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03/01/24 06:46 AM IST

Arun Yogiraj, one of the three sculptors who made Ram Lalla’s idol for Ayodhya temple

In News
  • With the Ram temple in Ayodhya set to be inagurated recently, Karnataka BJP leaders since January 1 have been congratulating Arun Yogiraj, one of the three sculptors who have made idols of Ram Lalla (Lord Ram in his childhood).
Arun Yogiraj
  • Yogiraj, 38, is counted among the most sought-after sculptors in the country. While he has an MBA degree and even took up a job briefly, he came back to his family profession.
  • I have been assisting my father in sculpting since I was 11.
  • After working elsewhere for a few months, I realised sculpting was my passion. I came home in 2008.
  • While my father supported my decision, my mother wasn’t happy that I quit my job. She finally came around in 2014, when I received South India’s young talent award.
  • His grandfather, B Basavanna Shilpi, was patronised by the kings of Mysore, and had been trained by Shilpi Siddanthi Siddalinga Swami, the royal guru of Mysore palace.
  • Basavanna Shilpi had supplied 64 idols in just 11 months to the Gayatri temple, located on the Mysuru palace premises.
  • Arun Yogiraj has a team of 15 artisans and some students volunteering to learn the art. Besides orders from India, he has received multiple orders from USA, Malaysia and other places.
  • He also has trained many students free of cost. He runs Brahmarshi Kashyapa Shilpakala Shala trust in Mysuru, to train children in clay modelling and other skills.
Famous  work
  • Some of Yogiraj’s works include a 28-feet monolithic black granite stone sculpture of freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose for Delhi’s India Gate; a 12-feet Adi Shankaracharya idol for Kedarnath, Uttarakhand; India’s largest 10-feet monolithic white marble stone sculpture of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Mysuru; and
  • Sculptures of Lord Panchamukhi Ganapathi, Lord MahaVishnu, God Buddha, Nandi, Swami Shivbala Yogi, Swami Shivakumara, and Goddess Banashankari installed at various temples across India.
Ram Lalla Idol
  • Yogiraj said the Trust had told the three sculptors the idol should look like a five-year-old, and be 51 inch (4.25 feet) in length.
  • We were given stones from several places, like Nepal, Karkala in Uttara Kannada district, HD Kote in Mysuru district, and Makrana in Rajasthan.
  • Krishna Shila is a unique stone that does not react to any liquid and has been used in Karnataka for 1,000 years.
  • The other two sculptors who worked on the idol are GL Bhat of Bengaluru and Satyanarayana Pandey of Rajasthan.
  • The Trust will install one of these three idols inside the sanctum, while the other two will be placed within the premises of the temple.
Source- Indian Express

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