Lachit Borphukan's statue to be installed by May 2015

The bronze statue of Lachit Borphukan, a commander of the erstwhile Ahom kingdom, will be inaugurated in the middle of the Brahmaputra river here by May 2015, the Assam Assembly was informed today.

"Rs 5.5 crore have already been spent to build the pedestal by Gammon India... By May next year, we hope everything will be completed and we'll inaugurate it for the public," state Industries and Commerce Minister Pradyut Bordoloi said.

Famous sculptor Biren Singha is developing the bronze statue at his studio in the city and it is expected to be ready within the next three months. "The rest of the work like transportation and installation of the statue will be over in the next three months...It is going to be a very big and tall structure," Bordoloi said.

Lachit Borphukan was a commander in the Ahom kingdom and known for his leadership in the 1671 Battle of Saraighat that defeated the Mughal forces under Ramsingh I. Borphukan died about a year later due to illness.