Black jade granite stone brought from Telangana for 30-ft statue to be installed at India Gate in New Delhi

Mysore/Mysuru: It’s official. City-based sculptor Arun Yogiraj will carve the 30-feet statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose which will be installed at India Gate under the grand canopy behind the erstwhile Amar Jawan Jyoti.

It may be recalled here that Star of Mysore had first published a report on Apr. 6, 2022, under the title ‘Will it be ‘Made in Mysuru’ statue of Netaji at India Gate?’ saying that Arun Yogiraj will be given the responsibility of carving the statue.

A work order has been issued to Arun Yogiraj and team. A large black jade granite stone has been selected and brought from Telangana for the statue to Delhi where the work will be done. The team will stay in New Delhi and carve the impressive statue.

The design of the statue has been done by a team from the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) under the Ministry of Culture, headed by its Director-General, Adwaita Gadanayak.

Yogiraj, known for his portrait work will specifically carve the facial features of the statue and the work is scheduled to be completed by Aug. 15, Culture Ministry officials said. Yogiraj had also carved the 12-feet statue of Adi Shankaracharya at Kedarnath, which was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, Yogiraj said that the work order was sent by the Culture Ministry last week and it is a huge responsibility. “Adding artwork to the India Gate is a proud moment for us. My team has already reached New Delhi and I will join them soon and the works will begin from June 3,” he said. The Ministry has made all arrangements for the team’s stay in Delhi, he added.

Ahead of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 125th birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the freedom fighter’s statue will be installed at India Gate to honour his contribution to the independence movement.

The canopy, which was built along with the rest of the grand monument in the 1930s by Sir Edwin Lutyens, once housed a statue of the former King of England George V. The statue was later moved to Coronation Park in Central Delhi in the mid-1960s.

The Prime Minister had earlier given his approval of Yogiraj’s version of the statue when he was presented with a two-foot replica in April this year. PM Modi had tweeted later about the meeting with Yogiraj with a picture of the model.

Apart from building the idol of Adi Shankaracharya installed at Kedarnath, Yogiraj’s other works include the famous 14.5-feet white marble stone sculpture of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar and the life-size white marble sculpture of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, both in Mysuru.