When Rama Went To Ayodhya From Karnataka For The Bhumi Pujan

When the land of Rama was seeing a resurgence of Dharma, the land of Hanuman also made its presence felt as a 3-foot-tall wooden sculpted statue of Kodandarama was gifted by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Images of this idol were circulated along with those of a larger replica, crediting a wood sculptor from Karnataka for it. And as mystical as it sounds the maker goes by the name of Ramamurthy.

Ramamurthy Achar is the creator of this idol in teak wood. A fifth generation wood sculptor, Achar is based in Kengeri in Bengaluru and made this idol on the request of the Uttar Pradesh administration.

Having received a call from the Director of Ayodhya Research Centre, Achar made the statue which has had his phone ringing ever since the mention of the same from the dias at the historic event.

The idol left Bengaluru on 1 August and was made as a replica of his earlier 7.5 foot work which had bagged him the President's award. That was purchased by the UP Ministry of Culture's Ayodhya Research Centre in 2019.

Since then, they have placed repeat requests for similar ones. "I had delivered two other murthis and they had placed an order for two more of the same size (3 foot). When I started working on the third idol, they called and informed that the date for the bhoomi pujan had been set and that this would be for that occasion. It was a very joyous moment," says Achar.

All the idols have been sculpted out of teak wood but the 'detailing in design and the polish has been made to enhance its look and grandeur, hence the feel of rosewood', explains Achar.