The Andhra Pradesh government led by Chief Minister and TDP president Chandrababu Naidu has decided to develop an iconic garden featuring 182 metre high statue of legendary Telugu actor and former CM of united Andhra Pradesh, Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, in the heartland of capital city Amaravati. The garden will be named NTR Smirtivanam and will serve as a befitting tribute to Telugu pride, culture, history and literature. It will showcase the rich heritage of Telugu land and aims to instill self-respect and confidence among people.

During a review meeting at his camp office on Saturday, Chandrababu directed officials to undertake the developmental activities pertaining to this garden. He also examined the specimens of the statues to be erected at the Smirtivanam. Naidu also instructed officials to include Telugu traditions, language, art, literature and ancient history in the project design. Besides featuring NTR, the garden will also display statues of freedom fighters and cultural icons like Alluri Sitaramaraju, Potti Sriramulu and other eminent personalities and also elements depicting the evolution of Telugu language and script.

As works on Amaravati started gaining momentum, Chief Minister ordered to speed up the design of NTR Smirtivanam during this review meeting. He also exhorted officials to develop Neerukonda reservoir and come up with other attractions that draw huge number of tourists akin to that of Statue of Unity in Gujarat. He also reviewed the proposed designs for iconic bridge across the Krishna River to connect Amaravati.