A 27-foot-tall Nataraja statue, believed to be the world's tallest, has been installed at Pragati Maidan's Bharat Mandapam, the venue of the upcoming G20 Summit in New Delhi. The G20 Summit Will be held in the national capital from September 9 to 10
The world's tallest 'ashta-dhatu' (a mix of copper, zinc, lead, tin, silver, gold, mercury and iron) statue is truly one of its kind that has been made using the traditional sculpting technique -- the lost-wax casting method -- of the Chola period, chief sculptor Radhakrishna Sthapati told PTI
The lost-wax casting method (madhuchisht vidhan) is used to make finely detailed single piece sculptures, which means there are no welded parts in the Nataraja statue. Radhakrishna revealed that it took them nearly seven months to complete the statue
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More than 100 artists came together over the course of seven months to complete the statue. It took 3.25 lakh man hours to complete the different processes involved in the lost-wax casting method to create the hollow bronze statue which weighs around 18-20 tonnes
The Nataraja statue is an important symbol of cosmic energy, creativity, and power, and is going to be an attraction at the G20 summit, tweeted the official account of Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA)
The 'Nataraja' statue symbolises Lord Shiva as the 'lord of dance' and his cosmic power of creation, preservation and destruction. The statue was reportedly finished at the cost of approximately Rs 10-12 crore
Sachchidanand Joshi, member secretary, IGNCA, while talking about the symbolism of the Nataraja sculpture, said they have tried to depict the traditional Indian thought process that everything that takes birth has to die and reborn. He added that the Indian thought process has never been linear, but cyclic which has been depicted through the Nataraja sculpture
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said that the magnificent Nataraja statue at Pragati Maidan's Bharat Mandapam stands as a “testament to India's age-old artistry and traditions”
The sculptor comes from a family of temple architects (called sthapati) who have been making statues using traditional techniques for the last 34 generations. 34 generations of Radhakrishnan have been making idols since the Chola Empire period, said IGNCA
Talking about transporting the statue from the small town of Swamimalai in Tamil Nadu to Delhi, Head of Conservation Unit at IGNCA Achal Pandya said it took efforts of artists, civilians and administrative machinery of eight states
"A green corridor was created with two cars in the front and two in the back. We travelled through Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi in three-and-a-half days. In every state, people of the NHAI, district magistrates and police commissioners supported our journey," Pandya told PTI