Lingipur: Aditya Narayan Temple
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Status of construction-work
As in 2021
Minati Singha, August 23, 2021: The Times of India
From: Minati Singha, August 23, 2021: The Times of India
Odisha sculptor’s grandson building a ‘second Konark’
The sound of chisels chipping away at stones has dimmed but not faded away. In this workshop in Lingipur, on the outskirts of Bhubaneshwar, 68-year-old Antaryami Mangaraj is carving out a giant wheel at a brisk pace. He has a dream to chase. He wants to make up for the lost time during the lockdown and complete his guruji’s mission.
Smitesh Mohapatra too is chasing the same dream. He has taken it upon himself to complete a mission that his grandfather, eminent sculptor and Rajya Sabha MP Raghunath Mohapatra, had embarked upon before Covid snuffed his life out in May this year —to build a replica of the Sun Temple in Konark. He named it the Aditya Narayan (another name of the sun) Temple.
Mohapatra, who passed away at the age of 78, had conceived the idea in 2013, pained by the damage to the 13th century temple over the centuries. Since then, till he succumbed to the virus, he acquired 100-acre land near Puri, laid the foundation stone and set up the Raghunath Mohapatra Arts and Crafts Foundation that oversees sculpting work and the Aditya Narayan Trust to carry out construction and other necessary work.
The replica will be built 30 km from the original Sun Temple in Konark, between Sakhigopal and Puri, a site chosen by Mohapatra, a Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan awardee whose creations include the six-feet-tall graystone statue of sun god at Central Hall of Parliament and Rajiv Lochan, lotus sculpted on black granite at Rajiv Gandhi samadhi, Vir Bhumi, in Delhi. “The Konark Sun Temple is an architectural marvel but unfortunately, more than 70% of it has been damaged. My grandfather visualised the majestic structure and attempted to recreate it. I will try to complete it,” said Smitesh, a 23-year-old management graduate and a sculptor.
While work on the project slowed down considerably after the pandemic broke, sculptors have already created two wheels and a sidewall. The replica is being built with sandstone and black granite, stones used in the original Sun Temple.
Smitesh, who learnt the skill from Raghunath Mohapatra, is still under the shock of losing his grandfather, his father Josabanto and uncle Prashant within a span of just 12 days. He says while they were the three pillars of the institution working on the project, he now has a big responsibility on his shoulder.
“The second Konark project is an enormous task. As legend goes, 800 years ago, 1,200 sculptors worked for 12 years to complete the temple. Despite advanced technology, we will require a large number of skilled sculptors,” said Smitesh.
While Mohapatra had estimated the cost of building the replica at Rs 300 crore in 2017, Smitesh said the cost would escalate with time. “There are people across the globe who would come forward to donate. The temple would require no help from either Centre or state governments,” he added.
