a high-profile visit, Ekta Nagar is firmly back in the national conversation — and the government clearly wants every Indian to notice.