Marina Beach - Triumph of Labour statue

Marina Beach -  Triumph of Labour statue



The Triumph of Labour, also known as the Labour statue, is a statue at the Marina 

Beach, Chennai, .

 Erected at the northern end of the beach at the Anna Square opposite University of 

Madras, it is an important landmark of Chennai. 


The statue shows four men toiling to move a rock, depicting the hard work of the labouring 


class. It bears a semblance to the famed World War II photograph of the raising of the 

flag on Iwo Jima by the American Marines.


 It was sculpted by Debi Prasad Roy Chowdhry. 


The statue is the earliest one to be erected on the beach and is installed close to the site 


where the country's first commemoration of May Day was held. The statue was installed on 


the eve of the Republic Day in 1959, as part of the Kamaraj government's drive to beautify 

the beach.


 The statue remains the focal point of May Day celebrations in the city.

To commemorate the  India's first ever May Day rally , the Labour statue, depicting an 

inspiring posture of a team of labourers engrossed at arduous work, was sculpted by Debi 

Prasad Roy Chowdhry, who was the first Indian principal of the then Government of Madras 

School of Arts and Crafts (what is today the Tamil Nadu Government College of Fine 

Arts) and was erected on 25 January 1959, unveiled by the then Governor of Madras, 

Bishnuram Medhi.

A.P. Srinivasan, a night watchman at the School of Arts and Crafts, was the model for 

second and fourth men from the left while Ramu, a student modeled for the other two men