Sculptor Arun Yogiraj to carve Netaji's statue to come up at India Gate

New Delhi, June 1:  The statue of Subhas Chandra Bose, which will be installed at India Gate under the grand canopy, will be carved by Mysuru-based sculptor Arun Yogiraj.

In January 2022, ahead of Bose's 125th birth anniversary, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that a grand statue of Bose made of granite will be installed at India Gate.

"At a time when the entire nation is marking the 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, I am glad to share that his grand statue made of granite will be installed at India Gate. This would be a symbol of India's indebtedness to him," Modi had said.

The Prime Minister added, "Till the grand statue of Netaji Bose is completed, his hologram statue would be present at the same place. I will unveil the hologram statue on January 23, which is Netaji's birth anniversary."

On April 5, Modi received a sculpture of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose from Yogiraj.

The Prime Minister had tweeted: "Glad to have met @yogiraj_arun today. Grateful to him for sharing this exceptional sculpture of Netaji Bose."

Sources said Modi has given approval of Yogiraj's design of the statue when he was presented with a two-feet replica in April.

Earlier, Yogiraj has also carved the 12-feet statue of Adi Shankaracharya at Kedarnath, unveiled by the Prime Minister in 2021.

The statue will be installed under the grand canopy behind the erstwhile Amar Jawan Jyoti.

Earlier, the canopy had a statue of King George V, which was removed in 1968.

A large granite stone has been selected and brought from Telangana for the statue to Delhi where the work will be done.

Sources said the design of the statue has been done by a team from the National Gallery of Modern Art under the Culture Ministry, headed by its Director-General Adwaita Gadanayak.

Yogiraj will specifically carve the facial features of the statue when he arrives in the national capital on June 1 and the work is likely to be completed by August 15.