KOTHAPETA: Noted sculptor Devagupthapu Rajkumar Udayar’s house in Kothapeta village in Konaseema region in East Godavari district was a beehive of activity. Admirers of former Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy made a beeline to the house of the sculptor to place orders for YSR’s statues.
The sculptor is making an eight-feet wax model statue of late Y S Rajasekhara Reddy that is to be installed at Idupulapaya in Kadapa district on September 13. The statue, which is in the finishing stage will be white in colour keeping in mind the departed leaders partiality to the colour and will wear a smile on the face.
The sculptor said that he is taking precautions to make the statue look life-like.
Speaking to ‘Express’, the sculptor Rajkumar Udayar said that, when he visited Idupulapaya on the request of the former Chief Minister recently, YSR asked him to prepare the statue of his parents for installation at Idupulapaya. Expressing concern over the sudden demise of YSR, the sculptor said that it was a great loss to their community, as YSR encouraged sculptors. The gates to the sculptor’s are locked because of the rush of followers of YSR pouring in to get statues of YSR made. He said that he got orders for bronze statues from twelve districts in the state. He said that around 150 orders were received so far from different parts of the state. It takes around six months to prepare eight bronze statues and a sculptor cannot compromise on quality, he added.
Rajkumar Udayar’s father Srinadha Ratna Silpi Udayar is a noted sculptor too and prepared the statues installed on tank bund in Hyderabad. The sculptor, recipient of several awards, prepared statues of N T Rama Rao and Alluri Sitarama Raju to be installed on the premises of Parliament House, New Delhi. The idols sculpted by him have also found place in several temples in the country and abroad. The sculptor who has prepared nearly 2,000 statues said that he would take all precautions to prepare the bronze statues of YSR in different postures by studying the mannerisms of YSR.
The sculptor aims to develop a museum of statues made by him in Rajahmundry to bring awareness about the art of sculpting among youngsters.