The sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi is cast in bronze as a statue to a height of 8 feet 8 inches. It shows Gandhi in stride, as a leader and man of action evoking memories of his 1930 protest march against salt-tax, and the many padyatras (long marches) he undertook throughout the length and breadth of the Indian sub-continent. The statue is a gift from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) headed by the Vice President of India.

The design of the statue created by Gautam Pal was selected for this memorial after a competition conducted by a high-level Indian Selection Committee for Sculpture. This Committee, headed by Mr. Krishan Kant, Vice President of India, includes B.C. Sanyal, Satish Gujral, Rajmohan Gandhi, Kapila Vatsyayan, and H.V. Sharda Prasad.

The Indian American community has been instrumental in installing several statues of Mahatma Gandhi in different cities of the United States. Prominent among these are Union Square, New York, Martin Luther King, Jr. Center and Martin Luther King, Jr. International Chapel in Atlanta, Mahatma Gandhi Center in Houston, San Francisco Ferry Terminal, International Peace Park, Salt Lake City and Mahatma Gandhi Center, St. Louis.

The Pedestal

The pedestal for the statue of Mahatma Gandhi is a block of new Imperial Red also known as Ruby Red. Granite from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh are world famous, giving India the first rank in the export of granite blocks. This particular block was excavated from a quarry in Ilkal in Karnataka. It was fabricated and dressed in Hosur, Tamil Nadu by Essen Enterprises of Omaha, Nebraska.

The pedestal has been shaped from a block originally weighing 25 tons reduced to a size of 9'x7'x3'4". It now weighs 16 tons.

The block is largely rough hewn and polished in parts to provide suitable surface for the inscriptions. This has been done to provide a natural earth-like surface as base for the statue as befits Gandhi's personality.