City-based artist Vijay Gaur, who set a national record by painting 3,500 images of Lord Ganesh non-stop for 51 hours at the Siddhi Vinayak Temple in Mumbai last year, now wants to better his own feat.
For that, he will leave for the Tirupati Balaji temple on June 1. There, he will showcase his work and seek permission from the temple authorities to break his own record. The achievement of Vijay (35), who belongs to a family of idol-makers, has enabled him to script an entry into the Limca Book of Records.
He received the certificate recently for the record set during the Ganesh Utsav (August-September) in Mumbai last year.
Not only that, he has fashioned over two lakh innovative forms of Ganesh till date. Some of them show the god of intellect batting like Sachin Tendulkar, playing sitar like Pandit Ravi Shankar or performing yoga like Baba Ramdev.
The Fine Arts graduate from Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth University in Varanasi told HT on Monday, “If Ganesh wants, I’ll break my record at Tirupati Balaji Temple. I’ll leave for Tirupati on June 1. I’ll showcase my images of the deity to the care-takers of the temple. If they permit, I’ll try to paint different forms of Ganesh non-stop for over 51 hours.”
Vijay showcased his Ganesh creations at the Quretica Art gallery at Assi Ghat in Varanasi on Monday. The exhibition, inaugurated by his ailing mother Jugrawati Devi, will continue till May 27.
{{/usCountry}}Vijay showcased his Ganesh creations at the Quretica Art gallery at Assi Ghat in Varanasi on Monday. The exhibition, inaugurated by his ailing mother Jugrawati Devi, will continue till May 27.
{{/usCountry}}The artist began his devotion to Ganesh when he was only four years old. Even now, he begins all his artistic ventures by first making an image of Ganesha.
He has also done a complete series on Ganesh at each of the 80 ghats of the city. “There is nothing more important than Ganesh in his life. Even while fashioning 3,500 images of Ganesh at the Siddhi Vinayak Temple, he did not leave his work midway to meet Bollywood icon Amitabh Bachchan, who wished him luck during early morning prayers,” said his elder brother Nagendra.
Nagendra is a seasoned idol maker, who accompanied Vijay to the Siddhi Vinayak Temple during the Ganesh Utsav last year. Vijay has used every possible medium to make images of Ganesh, including oil portraits, sketches, collages and other forms. Some of his work has been etched in stone and on fruits too.