Stop believing WhatsApp forwards, the Shivaji memorial is not a technological marvel

Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation for the Shiv Smarak memorial in the Arabian Sea December 24, Indians are divided over the need for such an expensive statue of Chhatrapati​ Shivaji Maharaj. Not only has the memorial project been facing opposition from fisherfolk and environmentalists, who have alleged it would affect the marine life and ecology of the Arabian Sea, but the whopping Rs 3,600-crore price tag on the monument has raised more than a few eyebrows. So it’s only natural it was designed with an actual purpose in mind, right?

At least, that’s what a forward that’s been doing the rounds on WhatsApp since Saturday seems to claim. According to the unknown writer, the statue is not just being built to memorialise a warrior king, but also doubles as a massive solar panel and sonar device. Here’s the text in full.

“Many are cribbing about the cost of *Shivaji statue*  
What they do not know is, this statue is a masterstroke by our PM Modi which will pay for itself many times over.
The statue is made of Amorphous Silicon, Cadmium Telluride & Copper Indium Gallium Selenide. This is exactly the same material used to make solar cells. Our government consulted with Dr. Immonen Kirsi, Senior Solar Scientist at VTT Research, Finland to develop technology to mould these materials into a statue form. This research took 2.5 years & on December 3rd, Dr. Kirsi sent an email to Modi Sir that it is now ready for mainstream use. The statue has capability to generate enough electricity to power all government offices in Mumbai.
The statue also has Radial Uniform Projection And Ranging(RUPAR) technology to track boats in the Arabian Sea to prevent a repeat of the 2008 Mumbai attack where the terrorists entered India through the sea. RUPAR is the next generation of SONAR technology and has been developed at the Indian Institute of Science.
Congratulations to all Scientists. Please spread this message widely.”

Amazing right? Nope. Not a chance. In case it wasn’t clear enough from the text of the message, this is a hoax, albeit a somewhat well thought out one. And to help us understand, here’s our good friend Google.

Firstly, Amorphous Silicon, Cadmium Telluride and Copper Indium Gallium Selenide ARE all materials used in solar panels, they’re just used for different kinds of them. That means you’ll never see all of them used together in a single panel, no matter the scale. And while a quick search seems to indicate Dr Immonen Kirsi is a real-life Materials Chemistry researcher, his research delves more into manipulating Green materials. Also, there’s no reason for a giant solar panel to be kept secret, especially as it could offset the flak the statue’s been getting.

Secondly, RUPAR is not a thing. RADAR (RAdio Detection And Ranging) and SONAR (SOund Navigation And Ranging) do exist, and are used for detection and navigation purposes, but RUPAR supposedly “projects” and ranges. In no way does that make any sense, and there’s no research with an even remotely similar acronym, so let’s just move on.

Thirdly, and this one's a biggie, all of these messages are at most, three days old. What else is three days old? This post on the r/India subreddit. Here’s a copy of what it says:

To all those who are cribbing about the Shivaji Maharaj statue recently inaugurated in Mumbai.
This is actually a Masterstroke by His Excellency PM Modi Ji,Reformer of the Economy, Defender of Kulcha.
The sword on the statue is actually a Solar Panel which will generate enough electricity to light up the entire city of Mumbai.
The base of the statue (partially residing under the sea) is constructed of special filters which will convert the salty sea water into fresh drinkable water, purer than Ganga water.
The top of the statue will have a unique reciever which will receive signals from the Nano GPS tracker in your Rs.2000 notes in the Mumbai Metropolitan region.
And there is an inbuilt high frequency radar inside the statue which will detect any Pakistani Terrorists trying to enter Mumbai by sea.
Especially if Ajmal Kasab's cousin and his friends try to enter Mumbai, Shivaji Maharaj will himself come out of the statue and kick their ass!!!! (Of course hypersonic super secret missiles, you fool).
This is a Top Secret and was revealed in utmost confidentiality by the same person who let out the secret of the Nano GPS tracking chip in Rs.2000 note.

Even UNESCO doesn't know about it, so no awards yet!

Black Money ----- Check
Terrorism ----- Check
Development ------- Check
Patriotism -------???
Wait, Soldiers are standing at the border and you can't support a Statue standing in sea??
Patriotism ----- Check

/s

Notice that symbol on the bottom, ‘/s’? That’s the Reddit symbol for something that’s satire. Of course, that really shouldn’t even be needed here anyway, especially with the highest-rated comment on this post right below. It seems like one bored Reddit user took the time to rewrite the satire piece into a slightly less overt fashion, and subsequent commenters decided to share it with their families on WhatsApp.

And there you have it, a homegrown hoax; perpetrated not by a trouble-making group, but instead regular Indians who couldn’t be bothered to do some research on a WhatsApp forward. And if you fell for this, you only have yourself to blame. A simple Google search would have shown the original post (as marked by the date to be older than the forwarded messages) on Page 1 of the search results. Remember guys, never believe something on the Internet that you can’t at least somewhat confirm.