12 gems of India etched for posterity at a bust-making camp

PALAKKAD

A dozen-odd sculptors wound up their 10-day-long cement bust-making camp at Ahalia Heritage Village at Kanjikode, near here, on Wednesday, leaving behind wonderful busts of 12 people who made a difference for India.

The two-feet cement busts of Shivaji, Gandhi, Netaji, Ambedkar, Patel, Kalam, C.V. Raman, Jamsetji Tata, Homi Bhabha, Vayalar, and Lata Mangeshkar will now join the two-dozen busts resting at the up-and-coming Bust Park at the Ahalia Heritage Village.

“This is the second bust camp we have undertaken. We will definitely have more. In the first camp held in 2017, two dozen busts were made,” said Heritage Village director R.V.K. Varma and camp director Devan Madangarly.

The wheelchair-friendly Bust Park has the busts of 24 great personalities, including Picasso, Raja Ravi Varma, Tagore, Satyajit Ray, Rukmini Devi Arundale, Vivekananda, Ayyankali, Sree Narayana Guru, O.V. Vijayan, Shakespeare, Charlie Chaplin, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Bismillah Khan, Kavalam Narayana Panicker, Sarojini Naidu, Mahesweta Devi and Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar.

The artists were beaming when they posed with their works as the camp concluded on Wednesday. Each of the 12 busts was done carefully not only by the total involvement of the sculptor, but also by bringing out some key characteristic of the celebrity.

Senior sculptor Sanul Kuttan was busy till the last moment of the camp as he made an iron spectacle for B.R. Ambedkar. Graduated from Santiniketan, Sanul said he chose a rare picture of Ambedkar without a coat for his bust.

Sreekumar Unnikrishnan had a red rose behind Nehru’s bust. “Usually Nehru keeps a red rose in his coat pocket. The rose is really inside of Nehru. We will understand it when we study the great leader,” said Sreekumar.