Kannada poet-saint Sarvajna’s statue that will be soon moved to Chennai may end the decades-old row with linguistic overtones between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. But the statue currently lies in a state of complete neglect at the Kannada Bhavan in city.
The statue, to be unveiled by chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and his Tamil Nadu counterpart M Karunanidhi in Chennai on August 13, is kept in Kannada Bhavan’s parking lot.
KT Chikkanna, Joint Director of Department of Kannada and Culture, confirmed that the Sarvajna statue that is kept in the parking area of Kannada Bhavan is the same that will be unveiled in Chennai.
However, according to Chikkanna, the statue even though lying in the parking lot, is safe and in good condition.
The reason for keeping the statue in the parking lot was the fact that it is a bare statue, explained a woman employee of Shilpakala Academy.
“It was earlier installed in front of our office. But women staff found it embarrassing to walk before the bare statue and thus it was moved to the parking lot,” she said.
But artists are upset. Mysore-based artist Pramodini Deshpande, whocarved the statue, was shocked to hear about the sorry state of the statue. “I was told that it was to be kept in a godown and so I did not bother much about it, after delivering it,” she said.
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