Dust settles over first century poet8217;s statue

Bangalore, Jan 25: For all its aspirations to being reckoned globally as the City of the Future, Bangalore has yet to let go of its provin...

Bangalore, Jan 25: For all its aspirations to being reckoned globally as the City of the Future, Bangalore has yet to let go of its provincial past. The resurfacing of a decade-old controversy regarding the unveiling of a statue of the first century Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar, who authored the famed Thirukural, in the city by a Tamil organisation, has shown clearly that old habits die hard.

The State Government sponsored a quid pro quo solution. A statue of noted 15th century Kannada poet Sarvagna is to be installed at Chennai the pound of flesh demanded by city Kannada organisations.

The State Government has formalised the move by officially asking the Karnataka Shilpakala Academy last week to have a statue of poet Sarvagna sculpted in bronze. This, after the Chennai City Corporation granted permission to the Chennai-based Kannada Balaga to have the statue installed there at Ayanavaram, after both the Kannada organisation and the Bangalore Tamil Sangam made a representation to this effect.

Though thisparticular storm may have blown over as a result of this mutual gesture between the two cities, the war of the statues has done little to boost the image of India8217;s Silicon Valley.

Confirming the Government move, Academy Registrar N Marishamachar told this paper that Sarvagna8217;s statue was being sculpted at a cost of Rs 7.5 lakh. The work has been entrusted to Mysore-based Studio Prathima.

According to him, it may take 3-4 months for the work on the project to be complete, and the Kannada and Culture Department had asked the Academy to have the statue cleared at every stage of its sculpture by the expert committee appointed for the purpose.

The committee comprises Kannada scholars such as Dr M Chidananda Murthy, Go Ru Channabasappa, Academy president Parameshwarachar, artist R M Hadapad and others, and only after the clay model is cleared will the bronze statue take shape. Ironically, since it is not known how Sarvagna looked, the sculptors too are basing their work on the drawings of various artistsincluding that of Uttangi Chennappa.

Story continues below this ad

The controversy had been out of public memory for almost a decade till the Bangalore Tamil Sangam announced its decision to go ahead with its plans to unveil Thiruvalluvar8217;s statue on Gangadhar Chetty Road, a Tamil-dominated locality in the heart of the City. Kannada organisations were up in arms and insisted that until the statue of Sarvagna was allowed to be installed in Chennai they would not allow the Thiruvalluvar statue to be unveiled here.

Tamil Sangam president D Shanmugavelan denied that the Sangam had any role in the recent controversy, and said that they, in fact, supported the agreement reached with the Kannada organisations in the matter of an exchange of statues.

On the other hand, Kannada Shakti Kendra president Chidananda Murthy warned that they would frustrate any attempt by Tamil organisations to unveil the Thiruvalluvar statue, till Sarvagna8217;s statue came up in Chennai. The statue of the Tamil poet that has already been installed on GangadharaChetty road now stands covered with a cloth. The statue was, in fact, installed in 1991, and has since been hidden from public view following opposition from Kannada outfits who refused to allow the unveiling ceremony.

Chidananda Murthy blamed the Bangalore City Corporation for the 8220;undue haste8221; it showed in clearing the Thiruvalluvar statue proposal in three days, while sitting over applications seeking installations of Kannada poets and writers for months together.