School of sculpture at Konark

A proposal was on Sunday put forward by Union Cabinet ministers for a school of sculpture at Konark which would promote the dying craft of the artisans of the region as depicted on the walls of the Sun Temple.

The proposed school is to be named after Dharmapada, the legendary son of the main artisan of the Sun Temple who is said to have laid down his life for the sake of his fellow workers.

The proposal for the school was mooted by Union petroleum and natural gas minister M Veerappa Moily and fertiliser minister Srikanta Jena with both offering Rs 5 crore each for the purpose from funds belonging to their respective ministries.

The leaders were attending the foundation stone-laying ceremony, sponsored by Indian Oil Foundation (IOF), for a project to develop tourist facilities at Konark.

Amid widespread apprehension over the safety of world famous Sun Temple at Konark, an ambitious Rs 41 crore project was unveiled for peripheral development and beautification around the architectural marvel to attract more tourists.

Laying the foundation stone for the project, Union Petroleum and Natural Gas minister M Veerappa Moily said development of tourist facilities by IOF in collaboration with ASI and National Culture Fund of ministry of Culture would be completed within 18 months by February 2015.

Before Moily’s address to the gathering, Jena had announced that his ministry would sanction Rs 5 crore towards setting up a school of architecture in the name of Dharmapada at Konark.

However, during his speech, Moily amended the proposal put forth by Jena and said that instead of a school of architecture, he favoured a school of sculpture.

Jena urged Odisha government to provide 10 acres of land for setting up the proposed school.

Moily added that renowned sculptor and Padma Vibhushan awardee Raghunath Mohapatra could be the guide for an endeavour to unearth hidden talent in Odisha.

Speaking at the function, Naveen Patnaik said a special conservation plan should be formulated for the golden triangle of Bhubaneswar-Puri-Konark.