Shishya recreates guru’s magic at Ganesh Galli

This year, the idol will be sculpted by renowned artist Vijay Khatu, in a tribute to his teacher, Dinanath Veling, who rendered iconic status to the mandal in '77

Shishya recreates guru's magic at Ganesh Galli

This year, the idol will be sculpted by renowned artist Vijay Khatu, in a tribute to his teacher, Dinanath Veling, who rendered iconic status to the mandal in '77

It seems the five-kg gold necklace with a Rs 1.25-crore price tag that is to adorn the idol at Ganesh Galli mandal, will have to relinquish its status as centerpiece. Instead, the focus will be on the idol itself.

Grand Designs: This is the first time that sculptor Vijay Khatu will be
crafting an idol for the Ganesh Galli mandal. Pics/Ashish Rane, Atul Sangani

For the first time, world-renowned sculptor Vijay Khatu is crafting the idol, to recreate the magical era of 1977, when his guru Dinanath Veling made a spectacular icon for the mandal, which set the standard for idols across the city.

For Khatu, it is a way of paying homage to his teacher, replicating his work where the idol was sitting on a lotus flower. Veling was the sculptor who had made Ganesh Galli famous with his imaginative imagery.
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Khatu started chiseling away at the idol about a month ago in the makeshift tent where the deity is worshipped for 11 days. Standing 24-and-a-half feet tall, it will be housed in a pandal themed on the Mallikarjun temple of Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh, one of the 12 jyotirlinga temples of Lord Shiva, who, according to Hindu mythology, is Ganesha's father.

The secretary of the mandal, Swapnil Parab, said, "It was Dinanath Veling and his artwork that brought fame to our mandal. So we asked his student, Vijay Khatu, to recreate his magic in order to remind the city that it was he who started the trend of making tall idols. Luckily for us, Khatu agreed. This is the first year that he is making an idol for us."

Said Khatu, "It is an honour that an 84-year-old mandal thinks I am capable enough of attempting something that Veling Sir had done years ago. He is the one who taught me all the sculpturing techniques and it is because of his blessings that I am here and everyone knows me. It is the proudest moment of my life as an artist."

He continued, "I started work a month ago and just thought about how Sir would work and started doing the same. The idol is one of the most treasured that I have made so far, being the replica of the artwork of someone I looked up to in my early days."u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0