Arun Yogiraj (born 15 July 1983) is an Indian

sculptor Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

from

Mysuru Mysore ( ), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of Mysore district and Mysore division. As the traditional seat of the Wadiyar dynasty, the city functioned as the capital of the ...

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. He has carved the 30-feet statue of

Subhash Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian independence movement, Indian nationalist whose defiance of British raj, British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with ...

, which was installed in the canopy behind the

Amar Jawan Jyoti Amar Jawan Jyoti (, or light) is an Indian memorial conceptualised and constructed after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and inaugurated on 26 January 1972. It was the national war memorial in India until February 2019, when the new National War ...

at the India Gate in New Delhi ahead of the 125th birth anniversary of

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Fascist Japan left a le ...

. His idol of Ram Lalla, the child form of Hindu god

Rama Rama (; , , ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the seventh and one of the most popular avatars of Vishnu. In Rama-centric Hindu traditions, he is considered the Supreme Being. Also considered as the ideal man (''maryāda' ...

, is also installed at Ayodhya's Ram Temple.

Early Life and Education

Yogiraj was born into a family of traditional sculptors in Mysore, Karnataka. Arun Yogiraj married Vijetha Mohan and they have a daughter and a son. His grandfather was a national awardee honored by the president of India in 1983, and his father was a state award-winning sculptor.Indian Express – Meet Arun Yogiraj
/ref> He studied at JSS Balajagath School in Mysore, then completed his BCom and MBA from the

University of Mysore The University of Mysore is a public state university in Mysore, Karnataka, India. The university was founded during the reign of Maharaja Krishnaraja Wadiyar IV and the premiership of Sir M. Visvesvaraya. The university is recognised by t ...

. Though he briefly worked in the corporate world, he decided in 2008 to return to his roots and pursue sculpting full-time. From the age of 11, he trained in the ancient Indian technique of ''Shilpa Shastra'', which emphasizes precision in sculpting through traditional tools and measurement methods like ''Thadam'' (using rice grains). He crafted his first major sculpture of Ayyappa Swamy in 2005.

Career

Yogiraj’s career was shaped by both tradition and innovation. In 2011, he began focusing on hyper-realistic sculpting, expanding his knowledge by interacting with international sculptors and studying anatomy and structure. A major milestone in his career was the successful sculpting of a 15-foot marble statue of Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar. The statue received praise from the then Chief Minister of Karnataka in 2015, who noted that the sculpture “looked alive.” Yogiraj works primarily in the Mysore style of sculpture, an evolution of the Hoysala architectural method. To date, he has completed over 10,000 sculptures of varying sizes and styles.

Works

Yogiraj's recent works include the statue of Ram Lalla. The 51 inch tall idol has been installed in the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya. His other works include a 12-feet, tall 3-D statue of

Adi Shankaracharya Adi Shankara (8th c. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya (, ), was an Indian Vedic scholar, philosopher and teacher (''acharya'') of Advaita Vedanta. Reliable information on Shankara's actual life is scant, and his true impact lies in hi ...

Kedarnath Kedarnath is a town and Nagar Panchayat in Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand, India, known primarily for the Kedarnath Temple. It is approximately 86.5 kilometres from Rudraprayag, the district headquarters. Kedarnath is the most remote ...

, the 21-feet tall Hanuman statue at Chunchanakatte in Mysore district, 15-feet tall sculpture of Dr. BR Ambedkar, in Mysuru inaugurated by the then chief minister of Karnataka Siddaramaiah in 2018, the white amritashila statue of Swami

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa Ramakrishna (18 February 1836 – 16 August 1886——— —), also called Ramakrishna Paramahansa (; ; ), born Ramakrishna Chattopadhay,M's original Bengali diary page 661, Saturday, 13 February 1886''More About Ramakrishna'' by Swami Prab ...

in Mysore, six-feet monolithic statue of Nandi and a six-feet tall statue of Banashankari Devi. The 14.5-feet tall white amritashila (marble) statue of the

Jayachamarajendra Wodeyar Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar (18 July 1919 – 23 September 1974), sometimes simply Jayachamaraja Wadiyar, was the twenty-fifth and last ruling Maharaja of Mysore, reigning from 1940 to 1950, who later served as the governor of Mysore until 1964 an ...

which was unveiled in 2016, the Raja of Mysore is one of the famous of his works along with the 5-feet bust of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar.

Awards

* Karnataka Rajyotsava award in 2024.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yogiraj, Arun People from Mysore Kannada people Indian male sculptors Artists from Karnataka 1983 births Living people