The Arunachal Pradesh government has put up a 10-foot-high bronze statue of iconic singer Bhupen Hazarika at Bolung village in the state’s Dibang Valley district, PTI reported on Saturday.

Sculpted by Biren Singh of Guwahati, it will be unveiled in early 2018. “The state government had allocated Rs 30 lakh for the statue in 2015 as a tribute to the legendary singer,” Research Department Director Batem Pertin told PTI. “Bhupen da is more an Arunachalee than an Assamese.”

Bolung village is close to Assam’s Sadiya area where Hazarika lived with his parents. The land where the statue has been erected was donated by the sons of former MLA of the state provisional legislative assembly Gora Pertin.

During his childhood, once Hazarika reportedly spent a couple of days with a family from the Adi tribe in Bolung. “Once Bhupen da had said that he was an Arunachalee because he was breastfed by an Arunachalee mother when he was lost in childhood,” Trade and Commerce Director Tokong Pertin said.