Meet Arun Yogiraj, artist who sculpted Adi Shankaracharya’s 12-feet statue set up in Kedarnath

It took nine months of continuous work from Arun Yogiraj, an artist from Mysore, to sculpt the 12-feet 3D statue of Adi Shankaracharya, which was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday at the premises of the Kedarnath Temple in Rudraprayag district. 

“It was my privilege to sculpt the statue of Adi Shankaracharya at Kedarnath. The process started in August 2020 and I was selected to make a sculpture by JSW. Before that, I made a model of two fee,” Yogiraj was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

“It was presented in front of the prime minister in September 2020. There were four-five models brought from all over India. Among those, my model was selected and I got a call to make a 12 feet statue of Adi Shankaracharya,” he added. 

Yogiraj said that a team of seven sculptors worked continuously for nine months around 14-15 hours a day to achieve the aim. 

“The process started in September 2020 and a team of seven worked continuously for nine months, we purchased 80 tons of raw material for sculpting the statue which weighs 28 tons. It was a continuous process and we worked around 14-15 hours a day to execute this beautiful sculpture,” he said. 

Yogiraj said that the sculptors concentrated on a 360 degrees view of the statue and gave importance to structure, posture, gesture, realistic part, traditional aspects, the divinity in the face among the rest of the things.

Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the artist said, "It was one of the happiest moments of my whole carrier that my work will be inaugurated by the Prime Minister. I am very happy that he dedicated the statue to the people of India. It is such an honour and I am thankful to the Prime Minister."

The statue of Adi Guru Shankaracharya, which is made from Chlorite Schist Stone, has been reconstructed after its destruction in the 2013 Uttarakhand floods.

Adi Shankaracharya was born in Kerala. He was an eighth-century Indian mystic and philosopher who consolidated the doctrine of Advaita Vedanta and made a significant contribution in unifying Hinduism by setting up four "mathas" across India.

Uttarakhand holds much significance with respect to Adi Shankaracharya's life as he established one of the four mathas- Jyotir Math here in Chamoli district and also established the idol at Badrinath. He also took samadhi at Kedarnath. 

With inputs from agencies.