Ayodhya to Assam and Arabian Sea, 98-year-old master sculptor who gives shape to iconic statues
(This story originally appeared in on Jan 21, 2024)
Designed and cast at a workshop in Noida, a 30ft tall bronze statue of Jatayu now has pride of place on an elevation – Kuber Tila – at the Ram Janmbhoomi complex in Ayodhya.
It’s the latest from Ram Vanji Sutar, the nonagenarian sculptor who is just two short of 100 and doesn’t like to take a break. Nor does he have time for one.
He has another job to do in Ayodhya – a 251-metre tall statue of Ram that will come up on the banks of the Saryu. Once installed, the statue will become the tallest in the world. At 182 metres, the Statue of Unity in Gujarat holds that record now. That, too, was designed by Sutar and his son Anil.
For the Jatayu statue, commissioned by the temple trust, Ram Sutar and Anil had offered two options — one depicting the mythical bird in attack mode and the other a flying posture.
“The temple trust liked the flying mode,” says Anil (65), who manages the sprawling workshop in Sector 63. “For the Ram statue too, we had put forward three designs, among them Ram in exile and as the king of Ayodhya. The authorities chose the latter.”
Building landmarks
The Sutar workshop is no less than a museum with life-size statues of kings, prime ministers, presidents and mythical characters sharing space inside thick walls that completely cut off the cacophony of the road right next.
So, what goes into the making of a statue? “A lot of thought,” says Anil. “For instance, if it’s a warrior, we must design the dress and armour in keeping with the associated history. The same thought, for example, cannot go into the making of a Chhatrapati Shivaji statue and that of Mahatma Gandhi. The one installed in Parliament has a meditative mood,” he adds.
It's equally
