Sutars racing to ready Shivaji statue for Sindhudurg by April

In Sahibabad, 150 workers finalize parts of a ₹21 crore statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, set for inauguration in February 2025.

SAHIBABAD: The high energy among 150 workers at the Ram Sutar Fine Arts Pvt Ltd foundry in Sahibabad, Uttar Pradesh, was palpable on Monday afternoon as finishing touches were being given to parts of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, commissioned by the Maharashtra government in October 2024, at the cost of ₹21 crore.

New Delhi, India - Feb. 17, 2025: Anil Sutar son of Ram V Sutar at his workshop at Sahibabad , in New Delhi, India, on Monday, February 17, 2025. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/ Hindustan Times) (Pics for Jasjeev Story) (Hindustan Times)

The deadline for the project was February 19, 2025, when the 60-foot tall statue was slated to be inaugurated at Rajkot Fort, in Sindhudurg district, Maharashtra, to mark the occasion of Shivaji Jayanti. Incidentally, it is also the day when the Padma Bhushan decorated sculptor Ram Vanji Sutar turns 100.

While the lower legs of the statue, measuring 15 feet, have already been sent to Sindhudurg, the upper parts and torso — totally measuring 35 feet — are complete but being given the final touches at the foundry in UP. The Sutars say the statue, created in 50 parts which will be assembled on site, will be ready by April 15, 2025.

Anil Ram Sutar, the lead sculptor of the project, put down the reason for the delay in the project to “acquiring the site of the previously collapsed statue only in December 2024”. The collapsed statue had to be removed first before the artisans could take over, he said.

The 35-foot statue of Shivaji Maharaj at Rajkot Fort, in Malvan, Sindhudurg district, had collapsed on August 26, 2024. It was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 4, 2023, on the eve of Navy Day. The state government blamed poor quality of construction for the statue’s collapse.

While the Thane-based sculptor and creator of the statue Jaydeep Apte was arrested, the Opposition called the incident “an insult to the legacy” of the 17th century Maratha warrior, and demanded the resignation of then chief minister Eknath Shinde. (Apte was granted bail by Bombay high court in January, 2025, on a personal bond of ₹25,000.) Subsequently, the state government issued a fresh tender to recreate the statue, which was awarded to the company run by the Sutar father-son duo, who previously built the Statue of Unity in Gujarat — the world’s tallest statue which stands at 597 feet.

“Work is progressing at a fast pace. Creating this statue is an important milestone for my father, as he celebrates his 100th birthday. The family plans to honour this as his legacy,” said Sutar, who has been working on projects with his father since 1994. While he is in-charge of overseeing the finer details of the statue, he said, his nonagenarian father “visits the workshop once a day to check the progress”.

“The 15-foot high concrete base has been set up at the site. Now parts that will make the feet will start getting assembled,” said Anil Sutar, who is multi-tasking on another important project for Maharashtra – the 350-foot tall statue of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, which will be installed at the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial, in Indu Mills, Dadar.

“Modern technology has changed the way we sculpt now,” he said. “We start building the statue with a much smaller model, of around three feet, which is then scanned with a 3D camera, which gives us accurate dimensions for the larger statue,” he said. “There were no 3D models earlier so the work was carried out combining experience and keeping a thorough control on measurements.”

At the foundry, Sutar took this reporter through the paces of creating a bronze statue.

“A thermocol base is made, which is encased in a silicone mould which is waxed. After the wax is applied, we bake it in a de-waxing furnace for around five days. It is then brought out and kept in the soil for a day, before the mould is complete. The thermocol inside has melted away by now leaving a hollow cavity within, in which the bronze mixture comprising around 88% copper, 8% tin and 4% zinc is poured to set. Once the it is set, the parts can be pulled out to assemble as a whole. A total of 50 parts will be used to make the entire statue,” he explained.

On-site, the parts will be assembled on a base, for which a special stainless steel called ‘duplex’ will be used, which Sutar said, “is ideal to build statues of enormous proportions”.

At the workshop, workers were seen simultaneously painting the statue’s bust, with smaller components of the turban, parts of the face and ear. “Once we send these two larger chunks – the upper leg and the lower torso -- nearly 75% of the work would be complete,” he said, adding that this is transported in large trucks. 46 tonnes of metal is being used to create the sculpture.

“If we use regular steel, it will rust fairly quickly, especially as it will be stationed close to the sea. This is what may have happened to the statue that collapsed earlier,” he said.