G20 Summit: 28-foot-tall Nataraj statue, several others installed at venue in Delhi. Details
G20 Summit in Delhi. The statue symbolises Lord Shiva as the 'lord of dance' and his cosmic power of creation and destruction. "We are installing the tallest-ever statue of Nataraja, in the campus of Bharat Mandapam, the venue of the G20 Summit," PTI reported quoting a source.
The Nataraja statue is of 19 tonnes, and made of Ashtadhatu (eight metals): gold, silver, lead, copper, tin, mercury, iron and zinc. The statue was made by the sons of famous sculptor Devasenapati Satapati of Swamimalai district in Tamil Nadu. The height of the statue is 22 feet, and when it is placed on a 6-feet high pedestal - its total height becomes 28 feet.
The statue was made using the ancient lost-wax technique of metal casting. The clay that is used to make the statue is available on a stretch of the Cauvery River that runs through Swamimalai. After allowing the clay to dry, the whole mass is heated.
The melted wax is then filled with molten bronze. The order for the statue was placed by the Union Culture Ministry on February 20. It took six months for the sculptors to complete the work.
The G20 Leaders' Summit will take place on September 9 & 10 at the 'Bharat Mandapam', the newly-built convention and exhibition centre at the Pragati Maidan. On the opening day of the summit, a 'Culture Corridor' envisioned by the Ministry of Culture will also be unveiled at Bharat Mandapam. Manuscripts of the Rig Veda from India, a rare copy of the Magna Carta from the UK and an anamorphic digital image of the Mona Lisa from France, certified original copies of the Charters of Freedom from the US, a fahua lidded jar from China will be among the several artefacts to be exhibited at the 'Culture Corridor'.
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