Shankaracharya’s Statue In Kedarnath; Know The Sculptors, Its Long Journey From Mysuru

New Delhi: The story of the making of the 12-feet statue of Adi Shankaracharya unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Kedarnath on Friday is an interesting one.

The statue was given final shape by sculptors Yogiraj Shilpi and his son, Arun, at their workshop in faraway Mysuru, from where it made its journey all the way to Kedarnath.

Work on the statue started in September 2020 and continued for almost a year. In September this year, the statue was taken by road to Chamoli from where it was airlifted to Kedarnath.

Made from Krishna Shila stone, it can withstand rain, sunshine and harsh weather. The statue, weighing about 35 tonnes, was made from a single rock of about 130 tonnes. A lot of coconut water was used to give it its shine. The statue depicts Adi Shankaracharya in a sitting position.

Yogiraj passed away recently. The 37-year-old Arun spent a month at Kedarnath to oversee the installation of the statue.

In the 2013 Uttarakhand floods, Adi Shankaracharya’s samadhi next to the Kedarnath temple was washed away. Shankaracharya’s new statue has been installed just behind the Kedarnath temple as part of its reconstruction project.

Kerala-born Adi Shankaracharya was an 8th-century Indian mystic and philosopher who made significant contribution in unifying Hinduism by setting up four mathas (monastic institutions) across India.