Imphal, May 5: An art gallery was inaugurated today at Keishamthong with a high-profile function attended by Governors of two states as well as the Manipur chief minister and the minister for art and culture.

The gallery, known as RKCS Art Gallery, houses a collection of more than 120 paintings depicting mythological, historical and contemporary events of Manipur. The medium is oil on canvas. The collection includes 80 paintings on historical events and 36 on art and culture. The artist who is the driving force behind this art gallery is Rajkumar Chandrajitsana Singh, popularly known as RKCS.

Orissa Governor M.M. Rajendran attended the inauguration as chief guest while Manipur Governor Ved Marwah presided over the function. Chief minister Okram Ibobi Singh and minister for art and culture M. Nara were the guests of honour.

Chandrajitsana Singh told The Telegraph he took up the project after 10 years of research. The main objective of his gallery is to depict historical events of Manipur and its rich cultural heritage in paintings so that the younger generation and tourists can learn about them, he said.

He said he had painted scenes from Manipuri history since 1709, adding that tourists and visitors from 70 countries have come to his studio and bought paintings, as have Governors of several states and well-known personalities of the country including Rajendra Prasad, the first President, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Sonia Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

Though RKCS established RKCS Chitralaya — an art studio — in 1947, he planned the RKCS Art Gallery only when the golden jubilee celebrations of the studio were observed in 1997.

He has more than 10,000 paintings to his credit over a span of 60 years. Chandrajitsana was included in the Limca Books of Records for the largest number of exhibits by a single artist.