The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Giving shape to Narasimha Rao' s memory

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 20, 2006
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Giving shape to Narasimha Rao' s memory

M. L. Melly Maitreyi

Six sculptures erected at PV Ghat in remembrance of former Prime Minister

RICH TRIBUTE: Stone sculptures being erected at the P V Ghat in the city on Tuesday. -PHOTO: K. RAMESH BABU

HYDERABAD: The PV Ghat on the Necklace Road, apart from the `samadhi' in memory of late Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao, has added an interesting dimension -- one that gives an insight into the very personality of the late Prime Minister and the characteristics that made him a distinguished leader.

The six sculptures, sculpted by T. Venkateswara Rao as per the concept design given by artist Devulapalli Hanumantha Rao, were erected at the PV Ghat on Tuesday in time for the second death anniversary of P. V. Narasimha Rao falling on Saturday.

Landscaping

Artist Hanumantha Rao said that while he gave 13 designs depicting the characteristics and his unique contribution as Prime Minister, HUDA officials and family members of late Prime Minister selected six.

When it was felt that apart from landscaping at the PV Ghat, something else reflecting the personality of the late Prime Minister should be highlighted, sculptures were decided upon as the ideal medium to express it, he said.

While the sculpture `Mouna Muni' depicts the famous reticence of the late Prime Minister as the `Man of few words', the one with 13 petals stands for the polyglot that P.V.Narasimha Rao was, as he could speak 13 languages. The other striking pieces of art were the one with wings and globe signifying `Father of Indian economic reforms' and another one as `Diplomat par excellence'. The other chiselled pieces depict his intelligence and grasping power and his strategic thinking. Many of the sculptures have hand as a common element. Each sculpture carved out of yellow granite stone, commonly known as Kadapa stone, weighs from 1 to 2.5 tonnes and they took four months for sculptor Venkateswara Rao and his team of 25 helpers to complete. The Rs.3-crore worth project PV Ghat is being developed by BPPA, HUDA as a commemorative park keeping in view the Supreme Court guidelines not to have any concrete constructions and it would be ready by next year.

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