Young artists sculpt eight-foot sustainable Ganesha using natural materials
Dhauli College of Art and Crafts students have brought an eight-foot eco-friendly sculpture of Lord Ganesha to life at the base of the historic Dhauli Shanti Stupa. Designed strictly along the classical lines of Odisha temple architecture, the devotional piece relies solely on biodegradable components like coarse sackcloth and fibrous twine.
Rooted craftsmanship near Peace Pagoda
Working under the direct guidance of sculpture professor Chandan Kumar Samal, a dedicated group of fifteen student sculptors invested fourteen days of intense labor to shape the towering deity. Principal Dr. Panchanan Samal and senior faculty member Lakshmidhar Swain reviewed the finished piece, praising the team for reviving sacred forms through earth-conscious methods. Dhauli holds centuries of historic reverence as a center of peace and stone masonry, making this location a fitting backdrop for sacred artisanal innovation.
Student sculptors including Debraj Maharana, Vrindavan Panda, Shubham Das, Deepak Kumar Sahu, Sirajdaulla Nayak, Akasha Meher, and Bibhuti Kumar Chinnara handled the structural framework alongside peers Pradatta Vokta, Pritinanda Sahu, Roumya Nishant, Arabinda Patra, Satyajit Nath Sharma, Suraj Bishoi, Suryanshi Mohapatra, Manisha Guru, Vishnupriya Das, Ipsita Ghosh, and Subhasmita Nayak.
Two decades promoting chemical-free festivities
Zero synthetic dyes, shiny plastic spangles, chemical binders, or metallic foils went into this construction. Every surface relies strictly on rough woven burlap, natural fiber rope, and organic adhesives that dissolve without harming local water ecosystems.
This accomplishment marks twenty consecutive years that scholars at the institute have constructed non-polluting festive idols, consistently championing environmental conservation alongside sacred Odishan heritage. Local cultural patrons Basant Pradhan, Prafulla Pradhan, Prabir Dalai, and Vichitra Kandi joined visitors at the campus to inspect the delicate details and celebrate the upcoming creative careers of these young innovators.
