Stone Carving
Odisha
Sudarshan Sahoo was born in 1939 and has been working with the medium of stone and wood for
the past six decades. He was bestowed with the National Award in 1981; the Padma Shri in 1988;
the Shilp Guru Award in 2003; and an Honorary D.Litt in 2011 by the University of Bhubaneswar.
On the invitation of the Buddha Sangha, London, he carved the Jataka Tales in the Buddhist
Pagoda at Milton Keynes. He established the Sudarshan Crafts Museum in 1977, a training-cum-
production centre in Puri. In 1991, he set up the Sudarshan Art and Crafts Village in Bhubaneswar,
which follows the ancient
guru-shishya parampara
.
Some of the finest examples of stone carving in India have evolved
around religion, specifically buddhism, hinduism and jainism. The
stupas at Sanchi in central India; the temples of Ellora, Elephanta,
Khajuraho, Madurai and Mahabalipuram; the Sun Temple at Konark;
and the Jain temples at Mt. Abu have impressive sculptures.
The sculptors follow the principles of the
Shilpa Shastras
, a doctrine
containing guidelines on stone measurements and techniques of
sculpting. Minerals such as black granite, red sandstone, Odisha
green stone,
tenali
stone and green marble are normally used for
stone sculpture; and
gambhari
(beech wood), teak and neem wood
are used for carving wooden statues.
