An exhibition of the idols and paintings of Lord Ganesh was held at ‘Soorya’ Krishnamoorthy’s house on Tuesday on the occasion of Vinayaka Chaturthi. More than 1,500 idols and paintings were on display.
Mr. Krishnamurthy said he started collecting Ganesha idols around two decades ago.
“That was the time when I started getting Ganesha idols as gifts from people. At first, I did not think much about it. Then Uthradom Tirunal Marthanda Varma of the erstwhile Travancore royal family called me to his residence one day.
“He took me inside the puja room and gifted me a Ganesh idol which was worshipped by Swati Tirunal. That incident inspired me to start a collection,” he said. “The idols in my collection are made of various materials, including clay, wood and fibre. None of the two idols look the same. Today, someone gifted me an idol made out of silver wire. The collection also has idols gifted by Nelson Mandela, Yesudas and a group of adivasis from Bihar,” he said.
