The characters of the novel Khasakinte Ithihasam written by master story teller and cartoonist O V Vijayan is coming back to life as they are being carved by four renowned sculptors. The sculptures, which will be installed on the welcome arch leading to Thazrak village in Kodumbu panchayat is all set to bring out the magical realism of the novel. The work began on May 16.
“We have completed the work on 34 images and three palm trees. Another 15 images need to be recreated but there was a shortage of granite stones. The stones are brought from a granite quarry in Koonathara near Shoranur. Minute carvings are possible only on good stones. But due to monsoon, the quarry is filled with water. Therefore, we may stop the work temporarily and resume it later,” said sculptor V K Rajan from Irinjalakkuda. He added that there were only two attendants. The sculptors were doing the carvings themselves. “This is for the first time that the characters of an Indian novelist was being sculpted in the modern era and that too on the popular medium of stone. Earlier, the sculptures were from epics like Mahabharata, Ramayana. We have made some improvisation on some characters like Madhavan Nair after reading the novel who has been shown as partially blind,” said sculptor Johns Mathew of Kozhikode.
“We discuss the nature of the characters among ourselves in the room after work and then conceive the images,” said sculptor Ho chi Minh of Kochi. The images already created included that of the students of the school in which Ravi taught, teachers like Kunhamina, Karavu, Unnipparadi and Kochusuhara among others. The character Abida is shown walking into the wilderness. There were two images of the character Mymoona. The mosque, mice, pandan kuthira, frog and three palms have also been completed, said sculptor Joseph M Varghese from Wayanad. One more palm tree and the characters of Ravi, the protagonist, and the rustic folks of the village like Allapicha Mollaka, Kuppuvachan, Khalliyar and Aliyaar need to be created. The character of Appukilli and that of a young Nizam Ali is under preparation.
“The project will cost `13.50 lakh for the welcome arch and the carving of the characters. The funds will be provided by the district tourism promotion council (DTPC) and the implementing agency is Costford, Thrissur. The caricatures of the characters have been drawn by artist Baiju Dev,“ said DTPC secretary T A Padmakumar. “The work is expected to be completed by September and the agreement with the sculptors is for six months,“ said Costford engineer Achuthan.
“In Thazrak village, we propose to set up an O V Vijayan cultural complex. The Culture Department had sanctioned Rs 70.50 lakh and another Rs 15 lakh has been set aside in the budget. We purchased the ‘Njattupura’ mentioned in the novel for Rs 30 lakh, ‘Arabikulam’ for Rs 3 lakh and 37 cents of land behind the ‘Njattupura’ for Rs 13 lakh. The complex will have a dormitory, reading room and three modern huts,“ said samithi secretary P K Narayanan.
