Arun Yogiraj (Sculptor)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Arun Yogiraj

• Arun Yogiraj, an Indian artist and sculptor who has created several notable statues like the 30-feet Subhash Chandra Bose at India Gate, the 12-feet Adi Shankaracharya in Kedarnath, the white Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in Mysore, and a 15-feet BR Ambedkar in Mysore. His sculpture, ‘Ram Lalla,’ was installed at Ayodhya’s Ram Temple on 22 January 2024.

• He hails from a family of sculptors who have been working in Mysore for five generations.

• His father, B.S. Yogiraj Shilpi, and grandfather, Basavanna Shilpi, were also well-known sculptors. His father has received various awards including ‘Amarashilpi Jakanachari’ and Rajyothsava awards. He died in 2021 when Arun was engaged in sculpting Netaji’s Statue. His grandfather, Basavanna Shilpi, received patronage from the King of Mysore.

  

• After pursuing an MBA  from Mysore University, he worked as a trainee in the HR department in a private company. He left the job after working there for a few months.

• In 2008, he started pursuing a career in sculpting.

• In an interview, he shared that initially, his mother was against him following the family tradition of sculpting, but she later came to accept his choice.

• Arun Yogiraj created the statue of the last ruler of the Mysuru Royal Family, Late King Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar, in 2016. The statue, measuring 10 feet tall, 6 feet wide, and 4.5 feet long, was made from white marble imported from Austria. It took Yogiraj and his team of nine sculptors nearly five months to finish the statue. It was installed at Hardinge Circle in Mysorein April 2016, before the wedding of the Late King’s great-grandson, Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar.

  

• In 2020, Arun Yogiraj was commissioned by the Mysore railway authorities to create a life-sized statue of “The Common Man,” a most popular character by late cartoonist RK Laxman. Yogiraj first sculpted the statue in clay but later moulded in fibre. In an interview, he revealed that he made the clay model of the statue in seven days and took additional two days to complete the fibre statue.

• The statue of “The Common Man,’ made by Arun Yogiraj has been exhibited at the Malgudi Museum, located in Shivamogga, Karnataka. In an interview, the sculptor expressed a personal connection to the artwork, and said that both RK Laxman and RK Narayan had roots in Mysore.

  

• A 12-feet tall 3-D statue of Adi Shankaracharya, made by Arun Yogiraj has been installed in Kedarnath, Uttarakhand. The samadhi of the Kerala-born eighth-century Indian mystic and philosopher Adi Shankaracharya, located in Kedarnath, was flooded away in the tragedy of June 2013.

• Yogiraj, alongwith seven sculptors, completed the statue of Adi Shankaracharya within nine months by working 14-15 hours a day. The 12-foot-tall and 35-tonne statue was made by using the Chlorite Schist Stone, which which is known for its resilience against rain, sunshine, and harsh climate. The statue was unveiled by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November 2021.

  

• In an interivew, he revealed that to he decided to forgo a project offered to him from the Czech Republic to complete the statue of Adi Shankaracharya.

• He has created a 30-foot tall statue of Subhash Chandra Bose, using black jade granite stone, which was brought from Telangana to Delhi. The statue was designed by the team of National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) under the Union Ministry of Culture. Accompanied by 48 sculptors, Yogiraj completed the 28 ft (excluding pedestal) tall, 10 ft long, and 8 ft wide statue in 75 days.

• The installation of the statue of Subhash Chandra Bose took place in 2022 as part of the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav,’ commemorating the 75th Independence Day and the 125th birth anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose. It was installed  in a canopy behind the Amar Jawan Jyoti at India Gate in New Delhi.

  

• In 2022, the artist sculpted a 21-foot-tall statue of Lord Hanuman. He carved the statue in Hoysala style and dedicated 15 months in creating the monolithic statue. It was installed at the Rama temple at Chunchanakatte in Mysore on 20 May. It was unveiled by the former Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda.

  

• In 2023, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust selected Arun Yogiraj’s sculpture ‘Ram Lalla’ for installation at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. In an interview, the sculptor disclosed that the trust assigned three sculptors to create a 51-inch tall idol of Lord Ram resembling a five-year-old. The sculptors had access to various stones from places like Nepal, Karkala, HD Kote in Mysore district, and Makrana in Rajasthan among which Yogiraj chose Krishna Shila stone from HD Kote, which is known for its non-reactive properties.

• In an interview, Yogiraj revealed that to make the idol ‘Ram Lalla’ he went to some schools to study the features of five-year-old children. He said that he took almost two months to visualize the idol and over six months physically crafting it.

  

• After his idol was chosen for installation at Ayodhya’s Ram Temple, Arun Yogiraj received congratulations and appreciation from various notable figures, including the former Chief Minister of Karnataka, B. S. Yediyurappa.

• He has created several other notable statues including the white amritashila statue of Swami Ramakrishna Paramahamsa in Mysore, a 15-feet tall sculpture of BR Ambedkar in Mysore, six feet tall monolithic statue of Nandi, six feet tall statue of Banashankari Devi, bronze statue of Sri U.R. Rao installed at ISRO, Bangalore, and 5 feet idol of God Garuda in Mysore.

  

• He has been part of several Sculpture Camps at both the State and National levels.

• He frequently hosts workshops where he guides his students in the art of sculpting using traditional techniques.

• In addition to India, Yogiraj has been commissioned for sculptures from countries like the Netherlands, USA, Australia, Sri Lanka, UK, and Germany.

• He used to manage a sculpture school called Kasyap Shilpa Kalanikethana in Mysore with his father.