Ayodhya: An artist, also a devotee of Lord Ram, from Odisha recently presented Hanuman Chalisa engraved on 5.6-ft long wooden plank to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, along with a portrait of his carved on wood.
According to sources, Arun Kumar Sahu of Kanteikoli village under Ganjam’s Hinjilicut block had travelled to Ayodhya with the wooden artwork and requested Ram Mandir Trust to deliver it to the CM. Since Yogi was visiting Ayodhya on Thursday, the trust arranged for a meeting and the former accepted its request to receive the artwork crafted by Arun.
The 35-year-old artist, who owns an institute to train the youngsters, took nearly one month to finish the Hanuman Chalisa wood craft in which 40 verses or ‘dohas’ in Hindi are carved in ‘gambari’ wood and pasted on the wooden frame of two-inch thickness. He has polished it in such a manner that it would last long.
He also presented the CM with a Hanuman Chalisa carved on wood in a book format. The book is of 12-inch length and 10-inch width. The pages of the book are in wood of two-inch thickness.
The CM expressed heartfelt gratitude to the artist for his exceptional work.
“I am very happy to have got an opportunity to meet CM Yogi Adityanath in person. I had made a portrait of his on wood too. I gifted him that. He was happy to see the wooden portrait and praised the artists of Odisha,” said Arun.
Arun had earlier gifted Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik a wood portrait of his during his visit to Hinjili, some months ago.
