Artist Rajat Kumar Ghosh. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, Jan. 23: Come February, a nine-tonne iron and steel sculpture of Raja Shailesh, the king of Dusadh community in ancient Mithila, would greet visitors at Eco Park.

Rajat Kumar Ghosh, a 1978 alumni of Patna College of Arts and Crafts who won the national award for his sculptures and terracotta work in 1984, is making the statue of the Dalit king. It would be on display during the Bihar Divas celebrations.

“The sculpture of Raja Shailesh will be complete by the end of this month. It will be put on display at the Eco Park before the Bihar Divas celebrations begin (in March),” he told The Telegraph.

On his choice of Raja Shailesh as the theme of his sculpture, Ghosh said: “He was the king of the Dusadhs and worked for the welfare of his community in Mithila in ancient times. I read about him in a book by Mani Padma years ago. Since then I wanted to make a sculpture of his. Finally I got an opportunity. There can be no better occasion than the Bihar Divas celebrations.”

The sculptor has used eight tonnes of iron and a tonne of steel to make the 20ft-tall statute that would be golden in colour.

About Raja Shailesh, the artist said: “I was always fascinated by heroes of ancient times such as Reshma Chuharmal, Dina Badri, Hirni Birni and Raja Cholan. All these leaders played a major role during their times. But there is hardly any information available on them. In fact, very few have heard about them. As an artist, I have always tried to focus on these legendary characters.” He added: “My idea is to modernise ancient art.”

Ghosh’s works are on display at Unicef garden in Patna, National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi and North Zone Culture Centre in Chandigarh among other places.

Ghosh said he was “happy” with the way things are working out for artists in Bihar. “Budding artists are coming up with great ideas and even the government is giving them opportunities,” he said.