As you enter "Surabhi Hoysala Kalaniketana" at Yelankana new town you can feel the ambience of a Temple and the sculptures displayed can mesmerize you.

These sculptures are done by Manjunath Acharya, who has mastered the art of stone carving and has got a number of awards which includes the State award from the Karnataka Government. He hails from Kolar district where even today his father Shankar Narayana Acharya, a well-known sculptor who has also got a number of awards, including the national award, is continuing this art.

When Manjunath was young he used to spend a lot of time watching his father and grandfather working on these statues and his interest towards this art increased. "One needs to practice very hard to be a master craftsman and when I was 16 years of age I used to spend 15-20 hours a day at work," says Manjunath.

Now he has mastered stone sculpting, wood carving, brass and sheetmetal and is even trying out something unique with fibre moulding. "Fibre moulding can be stronger than stone after completion, as we use fibre, stone powder, rexin and the colour as raw materials which gives a hard finishing".

His work has reached far off places and has been famous in many other countries. At present he is working on a project from REDs, an NGO on Hosur Road.

One can see his works at various temples in India and some houses of well-known celebrities and corporate offices.

Some of his major works done are for ISKCON, Kama Kameshwari temple, Mysore and many more. "I have fixed a Shilabalike statue which stands 5ft tall at the residence of film actor Ambarish and he had liked that a lot," recalls Manjunath.

They work only on orders and the cost varies according to the size and the work involved into it. To see this man's devotion towards the art, one can visit his workshop. Seeing is believing

The Beautiful Radha Krishna statue carved out of stone - Price Rs. 20,000 /- The Bronze statues of Ayyappa, Ganapathy, Krishna Price Rs. 5,000 /- each Nataraja Statue made out of metal - Price Rs.26,000 Radha Krishna Statue carved out of stone Price - Rs. 15,000

Contact for more details:
Manjunatha.S.Acharya
"Surabhi Hoysala Kalanikethana"
154, "Shilpodbhava"
7th Main, Attur Layout,
Attur Post, Yelahanka.
Bangalore - 64
Ph: 2846 1955

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