Meet the man behind the viral ‘Samudra Manthan’ sculpture at the new Parliament building

Today (May 28), Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the new parliament building to the people of this country. The auspicious day is marked with the installation of historic Sengol inside the parliament and the day also coincides with the 140th birth anniversary of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

Well, the internet is flooded with pictures of Sadhu’s movie ahead of the PM to the Lok Sabha chamber with Modi carrying the Sengol in hand. At least for today, it has become the picture of the day. But with that picture, some other artefacts are also widely in circulation.

Some of them are the depiction of Samudra Manthan, the portrayal of Chanakya, and the huge statues of Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel and Baba Saheb Ambedkar. All of these sculptures have been created by artist and Murtikar Naresh Kumawat.

In an exclusive interview with Organiser on May 28, Kumawat shared his journey in the making of these larger-than-life three-dimensional sculptures.

After attending the inaugural ceremony held in the new Parliament building on May 28, Kumawat spoke to this correspondent on call. Asked how does it feels to be in the new parliament, he said, “It is once in the lifetime achievement. Na Bhuto..Na bhavishyate,”

“We don’t know who made the previous parliament, or how was its inauguration done but we have surely seen this one and all because of Modi Ji. Only he could have done this, I will cherish this moment all my life, as my sculptures are placed in the biggest temple of this country,” he added.

From the beginning he shared, he was contacted by the Sanskriti Mantralaya, almost a year ago and the idea was to connect the future generations with the glorious past of the country. The idea was to build Samudra Manthan resembling Angkor Wat Manthan.

Sharing the making of the iconic Samudra Manthan he said, the process began with measurements. The wall’s dimension was 75 feet by 9 feet and they first draw a sketch of the Manthan on paper of the same dimension. After the details and designs were finalised they made, the sculpture out of clay.

In these structures made out of modelling clay, the metal casting was done. One thing that was kept in mind is that all the faces in the picture are Indian faces, the sculpture should present Indianness.

After the casting as many as 46 pieces were taken to the parliament building and then they were separately assembled over the wall. The weight of the sculpture was 12 tonnes in total. The final structure was prepared in almost eight months.

Kumawat shared he has been working day and night for the past eight months and he feels all his hard work was worth it.

About his other contributions to the parliament building, Kumawat said, “I have carved the faces of  Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel and Baba Saheb Ambedkar on a metal sheet of 20 feet height. The weight of the sculpture was around 6 tonnes,” he added.

He also worked on the Chanakya sculpture installed inside the parliament building. All these sculptures are made out of panchdhatu.

Kumawat who was happy to be a part of the inaugural ceremony says, it is the biggest achievement for an artist to somehow contribute to the glory and culture of his country. He feels very proud and blessed to be one.

Kumawat has been into fine arts and sculpting for generations now. He is the third generation of his family to be in the Murtikala business. He says he has modified the work pattern with technology. At their studio in Manesar, Gurgaon they have a 3-dimensional scanner, routers and software that allows them to prepare real-life statues and sculptures.

Kumawat’s father Matu Ram Kumawat his grandfather and great-grandfather have been in the fine arts work. Kumawat, who did his early schooling from Rajasthan moved to Gujarat to study fine arts and then finally he moved to Calgary, Canada to study sculpting.

Kumawat is a father of two and his daughter is also into fine arts and his son is in school.

Talking with the media on May 27, Kumawat said “Vummidi Bangaru Jeweller made the historical Sengol, the feeling of his creation marking such a historical event is inexpressible, I share the same feeling today”.

“I have made numerous sculptures around the globe all my life but in front of these Samudra Manthan and others, all my work looks small. I will be known for this work from now onwards, this is my identity, the work which I dedicated to my country,” added Kumawat.

Sharing his previous projects Kumawat said, “I make statues of martyrs and for that, I have never charged a single penny. I am an emotional artist and not a commercial. Most recently I made the sculptures of Major Akshay Girish, Manoj Pandy and others”.

Kumawat’s website suggests he has made 127 such big sculptures including the tallest statue befitting the Supreme God, Lord Shiv, in Nathdwara in Rajasthan. This 351-feet tall sculpture with a multistoried museum inside is a marvel of technology and imagination.

He has also made scores of sculptures of Sardar Patel, Gandhiji, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, Nanaji Deshmukh, Swami Vivekanand, and Atalji in his life.