MYSURU: The Department of Archaeology, Museums and Heritage has decided to take up the restoration of the Nandi Statue atop Chamundi Hills. Noted sculptor Arun Yogiraj from Mysuru, whose Adi Shankaracharya statue was installed at the Hindu pilgrim centre Kedarnath, had visited the hills and held an inspection of the monolithic statue for restoration.
The monolithic statue of Nandi had developed cracks and it was noticed by N S Rangaraju, member of the expert committee for the development and protection of Mysuru heritage region by the state government, during his visit to the hill around two years back.
Later, Rangaraju prepared a report on the cracks and submitted it to the district administration for action to protect the iconic statue. The cracks were found near the thigh and on the lips of the statue.
A few years back, the archeological department had cleaned the statue using high-power water jets and chemicals to clear the oil and other deposits that had accumulated on the statue. It was believed that the stone structure was rubbed with coconut oil to prevent it from cracking.
The cleaning of the Nandi statue was done after an archeological expert from Madurai had come to visit the Nandi statue. Based on their suggestions, authorities took up the cleaning of the statue. The cleaning of the statue was done in October 2017.
As abhishekas and pujas were performed for many years and due to the heat of the sunlight, the statue had turned black. Meanwhile, for the past few years, various organisations have also started performing mastakabhisheka to the statue every year.