Former Chief Minister Arjun Munda today unveiled the statue of ancient tribal Raja Madra(or Mandra)Munda in Pithoria,Ranchi.

This is his first statue in Jharkhand.”We are here to salute the king who ruled vast parts of Chotanagpur in ancient times”,said former CM.

The statue nearly seven feet heigh and weighing nearly 700 kgs stands on the foothills of Sutiyambe hill in Pithoria,8 km from Ranchi.

Records show that Madra Munda ruled over an area encompassing “Banta,Hazam,Kharsawan,Badin,Ramgarh,Changulia,Gola,Palani,Tori,Mankedi and Barwe…Near Sutiyambe he had set up a Surya Mandir whose remanants are still scattered there”,states BP Kesri in his book :Chotanagpur Ka Itihas:Kuch Sutra,Kuch Sandarbh,1979.

Munda was the last tribal chieftain(‘Manki’ read chieftain) of this ‘Chotanagpur’ who anointed a non tribal Phani Mukut Rai,whose father Pundrik Nag hailed from Banaras,in 86 A.D,asserts Kesri in the same book.

Rai’s predecessors ruled the area till the British subjugated them in nineteenth century.