Ten months after Chief Minister Jayalalithaa
announced a memorial for Chola King Karikalan, who built the Grand Anicut
(kallanai), the 14-ft statue of the king on his elephant is ready for
installation. The bronze statue weighs between two and three tonnes. The image
for the memorial was provided by the State government, and created by Chennai-based
sculptor Kishore Nagappa.
In January this year, Ms.
Jayalalithaa, while inaugurating a memorial for Colonel John Pennycuick, the
British engineer who built the century-old Mullaperiyar Dam, said a similar
memorial would be created for the ancient Tamil king near the Grand Anicut.
Mr. Nagappa said that, the
bronze statue depicts the king astride an elephant and pointing to the
kallanai. The height of the elephant is 8 ft and the king sitting on it adds
another 6 ft. Mr. Nagappa’s father Jayaram Nagappa created the statues of
Veerama Munivar and former Chief Minister Kamaraj on the Marina, and Swami
Vivekananda at Vivekananda Illam. Mr. Nagappa used ‘sandwich moulding,’ a
process that is normally employed to create larger-than-life statues. First, he
created a clay model and this is transferred to a plaster of Paris mould. Then,
he created a sandwich model by laying wax in between the two layers of moulds.
After allowing the mould to dry, heated it to melt the wax and draw it out.
This process leaves a cavity inside the mould.
Finally, the important
process of pouring the molten bronze into the cavity begins. After allowing it
to cool, the statue is chiselled to perfection. Mr. Nagappa said normally big
statues are made in segments and welded together.
He said, while bronze images
of Gods are solid pieces, statues are made with hollow insides. Handling and
putting up a solid 14-ft statue will be a Himalayan task.
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