OdishaLIVE Bureau
Padma Vibhushan Shilpi Guru Dr. Raghunath Mohapatra, eminent Sculptor was honoured with the degree of D. Litt. (Honoris Causa) by KIIT University at its 13th Annual Convocation held on 11th November 2017. Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu, Hon’ble Vice President of India honoured Dr. Mohapatra in the occasion at Bhubaneswar.
His citation reads: “One needs courage and conviction to dare to think of replicating Konark. Even to pronounce this impossible trait to replicate the ‘poetry in stone’, one needs to have enough confidence in himself and you have it all. You are a Bishu Moharana of our time, but unlike him you have trained many Dharmapadas.
Your creativity has given the world some immortal artifacts in stone and wood. The Sun God in the Central Hall of Parliament, Black Lotus in Delhi, Buddha in Paris and Laddakh and the Asokan Pillar in Japan stand testimony to your genius and no wonder, the nation has honoured you in Padma Vibhushan. We have not seen the sculptors of Konark or the gigantic edifices of this great land of Odisha, but you have made us to realize that we still carry their legacy through you”.
Born on 23rd March 1943, Raghunath Mohapatra belongs to a family of traditional sculptors from the temple town of Puri. He has the privilege of taking birth into a family of artisans who sculpted the famous temples of Konark and Puri. He has learnt the ancient styles of sculpting by in depth study of palm leaf on the temple architecture of Odisha.
Raghunath Mohapatra was awarded the Padma Shree in 1974 followed by the Padma Bhushan in the year 2001. He went on to receive the award of Shilpi Guru by the then President of India Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil in the year 2006. He has been accorded the second highest civilian honour of the nation the Padma Vibhushan in 2013 by the then Presdient Pranab Mukherjee.
