Bhubaneswar, Aug. 10: Five students of Dhauli College of Art and Crafts have set up an installation of Mahatma Gandhi's Dandi March at the Dhauli gram panchayat office to showcase India's struggle for Independence.

Eleven concrete statues have been put together to form a structure. The first one shows Gandhi leading the group with the effigies behind representing the satyagrahis in a bid to violate the colonial salt laws in a landmark event in the Independence movement.

The installation was created at a four-month workshop, conducted by Chandan Samal, the head of the institute's sculpture department

Samal said: "There are very few sculptures of freedoms fighters in the state, and most of them are in a dilapidated condition. So, we thought of setting up this sculpture."

The camp was a learning experience for the students and an ideal platform to nurture their aesthetic interests. "We are habituated to working on stone structures. At the workshop, we learnt about the ways of working on cement," said Sujit Seth, fourth-year student, who was among the five who worked with Samal.

The students will begin making a life-size figure of Gandhi at the village near Tankapani road. "Gandhi had visited the area during the freedom struggle. Local residents have approached us to set up his statue as a tribute. We will begin working on the project from next month," said principal Panchanan Samal.

The college will set up a gallery on its premises to display the portraits of the state's freedom fighters.