Chiselling a lasting legacy

We profile master sculptor and Padma Vibhushan nominee Sudarshan Sahoo whose stunning works have given new meaning to the phrase 'poetry in stone'

Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.’Michelangelo

It was a chance visit to the Jehangir Art Gallery, Mumbai, in December 2018, when I got to meet renowned sculptor Sudarshan Sahoo. On display were some of his remarkable works. As I moved from one piece to the other, what came to mind was the sobriquet ‘Poetry in Stone’. Perfection just got another meaning as I looked at the ‘Sri Rama Pattabhishekam’, the intricate panel with the Konark wheel; the ‘Matsyavatar’ sculpture that had all the Vishnu Dashavataras engraved within... The exhibition coincided with the release of the book ‘Sudarshan Sahoo: A Legacy in Stone’ and it was a pleasure meeting the master along with his wife Annapoorna and his youngest daughter Pushpalata.

It was no surprise to hear the news that he has been nominated this year for the second-highest civilian award of the country — the Padma Vibhushan. I called to congratulate the family and got discussing about the octogenarian’s inspiring journey.

From wrestling to sculpting

Sudarshan Sahoo was born to Dinabandhu Sahoo and Srimati Debi in the coastal town of Puri in Odisha on March 11, 1939, the youngest in a family of six siblings. His father’s death, when he was barely 10, put a constraint on the finances of the family and Sahoo had to drop out of school a year later. Out of school, the young Sahoo stumbled upon a local akhada, a ground where wrestlers trained and fought tournaments. Wrestling fascinated the 11-year-old, and he was soon hooked to it.

However, his uncle Giridhar Sahoo, decided that a wrestling arena was not the right place for the young boy and inducted him into his business of selling kerosene tins. The young Sahoo picked up the trade quickly, but there was a burning desire to do more than the mundane. He joined a local artist by the name of Bhuban Maharana and helped him paint signboards after his day’s work. Bhuban Maharana recognised the spark in the young Sudarshan and asked him to take up art seriously.

Pathuria Sahi, a locality near Puri, is known for its sculpting community, and Sudarshan was intrigued, observing the sculptors chipping away to produce beautiful works of art. The neighbourhood had a legendary sculptor called Kunia Maharana and it was destiny that at the age of 12, Sudarshan Sahoo was accepted by him as his disciple. He also trained under the stalwart, Late Bhubaneswar Mohapatra.

The rest, as they say, is history as Sudarshan Sahoo’s raw talent was moulded just like the beautiful sculptures he went on to create later.

A spectacular journey

It is difficult to outline all of Sudarshan Sahoo’s spectacular works over the last six decades. The beautiful carvings of the Jataka Tales he created at the Dhauli Peace Pagoda in 1971, however, deserve a special mention because they brought him worldwide recognition and appreciation.

Commissioned by the Japanese Buddha Sangha, the Peace Pagoda was built to foster peace and harmony after the atomic bomb explosions at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Japanese Sangha was so impressed that they commissioned Sahoo to execute Buddha reliefs at the Takamori Peace Stupa in Japan and also at Milton Keynes, a town located north of London. Later, the Government of India along with the Japan Buddha Sangha, took Sahoo’s expertise to create yet another Peace Pagoda in the Indraprastha Park, New Delhi.

In 1977, Sudarshan Sahoo established the much-needed Sudarshan Crafts Museum in Puri with the intention of providing a platform for sculptors to display their work in an organised space. He also established a Gurukul in 1991, the Sudarshan Art and Crafts village, in Bhubaneswar, to train other artists. When asked which piece of sculpture is close to his heart, Sahooji says, “Though I have never counted, my team and I have created hundreds of sculptures and each piece is special to me.”

However, the creation of a statue of Lord Parsvanatha has a story of its own. The project, which started in 1999, using black Odisha granite that weighed 150 tonnes, faced many hindrances. When it was finally completed in 2010, the result was remarkable and the idol was installed at the Pushpagiri Jain Temple in Indore.

In the years that passed, Sudarshan Sahoo won several accolades and awards, such as the National Award for Arts and Tradition (1981), the coveted Padma Shri (1988), the Shilpa Guru award (2003) and the prestigious Priya Odia award (2012).

In this journey, Sahoo credits his wife and partner of 57 years, Annapoorna, for her unstinted support. While his sons Rabi and Surya Narayan are sculptors in their own right, the older daughter Poornima has a jewellery line in Bhubaneswar, and Pushpalatha is involved in promoting the rich art forms of Odisha.

Sahoo signs off our conversation by saying, “I am grateful and humbled by this honour that the nation has bestowed upon me. It will go a long way in motivating other sculptors and traditional artists.”