Hussainsagar Statue Count Reaches 43 With Additions Along Tank Bund and Necklace Road

The number of statues installed around the Hussainsagar lake, Tank Bund, and Necklace Road in Hyderabad has reached 43 following a series of new memorials erected across key waterfront stretches and city junctions.

The newest addition to Tank Bund is the statue of Sarvai Papanna, also known as Papadu, a historical figure revered by the Backward Classes community. Sculptor Karunakar Vudayar executed the 3.5-tonne brass statue using a CNC machine, depicting Papadu riding a horse with a spear at the ready. Vudayar noted that the process of transforming the concept from a two-dimensional photograph into the towering brass figure took one-and-a-half months.

Historian Richard Eaton, who has written about Papadu, described him as bearing comparison to England's Robin Hood for seizing caravans from wealthy merchants and distributing gains among lower segments of society, operating in an anti-class manner regardless of religious or political status.

The installation is part of a broader series of statues recently unveiled across the area. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy previously unveiled a statue of Telangana Thalli in the forecourt of the Secretariat. On May 29, 2026, he inaugurated a statue of former chief minister and film star N.T. Rama Rao at a junction in Ameerpet. On August 14, the Chief Minister unveiled a statue honoring reformist couple Savitribai and Jyotiba Phule at the beginning of the Khairatabad flyover on Necklace Road, placing it within sight of statues of B.R. Ambedkar and former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and P.V. Narasimha Rao.

The landscape around Hussainsagar contrasts sharply with earlier decades. Prior to 1989, no statues stood near the lake. The proliferation began when then Chief Minister N.T. Rama Rao installed 33 statues of notable personalities along Tank Bund to promote Telugu pride. While several of those original statues were damaged during the separate Telangana movement, recent additions such as the Ambedkar, Phule, and Papadu memorials have expanded the area's scope.

The area has also evolved into a major tourist hub, with buses frequently stopping near the Ambedkar statue for visitors, while others take boats into the lake to visit the statue of Gautam Buddha.