A maassive talent

KOCHI: It spells pure grandeur. Thirty five-feet tall and weighing five tonnes, this massive sculpture of Sai Baba of Shirdi at Hirisave in Haasan is a riveting piece of art, a work that can extrude admiration and piety in equal measure. Say that to its creator Mahesh Narayanan, he shares an interesting story. “The night we unveiled the sculpture, we had an unexpected visitor. A man, who was passing by, stopped before it to pray. He was so overcome by devotion on seeing the sculpture that he broke down praying before it. We were so moved and felt rewarded for the hard work we put in,” Mahesh says.

For this sculptor from Pattambi, maker of many such works, the humungous work of Shirdi Sai Baba posed a fresh challenge, both logistically and creatively. “Obviously, its huge size was a dare in itself. The location was another challenge, for the sculptor sits on a 20-ft high platform on the mouth of a cave temple at Hirisave, on the Bangalore-Mangalore highway. There is barely a distance of 20 feet from the road. The spot also has high electric line passing over it,” says Mahesh. 

His talent was put on a real test here. “Everybody in Karnataka knows Shirdi Sai Baba. People carry him in their heart and for the same reason, I couldn’t afford to make mistakes,” says Mahesh. After he was contacted by Pragathi Creators managing director Suresh G Nair, Mahesh got to the work, creating a miniature version of the sculptor. “It has to be done with precise calculation. It is a science as much it is an art,” says Mahesh.

He took over three months and was aided in the task by Rakesh Kannan Kothachira, Anil Panthalam, Rahul  Kolkata, Anil Kothachira and Shajikuttan Angadippuram. Though the sculpture has been unveiled, the formal inauguration is yet to happen. 

An alumnus of Silpachitra College of Fine Arts in Pattambi, Mahesh began as a painter before embarking on sculpting.  His first attempt, a little artwork made of cement, helped him realise his penchant for the art. 

Soon, works began to pour in and Mahesh shed the identity of a painter to turn sculptor.  
His works include 18-ft high sculpture ‘Maramuthashi’ in Hampi and the Nataraja at Shilhaandara Resort, Ramanagara. His work also finds a space at Infosys Campus, Pune. 
Besides concrete, Mahesh also works on the Plaster of Paris, clay and paper.