They became Gandhians to create Gandhi

BENGALURU: "To make Gandhi, you have to become Gandhi yourself." This was the experience of seven sculptors from North Karnataka who worked for a year to create a bronze and copper statue of the Mahatma.Artists Mannayya Badiger, Rangaswami, Muralidhar Achar, Surendra K Vishwakarma, Srishaila B Badiger and Varadaraj MN swore by Gandhi during the months they worked on the 11-feet statue that was unveiled on a six-feet pedest al on Friday, Martyrs' Day, at Orion Mall, northwest Bengaluru.
"Gandhi is an inspiring personality. The challenge was to make the statue equally inspiring. We went through thousands of his photographs, watched films and read about him," recalled chief sculptor Mannayya Badiger, 53, from Surpur in Yadgir. The artists first made a 1.5-feet wax statute before creating the real one. "In the process, we inculcated Gandhian values, " Mannayya said.
Twenty-five artisans came together to build the 1,000-kg statue that was unveiled by Gopalkrishna Gandhi, grandson of the Mahatma. 'Not in front of a bar': The installation of the statue on an artificial lakefront in the mall witnessed protests from local activist Shivakumar Hosmani, who said it was placed in front of a bar.
"Opposition to alcohol was core to Gandhi's values," the activist said. "We don't intend to hamper the inaugural event. The mall has been given 15 days to change the place," he told TOI.
Vishal Mirchandani, CEO, retail & commercial, Brigade Enterprises, said serving of liquor has been stopped at the restaurant since Friday. "The statue will be shifted to another location on the same campus withing 15 days. This was just a launch location," he said.