City sculptor carves 12-ft. statue of ‘Adi Shankaracharya’

To be installed in Kedarnath of Uttarakhand

Mysore/Mysuru: The city-based sculptor, Arun Yogiraj has carved a 12-ft. tall statue of Adi Shankaracharya which will be installed at Kedarnath in Uttarakhand soon. Final touches are being given to the statue and it will be transported to Uttarakhand in truck on June 17.

A resident of Agrahara, Yogiraj, and his nine assistants, have been working on this statue for the last seven months. The statue of Shankaracharya will be installed in the proposed ‘Sri Shankaracharya Study Chair and Museum’ in Kedarnath where the Saint’s Samadhi is built.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed this project. The sculptors from across the country were invited to carve the statue and many of them including four from Karnataka had shown interest. However, Yogiraj was selected for this project. The PM was impressed with a two-feet statue of Adi Shankaracharya carved by Yogiraj and directed the authorities concerned to issue him with work order in September 2020. Subsequently, the work was started.

Now, the 12-ft. tall statue of Adi Shankaracharya in sitting posture is ready. A particular variety of Krishna Shile (black stone) has been used to carve this statue as it can withstand the vagaries of nature. The same kind of stone has been used in carving the sculptures in world-famous Belur-Halebidu temples. “We are going along with the statue for its installation,” Yogiraj told SOM.

Corporator B.V. Manjunath and localites Subhash, Gururaj Shenoy, Chandraprakash, Venkatesh, Mahesh and others have congratulated Yogiraj who also has the credit of carving out the statues of Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and others. “Yogiraj has brought laurels to city by carving out the statue of Shankaracharya”,                   said Manjunath.