HONNAVAR (UTTARA KANNADA): After Ganapathi Hegde’s Ram Lalla statue was shortlisted, it is now the turn of another youth sculptor Vinayak Gouda Kekkara, whose work will be installed in Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir during the Prana Prathishtana on January 22.
Uttara Kannada is known for its unique Ganapathi statues, where many of them have a history going back a thousand years. Accordingly, a sculptor from Honnavar was entrusted to carve a Ganapathi idol to be placed in the Ram Temple. It will be one of the deities to be carved and placed in the temple, which will be inaugurated shortly.
Born in a family of modest means, Kekkara did not have much schooling and began working in a tea shop. However, he had a passion for art and painted during his free time. Later, he learnt sculpting for 18 months, and after this course, trained under well-known sculptors Suresh Gudigar and Ashok Gudigar and created various works using different media.
“I got an opportunity to carve a Ganapathi statue at Ayodhya, with the help of Hubballi-based Ravindra Achar, and it was completed recently. I did not expect this honour. This temple is a culmination of all the Indian art forms,” he said.
According to Kekkara, the temple has about 160 pillars on the first floor, which consists of Simha Dwara, Rangamantapa, and other dwaras. “We were entrusted the Rangamantapa, where we were supposed to carve 68 Ganapathis in various designs and forms. Five artists from Karnataka -- myself, Keerthi from Chitradurga, and Rajesh from Shivamogga carved four Ganapathis, Ramesh Gadag and Nagamurthy Gadag worked under Ravindra Achar, who used to draw pictures and we carved them. I carved two idols, while the other two carved two. Ramesh and Nagamurthy carved the temple designs,” he told TNIE.