God created life equal and every life has the same worth as the other. However, inequalities have prevailed in the society dividing people on the basis of caste, creed, rich and poor. This led to many divisions in the society which hindered the progress of the society. There were many reformers who fought these barriers and helping the society realise the true meaning of being a human, and one such reformer was the great saint Shri Ramanujacharya whose statue is erected as the Samata Murti in Telangana.
Right in the 10th century itself, the great saint and devotee of Bhagwan Vishnu out rightly fought against the creeping inequalities in the society. It is Shri Ramunajacharya who mentioned the purpose of gaining knowledge was to treat one another as equal and be helpful to each other in a society. It is this great Alwar who travelled all his life to various parts of our country and spread the awareness of what really our Vedas and Shastras mention. Shri Ramanujacharya was born into a family of Shri Vaishnavas in 1017. A.D. His father was Kesavacharya and mother was Kantimati. Right since childhood, he showed deep interest in the Vaishnavism and became a great devotee of Bhagwan Vishnu.
It was Shri Ramaujacharya who spread the power of the Narayana Mantra by climbing the tower of the temple and shouting it to all the people irrespective of caste, creed, high and low. When his Guru said that the mantra was sacred and Ramanujacharya would go to hell for having shared it to everybody, Ramanujacharya mentioned that when countless people uttering the name of Bhagwan Vishnu would go to heavens, it was insignificant if a single person like himself went to hell. This makes Ramanujacharya’s Guru realise the true meaning of being a human and he bows down to Ramunacharya’s feet and becomes his disciple.
Shri Ramanujacharya travelled all around the country and spread the philosophy of Vishistadvaita and stressed upon the importance of removing inequalities in the society for a better world. Another significant contribution of Ramanucharya was to resurrect many of the temples in South India which suffered the agony of destruction of foreign invaders and revive the worship and rituals in those temples. He was the one who laid down the rules and regulations to be followed in the rituals and ceremonies of the temple according to the Agama Sastras. The divine temple of Tirumala Tirupati till date follows the same rules as set by Shri Ramanujacharya in its daily rituals to the Almighty.
It is as a mark of great respect that the statue of equality has been erected in Mucchintal, a small hamlet in the state of Telangana. The statue of Equality is the second highest sitting statue in the world and is a representation on the great saint’s values and teachings that all are equal in the eyes of Almighty. Marking the thousand year celebration of the great saint, the statue is an epitome of what is the real essence of being born as a human, to live and let live.