GUWAHATI, Oct 5 - City-based conservation body Heritage Conservation Society of Assam (HeCSA) is making an endeavour to mobilise public opinion for mounting pressure on the Kamrup (Metro) district administration for restoration of the original bronze colour of the Ramkinkar Baij-built Mahatma Gandhi statue atop the Sarania Hillock here. The iconic statue has been provided a coat of silver enamel colour by the Kamrup (M) district administration.
Talking to this newspaper, HeCSA secretary Jayanta Sarma said that their organisation has also drafted a memorandum on the issue and within a day or two it would be submitted to the Kamrup (Metro) Deputy Commissioner.
Sarma said that it has been learnt from renowned sculptor Janak Jhankar Narzary that the statue originally had a light green colour applied to its deep brown colour, with the application of acidic chemical through the patina process, to give it a transparent metallic effect enriching its bronze colour. This gave the statue the required vibrancy with an organic look.
The sculptor of the statue was Ramkinkar Baij, father of modern Indian sculpture, who created it in the early part of the 1970s in bronze. It is the bronze replica of the original statue of the Mahatma sculpted by Baij in cement at the Santiniketan Visva Bharati University in West Bengal.
The artist fraternity here considers the application of silver enamel colour on the statue as an insult to Baij, the legendary sculptor. This has also damaged the aesthetic value of this piece of art work of the renowned sculptor. To keep its artistic worth intact, the original colour of the sculpture should be restored to it instantaneously, Sarma said.
He said while restoring the original colour of the statue, the authorities should involve experts like sculptor Janak Jhankar Narzary, artists Benu Mishra, Nani Barpujari and Principal of the Govt College of Art and Craft Jabeen Ghosh Dastidar.
