Various aspects of the Jnanpith award winner late Kota Shivaram Karanth’s personality and also some of his works have come alive at a fortnight-long camp being held at the Dr. Kota Shivaram Karanth Theme Park here since September 10.
As many as 10 senior sculptors and 10 junior sculptors from across the State are participating in the camp organised by the Department of Kannada and Culture, the Karnataka Shilpakala Academy, the Kotathattu Gram Panchayat and Dr. Shivaram Karanth Foundation.
The sculptors have made use of various material such as cement, clay, lime, fibre, iron mesh, jelly and brick pieces in creating the sculptures. One of the striking cement sculptures is that of a character ‘Choma’ from Karanth’s novel ‘Chomana Dudi’ striking a drum.
The six-feet tall statue has been created by Kumar Babu Ghasti with junior sculptor, Bheemappa Patali, helping him. “Instead of a ‘dudi’, a ‘dolu’ drum has been used here in the sculpture,” said Virupaksha Badiger, member-convener of the academy.
Another sculptor, Nityananda J.K., has sculpted the cover of the book ‘Mookajiya Kanasugalu’ which brought Karanth the coveted Jnanpith Award. He has sculpted the portrait of Karanth on the cement sculpture. On the right hand side, he has made a provision for water to flow.
“I made provision for water flow to portray the continuous creative literary thought process of Karanth,” he said.
Karanth’s love for the art form of Yakshagana too has been brought forth in the form of three sculptures — the six-feet tall mythical character of ‘Jatayu’ and life-size statues of a Badaguthittu artiste and Tenkuthittu artiste, which are attractive and eye-catching.
Sunil Poojari, sculptor from Bidar, who sculpted the Badaguthittu artiste, said that it was a new concept for him. “I had to read books on Yakshagana and watch a few Yakshagana shows to get an understanding of Yakshagana. I had to change the face and costumes of the statue many a time,” he said.
To help sculpt ‘Jatayu’, the principal of the Yakshagana Kendra, Udupi, Bannanje Sanjeeva Suvarna, himself donned the costume and a photograph of his was taken to help the sculptors.
Besides, the artists have sculpted the statues of all eight Jnanpith award winners of the State, including Da. Ra. Bendre, U.R. Ananthamurthy and Chandrashekhar Kambar. They are also sculpting sculptures of Karanth talking to children and holding a camera.
Kota Srinivas Poojary, MLC, instrumental in organising the camp, said that the addition of these sculptures at the park would make it more attractive to the people. “We want the younger generations to understand the multi-faceted personality of Karanth,” he said.
