Soorya Krishnamoorthy is seated at his favourite spot in his living room when we visit him. “You can often find me here. As you can see, there is an idol of lord Ganesha made of a single piece of wood behind me. I feel as if I am under his protection,” says the cultural activist, whose house is an abode of the elephant-headed deity. There are Ganesha idols, paintings, sculptures and curios everywhere.
While some of the idols at his home at Thycaud were bought during his various travels, most of them are gifts. He says when last counted, he had around 2,000 idols. He started collecting Ganeshas 25 years ago when he received several of them as gifts. “And no two idols I have received are the same. Each adds to the positive energy at home.”
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Ganeshas keep coming to him — the former ISRO scientist received the oldest Ganesha in his collection, a 300-year-old idol as a gift from Uthradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma. He even discovered old idols in his yard while digging his lawn. “My house must be standing on ancient temple ruins,” he says.
And that is why every year, for the last 10 years, ever since he renovated his house to make room for his idols, on Ganesha Chaturthi, he has been throwing open his doors to the public.
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“Anyone regardless of faith can come in and see the collection,” says Soorya. Idols in wood, silver, crystal, brass, bronze, and jute are neatly propped at various parts of the house starting from the entrance, where there’s an idol in stone that weighs nearly three tonnes.
The lawn has a mandapam with a statue of Ganesha in it. “The mandapam was designed by K J Yesudas,” says Soorya. Walls have the deity carved on them. A new addition is a gold and copper mural that depicts the 32 forms of Ganesha. “It was done by police constable Biju Chakkuvarakal,” says Soorya, who adds that he has stopped collecting Ganeshas. “I receive at least three a week as gifts. Even Nelson Mandela gifted me one. I also have a Ganesha in a kimono.”
A series of black-and-white sketches in one of the bedrooms depicts the deity as a musician as he poses with a different musical instrument in each frame. “These were done by Amjad Ali Khan’s son, Ayaan Ali Khan. He barely took five minutes to sketch each painting.”
A wall in his kitchen has idols of the 32 forms of Ganesha in bronze lined up with the names of the various forms.
Space for art
On September 13, Ganesha Chaturthi, Soorya will also be launching his art gallery. “Artists can display their work at the gallery free of charge. I have also built a dormitory for them to stay. That too is free of cost.” Artist Manilal Sabarimala will be displaying his collection of paintings on Ganesha at the gallery on September 13. The highlight of the exhibition, according to Soorya, is an almost 20 feet long canvas with 4,500 images of Ganesha.
His house, Ganesham, Thycaud, is open to the public from 6 am till 12 noon. A Kerala Natanam performance by Greeshma Krishna is at 6.45 pm.