Wadiyar statue set to be installed in Mysuru

Shilpa P. | NT

City - based noted sculptor Arun Yogiraj’s eight-feet tall statue of the king of Mysuru dynasty Sri Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar will be installed in front of the Lalitha Mahal Palace here, to mark the Palace’s centenary year.

Arun has carved the statue in a monolithic ‘Krishna shile’ stone. It has a five-feet tall pedestal and three-feet tall bust of Krishnaraja Wadiyar.

Arun said he took ten hours daily for three months to complete the statue. He sculpted the statue based on a picture of the king. The tourism department approached him in October 2021 to prepare the statue.

A fifth generation sculptor, Arun has sculpted 1,000 statues since 2008, including the Sri Adi Shankaracharya statue unveiled by PM Modi at Kedarnath recently. The 38-year-old had quit his corporate job in 2008 to nurture his talent, which he has inherited from his late father B S Yogiraj Shilpi.