Pride of Karnataka chiselled to perfection

TNN / Jun 27, 2004, 01:45 IST

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BANGALORE: Starting Sunday, as you enter Ravindra Kalakshetra, poet laureate Kuvempu's gentle countenance might hold your attention, or the erudite Karnad might beckon, maybe a bespectacled DaRa Bendre.

Pride of Karnataka chiselled to perfection

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">BANGALORE: Starting Sunday, as you enter Ravindra Kalakshetra, poet laureate Kuvempu''s gentle countenance might hold your attention, or the erudite Karnad might beckon, maybe a bespectacled DaRa Bendre.For, Jnanpith awardees and Karnataka Ratnas have been marked for posterity in the form of busts on the premises of Ravindra Kalakshetra. These statues, according to Kannada Bhavan officials, serve dual purposes â€” that of commemorating these achievers and also showcasing the talents of the state''s sculptors. As Shilpakala Academy''s registrar N. Marishamachar explains, "A common complaint against the state was that there was a dearth of sculptors. Sculptures of Nehru and others were done outside whereas Bose''s statue was done here at the Chitrakala Parishat. We have lot of portraits but no busts of celebrated people. So this is for the first time such a project has been incorporated." The project was made possible, thanks to a grant of Rs 3 lakh from the state government. The 10 busts of Jnanpith and Karnataka Ratnas is the culmination of a camp organised at Mysore late last year. Each sculptor was given a 10-day deadline. The statue of a middle-aged former chief minister S. Nijalingappa has been sculpted by Veeranna Arkasali, scientist C N R Rao''s has been done by P Nagappa, a lecturer at Chiktrakala Parishat, V K Gokak''s by Deshpande, a sculptor at CAVA, Mysore. </div> </div><div class="section2"><div class="Normal"> Matinee idol Rajkumar''s sculpture has been done by Venkatachalapathy who was an exhibition officer at Visvesvaraya Museum. He reminisces, "The idea was to get their different facets, inner feelings, character into a structure so that when the audience sees it, they must feel all this. I have tried to capture Dr Rajkumar''s determination and kind-hearted nature in this bust." The camp has bode well for the individual artists who received orders from different places for sculpting busts. Like sculptor Shivakumar who got orders from MLA Chandrashekar to make statues of the seven Jnanpith awardees. Jnanpith awardee U R Ananthamurthy though feels that "it is embarrassing to see your own statue" and wishes that seeing these sculptures would inspire people to read the different writers'' works. Of the 10 busts displayed, seven are of the Jnanpith laureates''. These busts are currently on display at Ravindra Kalakshetra and will later be moved to the Information Centre at Kannada Bhavan.</div> </div>

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