Criticism prompts artist to re-do face of K Karunakaran statue in Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: Amid criticism that the full-size bronze statue of former Kerala Chief Minister K Karunakaran, unveiled by President Pranab Mukherjee here recently, failed to depict the true profile of the late Congress veteran, the artist who made it has decided to re-do the face of the structure. Some Congress leaders, including Karunakaran’s son and party MLA K Muraleedharan, have voiced dissatisfaction at the statue installed in the Kanakakunnu palace grounds in the heart of the state capital. They argued that it had failed to depict the true facial expressions of the late leader, including his trademark smile. [caption id=“attachment_1309525” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  The contentious statue. Image courtesy: PIB[/caption] They also pointed out that as a result of the flaws in the work, the structure failed to bring to the beholder the essence of the personality of the Congress leader, who had left a deep impression as a central player in Kerala politics and had four stints as the Chief Minister. Artist, KS Sidhan, who cast the statue, admitted that there have been some lapses in the work but said authorities had prevailed on him to rush with the completion for unveiling it during the President’s visit. He said he has sought the permission of the government to rework the face of the statue to make it look like the image of Karunakaran during the 1980s. “The enduring image of the late leader in the minds of Keralites is when he was at the height of his career in the 1980s. Now I am planning to re-do the face of the work to correct whatever flaws are there,” Sidhan told PTI. Sidhan, who had cast statues and busts of several personalities, including those of Nobel prize winning physicist CV Raman and former Chief Minister R Sankar, said never before had he faced criticism like this for any of his works. PTI