Artist Radha Mallappa has created a room-size model of the Taj Mahal, using sea shells.
It is one of two recent attractions at her home-museum, the other being a Shiva temple. She created the two using more than 20 varieties of sea shell.
The museum, Kalasri Bhandar, houses 200 works of art. The 51-year-old artist is a native of Hullahalli in Nanjangud taluk. Well versed in Ayurveda, she has treated 24,000 people for joint pain, wheezing, piles and skin ailments for over a decade and a half. She sings sugama sangeeta, popularising the poetry of contemporary Kannada poets.
Inspired by the Taj, the marble mausoleum in Agra, she decided to build a model at her house in Mysore. She had visited Agra to receive the Bharat Jyoti Award from the National Integration and Economic Council eight years ago.
When she began thinking how she could recreate architectural marvels such as the Taj Mahal, she hit upon the idea of using sea shells.
For her raw material, she then visited the coastal cities of Rameshwaram, Kanyakumari and Chennai, and bought more than 20 varieties of shells. She imported some shells from abroad.
Her Taj Mahal measures 10 ft by 10 ft and is displayed on the second floor of her house. It took her eight years to complete the model.She worked alone, sometimes more than 12 hours a day, to craft the Taj Mahal. “I used 22 varieties of shells, weighing 260 kg, besides gum and a plywood sheet for the base,” Radha told Express. The Shivalaya, measuring 11.5 ft by 9 ft, took her seven years to craft. For this model, she used 20 varieties of shells, weighing 226 kg.
Radha did not use any paint or colour, but both her works shimmer in subtle hues. She spent `12 lakh on the shells.
“I create for my satisfaction. I feel I have given birth to a child after completing a work,” she says.
Her husband Mallappa, a businessman, and mother Susheela encourage her passion for craft. She plans to begin work on a model of the towering St Philomena’s Church in Mysore.
Radha’s new works can be viewed by art lovers immediately after a formal inauguration, scheduled soon. Her house is located at No 25, KSRTC Colony, Hanumantha Nagar.
Radha has received prestigious honours, such as the Kittur Rani Chennamma, Aryabhata, Amoghavarsha, and Sir M Visvevaraya awards.