An 18-ft idol of Lord Ganesh, weighing 450 tonnes and sculpted in Indian jade and onyx, welcomes visitors at the STONA-2014 exhibition at BIEC on Tumkur Road. “I always make something special for STONA and this year’s gigantic piece on the elephant god is a descriptive in stone that kept me busy for three years,” says national award winner Ramakanta Mahapatra from Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
“We named it Sarvasiddhi Vinayaka as we sculpted nine smaller legends related to Lord Ganesh’s birth around the main statue,” he says. The figures are mind-boggling in their detail. What takes the cake is Ganesha’s plait at the back and the sarpa (snake) fastened to his stomach that looks too real to be true!
“I had to meditate for a few days, draw a sketch, which took three months to complete, and later take the help of some of my students. The pillars, pedestals and the arch took a year to carve.” The piece costs Rs. 75 lakh, he said.
Ramakanta belongs to a family of sculptors who have worked on the temples of Puri-Jagannath and Konarak. “From the age of eight I have been working to create poetry in stone,” says the artist, who won the National Award for Best Artisan in 2005 for an 18-inch ‘Vishwaroopa Darshan’ in yellow onyx.
A statue of Rajinikanth from his latest flick Kochadaiyaan and the 12-ft, five-tonne monolith of Sachin Tendulkar in granite are among the carvings that have left people gaping. “Three craftsmen worked for 45 days on the sports superstar at our Kancheepuram factory, and we plan to present it to Sachin,” said a professional at the R.C. Golden Granites stall.
