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Andheri Cha Raja,
Veera Desai Road, Andheri(west),
Mumbai- 400053. It
takes 10 minutes to reach from Andheri Railway Station. |
Contact for suggestions, feedback, experience, and donation. Please email us at
prakash.raskar@yahoo.com |
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| This year, our Mandal will create a replica of the ancient Akshardham temple located at Gandhi Nagar, Gujarat. Like every year replica will be made by world famous, "Taj Mahal" fame, Art Director Mr. Anant Shinde. |
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A specimen of fine craftsmanship, the Akshardham temple in Gandhinagar is one of the largest and most prominent temples in the entire state of Gujarat. Located in Gandhinagar city, the famous Akshardham temple is a place, which consists of a number of things under one roof like art, education, architecture, exhibitions and research. It is truly an architectural masterpiece.
Established in the year 1992, the Akshardham temple was built in the dedication of Lord Swaminarayan. |
| Special Attraction This year Andhericha Raja Utsav Samiti had invited world famous Mr. Manmohan Mahapatra the sand sculpture to create the following replica |
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For the last 34 years, the end-result of all of Manmohan Mahapatra's work has been a curious zero. He has an unfathomable nothing to show for the innumerable sculptures he has created - from sprawling Jain temples to gypsy scenes, from a pair of tablas to Rabindranath Tagore's bust, from apsaras to a replica of Gandhi's birthplace. "I have nothing to show. That's how it should be," says the creative genius.
Mahapatra belongs to a family of temple artists, 'rupokar vishwakarma' , who have for generations been art caretakers of Puri's Jagannath Temple. Surely then Lord Jagannath would have been a more natural choice for his first sculpture? "I don't make Jagannath. Woh tang karta hai (He troubles me). Anyway, who's interested in making family members? I don't make my wife's sculpture either," he says in all seriousness, allowing a peek into both philosophy and dry Oriya humour.
His shilpi gharana, or artist family, is all about tradition and he wanted to make a space for himself, his skill, he says. "I wanted to know what I could do. I didn't want Jagannath to be part of it. What could I, Manmohan, do?" was what drove him. After his first creation, Mahapatra got lost in his work, spending endless hours on the beach, making, breaking, making, breaking. He drifted from his friends but Jagannath was someone he couldn't seem to get rid of. "It was my skill, but he troubled me,"he says |
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