Arun Yogiraj is an Indian sculptor and artist. He has created several major sculptures including the 30 feet statue of Subhash Chandra Bose installed at the India Gate in New Delhi, the 12 feet statue of Adi Shankaracharya at Kedarnath, the white Amritashila statue of Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in Mysore and 15 -Feet high statue of BR Ambedkar in Mysore. On 22 January 2024, his idol ‘Ram Lalla’ was installed in the Ram temple of Ayodhya.
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Wiki/Biography
Arun Yogiraj was born in 1983 (age 40 years; as of 2023) in Mysore, Karnataka. He studied MBA from Mysore University. He has worked as a trainee in the HR department of a private company. In 2008 he resigned from his job and started working as a full-time sculptor.
Physical Appearance
Height (Approx): 5′ 10″
Hair Color: Black
Eye colour: black
Family
He belongs to a family of five generations of sculptors in Mysore, Karnataka.
parents and siblings
His mother’s name is Saraswati. His father BS Yogiraj Shilpi was a sculptor. He was the recipient of several awards including ‘Amarashilpi Jakanachari’ and Rajyotsava Award. He died in 2021, when Arun Yogiraj was working on the statue of Netaji.
Arun Yogiraj with his parents in front of the statue of Adi Shankaracharya
He has an elder brother named Suryaprakash and an elder sister named Chetna. His brother Suryaprakash is also a sculptor.
Arun Yogiraj’s sister
Arun Yogiraj’s brother
wife and children
She is married to Vijeta Mohan. He has a daughter and a son.
Arun Yogiraj’s wife and son
Arun Yogiraj with his daughter
other relatives
His grandfather Basavanna Shilpi was also a famous sculptor. At that time he had the protection of the King of Mysore.
Arun Yogiraj’s grandfather (right) presenting a statue to Jawaharlal Nehru.
sculptors
30 feet statue of Subhash Chandra Bose
Arun Yogiraj has created a 30-foot tall statue of Subhash Chandra Bose, which was installed in a canopy behind the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate in New Delhi. The statue was installed during the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day in 2022 as well as the 125th birth anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose. Yogiraj has used black jade granite stone to carve the idol, which was brought to Delhi from Telangana. It was designed by the National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) under the Union Ministry of Culture. The artist led a team of 48 sculptors from across India to create the 28 feet high (except the pedestal), 10 feet long and 8 feet wide statue of Netaji in 75 days.
Arun Yogiraj (in white shirt) in front of the statue of Subhash Chandra Bose.
12 feet statue of Adi Shankaracharya
In 2021, Arun Yogiraj created a 12 feet tall 3-D statue of Adi Shankaracharya, which is installed in Kedarnath. Adi Shankaracharya was an eighth-century Indian mystic and philosopher born in Kerala, whose samadhi was at Kedarnath. Yogiraj worked for about nine months with his team of seven sculptors to complete the statue. He used chlorite schist stone to make the statue. In an interview he told that he used to work 14-15 hours a day to make the idol. The statue, 12 feet high and weighing 35 tonnes, was built to restore the Samadhi of Adi Shankaracharya, which was washed away in the Kedarnath tragedy in June 2013.
Statue of Adi Shankaracharya by Arun Yogiraj
21 feet high Hanuman statue
Yogiraj has created a 21-feet high Hanuman statue, which has been placed in the Ram temple in Chunchankatte, Mysore. It took the artist 15 months to complete this sculpture made in Hoysala style. The statue was installed on 20 May 2022.
21 feet high Hanuman statue made by Arun Yogiraj
statue of common man
In 2020, he created a life-size statue of “The Common Man”, one of the most popular creations of late cartoonist RK Laxman. This statue, approximately five and a half feet high, was initially made in clay and later molded in fiber. The artist received a commission from the Mysore Railway authorities to create this artwork. It took Yogiraj seven days to complete the clay model and an additional two days to create the fiber version of the idol. The statue was displayed at the Malgudi Museum in Shivamogga, Karnataka. Talking about the statue in an interview, Arun Yogiraj said that he felt an emotional connect with the artwork as both RK Laxman and RK Narayan were from Mysore.
Arun Yogiraj with the statue of ‘The Common Man’
Statue of late king Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar
In 2016, Arun Yogiraj created a statue of the late Raja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, the last ruler of the Mysuru royal family. This statue was installed in Hardinge Circle, Mysore in April 2016. The statue was completed before the marriage of Yaduveer Krishnadutt Chamaraj Wadiyar, the great grandson of the late king Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar. The artist used white marble imported from Austria to create the 10-feet high, 6-feet wide and 4.5-feet long statue. It took about five months for Yogiraj to complete the statue with a team of 9 sculptors.
Statue of Late King Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar by Arun Yogiraj
statue of ramlala
In 2023, Arun Yogiraj’s idol ‘Ram Lalla’ was selected by the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust to be installed in the Ram temple in Ayodhya. In an interview, he revealed that the Trust asked three sculptors to create a 51-inch tall statue of Lord Ram, which should look like the five-year-old statue. He was also provided with a variety of stones from various places like Nepal, Karkala in Uttara Kannada district, HD Kote in Mysore district and Makrana in Rajasthan. He said that he chose Krishna Shila stone from HD quota, which does not react to any liquid. He said he visited some schools to see five-year-old children. He said that it took him two months to conceive the statue and more than 6 months to create the statue.
Statue of Ram Lalla by Arun Yogiraj
Some of his other notable artworks include the white Amritashila statue of Swami Ramakrishna Paramahansa in Mysore, the 15 feet high statue of BR Ambedkar in Mysore, the six feet high monolithic statue of Nandi, the six feet high statue of Banashankari Devi, the bronze statue of Sri. UR Rao installed a 5 feet statue of Lord Garuda in ISRO in Bengaluru and in Mysore.
Statue of Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa by Arun Yogiraj
Awards, Honors, Achievements
- South Zone Young Talented Artist Award by Government of India in 2014
- Nalwadi Award 2020 by Mysore District Administration
- Honorary Membership by Karnataka Crafts Council in 2021
- Shilpa Kaustubha by Sculptor’s Association
- Rajyotsava Award by Mysuru District Authority
- Awarded by the Honorable Chief Minister of Karnataka State
- Awarded by Mysuru District Sports Academy
- Honored by Amarshilpi Jakanacharya Trust
- Honored as “Kayakayogi” by Vistara News Channel in 2022
Arun Yogiraj honored with “Kayakayogi” award
Facts/General Knowledge
- Many famous personalities, including former Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa, congratulated and appreciated him after his statue was selected to be installed in the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
- He has participated in various state and national level sculpture camps.
- In an interview, he revealed that initially his mother was not in favor of his joining the family’s tradition of sculpture but later she accepted it.
- He frequently conducts workshops where he teaches traditional methods of sculpting to his students.
- He carried forward a project received from the Czech Republic to complete the statue of Adi Shankaracharya.
- Apart from India, Yogiraj has received orders for idols from many countries including Netherlands, America, Australia, Sri Lanka, UK and Germany.
- The artist, along with his father, ran a sculpture school called Kashyap Shilpa Kalaniketan in Mysore.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn