BHUBANESWAR: L Eswar Rao, an artist hailing from the city, made a three-and-a-half inch miniature replica of the Statue of Unity inside a bottle using soap on the occasion of the fourth Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Statue of Unity in Gujarat’s Kevadiya on the occasion of Sardar Patel’s 143rd birth anniversary Wednesday. Located in Sadhu Bet Island, Gujarat, the 182-metre long statue occupies over 20,000 square meters, and is surrounded by a 12 square km artificial lake.
This form of art is practised by him for the last 25 years. The unique art form has already earned him plaudits from far and wide. The process includes creation of a miniature art with pencil nib and soap. After its completion, he presents the work in a bottle.
His journey as a miniature artist began in 1999. He gifted a replica of Taj Mahal, which was carved out of a chalk to his teacher. “I have indulged in this art form since I was in Std II. Finally, I gifted this form of art to one of my teachers in college. As a result, my teacher introduced me to the then principal of B K College of Arts,” he said.
Rao has sculptured idols of Lord Ganesha, replicas of the Fifa World Cup, ICC World Cup and portraits of various leaders using things like soap, pencil stones, chalk piece and color crayons among others. Rao, who has crafted more than 500 such works, holds the record for the most number of bottle arts.
After viewing his talents firsthand, his principal recommended that he be enrolled at the State Institute of Handicraft at Gandamunda. He received training in stone carving from 2002 to 2006.
“I started working professionally after my training period. I received many orders for stone carving. It all went well for a while. However, my remuneration started decreasing. No one was ready to pay for my hard work. My family members were quite frustrated as well. They asked me to stop pursuing my dream,” he said.
In 2011, he did not receive even a single order. The end of his passion seemed inevitable. However, he would not throw the towel just yet. He started his own foundation ‘Eswar Art and Craft Social Foundation’. In his organisation, he trains school children for free. He is also continuing with his miniature artwork. The 36-year-old artist has a museum of his own where his personal works are kept on display.