Forty-four-year-old Rama Shah, a staunch devotee of Lord Ganesha, shows her love for the Elephant God by fashioning his images in clay.
Forty-four-year-old Rama Shah, a staunch devotee of Lord Ganesha, shows her love for the Elephant God by fashioning his images in clay. On Saturday, Sankashti Chaturthi, a blindfolded Shah went about sculpting 108 images of the Lord at the Siddhivinayak Temple in a marathon 12-hour exercise, as huge crowds cheered her on.
Shah, a resident of Sion, is crazy about art. Upto August 1 this year, she sculpted a total of 49,464 Ganesha idols. “When I was a kid, I saw my God in one of my dreams. The next day, I started making Ganesha idols. In fact, I got so passionate that I realised I could sculpt one idol in just four minutes,” she says.
Though Shah sculpted the idols blindfolded on Saturday, no two idols are alike. The contours, colour scheme and postures vary.
“It is tough to make every idol look different, but the Lord of Wisdom has been kind enough to throw up new vistas every time I conceptualise him,” Shah says.
For the artist, sculpting the idols has always been a labour of love. “I don’t make money selling them. I gift them to devotees,” she declares.
Shah’s feat has found its way into the Limca Book of Records and the American Who’s Who magazine. Featured live on AXN, Shah has a record of sorts in her name-sculpting 9999 idols in 99 days. Her exhibitions have won rave reviews.
“Mine is not a publicity stunt. It’s a way of paying obeisance to the Lord,” says Shah, who aims to sculpt 1 lakh idols.
Siddhivinayak temple chief executive officer Hanumant Jagtap is all praise for her. “She is simply brilliant. It takes some skill to produce such variety in such a short period of time,” he says.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}