Bhubaneswar, Jan 23: Eminent Odia sculptor Adwaita Gadanayak will carve the statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bosewhich is to be installed at the India Gate under the grand canopy.

Gadanayak, the Director-General of the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) under the Ministry of Culture will carve the statue with a blending of traditional culture and CNC sculpting. The eminent sculptor is known for creating larger than life sculptures both in India and abroad and has worked with black granite all through his long career.

Born and brought up in Neulapoi village of Dhenkanal district, Gadanayak pursued his art education from BK College of Arts and Crafts and completed his masters degree from College of Art in New Delhi. One of his milestones in Indian traditional art is the ‘Dandi March’, which has been  installed at Rajghat, New Delhi.

After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement in this connection  on Friday, Gadanayak said that Netaji’s statue will be 28-feet-high and would be carved in jet black granite.

The NGMA had earlier sent a six-feet-high model of Netaji’s sculpture to the Prime Minister who approved it.

“Netaji was a very strong character, we thought of granite as a medium to sculpt his statue because it is an extremely hard stone which can display fine arts very legibly”, said Gadanayak to the media personnel.

Besides, “We associate the energy of black colour with deities like Goddess Mahakali and Lord Krishna. Hence, jet black granite was a perfect choice for Netaji’s statue and we are happy that the Prime Minister liked it,” said the sculptor who created the National Police Memorial in New Delhi in 2018.However, the perfect stone is very rare”, he added.

Gadanayak will be collaborating with granite artisans of Karnataka. A total of 25 to 30 sculptors would be selected by the Ministry of Culture for the work that will begin soon at New Delhi. The statue will be completed within the next eight months and installed at India Gate on August 15 this year marking the 75th Independence Day, he said.