Yogiraj’s famed sculptures include a 12-feet tall statue of Adi Shankaracharya in Kedarnath, 21-feet Hanuman statue at Chunchanakatte in Mysuru district, 15-feet Dr BR Ambedkar, white amritashila statue of Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in Mysuru, 14.5-feet white amritashila statue of the then king of Mysore Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar.Yogiraj hails from a family with five generations of famous sculptors in Mysuru. His father Yogiraj is a skilled sculptor and his grandfather Basavanna Shilpi, was patronised by the King of Mysore. Though Yogiraj did his masters in business administration, his aptitude did not lie in boardroom decisions. With a strong penchant for carving and sculpting since early adolescence, he took to full time sculpting after quitting his brief corporate life. Since 2008, he has continued his carving career and there was no looking back.Sculpting Ram Lalla was not an easy task. According to his mother, her son went through a six-month-long vanavasa (exile), away from home, to carve the idol, which would now be venerated for time immemorial.His wife Vijeta recalled the time when he suffered an eye injury during the process. A tiny piece of the stone had injured his cornea and he had to undergo an eye operation. “Today, all his efforts have been paid off, with the idol he carved being installed at the temple,” she said.The selection and consecration of Ram Lalla idol has catapulted the fame of the Mysurean, but he remains rooted on ground. “If people like the idol and are happy, it would be my biggest reward,” said Yogiraj. In Ram Lalla, the legacy of Mysuru endures.
Source link
