Berhampur: Artist Arun Kumar Sahu from Odisha’s Ganjam district has made a book on Hanuman Chalisa and a portrait of Lord Ram on carved wood for “Pran Pratistha” in Ram temple at Ayodhya.
Arun of Kanteikoli village under Hinjili block in the district with the assistance of 30 artisans has been engaged in wood carving for the last one month. The book measuring 8×12 inches contains seven pages along with a portrait of Lord Ram of 12×15 inches. He has also made a board of 5 feet and 7 inches in height, 30 inches in width containing the Hanuman Chalisa.
“We are planning to transport these artifacts to Ayodhya by train. If time permits, I will make another large size portrait of Sri Ram,” said Arun.
The Hindi letters used in the Hanuman Chalisa board and book have been carved from wasted ‘Gambhari’ wooden pieces and pasted on teak wood base. The size of each letter in the board has been fixed on 1 square inch with a 5-cm embossing.
“At a time when the entire country is in the grip of Lord Ram’s devotion, we will be very happy if a large size board, a book of Hanuman Chalisa and a portrait of Sri Ram adorn Ramlala temple in Ayodhya,” said Arun.
Arun learnt the skills of carpentry from his father Bhaskar Sahu 15 years ago. He dropped out of Science College in Hinjilicut when he was studying Plus Three and joined his father to help him in running the family business. It was under his guidance that Arun learnt how to make the wood carvings and artifacts from waste woods.
During the nationwide lockdown for COVID in 2020, Arun had made a lot of wooden works. Earlier, he had also made sculptures of the Taj Mahal, India Gate, Gateway of India and Eiffel Tower.
