Making Towering Statues - Mission with Passion for Pilani Sculptor Matu Ram Verma

Born on 06 March 1945 at Pilani located in the heart of the artistically well known Shekhawati Region of Rajasthan, Matu Ram Verma had a struggling childhood and had his education at Arjun School in Pilani which was then under the patronage of the Birla Education Trust.

Near the entrance to the auditorium of BITS Pilani no one could have missed the captivating paintings done by the famous artist Shri Bhoor Singh Shekhawat and in his early days, Matu Ram was fortunate to be his understudy. After finishing a B.A. degree from Rajasthan University, he got a job as teacher at Bal Niketan School Pilani at the behest of Shri SD Pande known as Kulpathi in the educational circles of Pilani.

Shri L N Birla who is a connoisseur of arts appreciating the potential in Matu Ram Verma gave him the challenging task of developing Panchwati, a theme park in Pilani based on the epic Ramayan and today it stands as one of the most visited places in this desert town. Matu Ramji did a whole set of fascinating murals for the Pilani Birla Museum which is one of the first and the finest among science museums in India and CEERI Pilani.

The tryst with towering statues of God started with the 21 ft Lord Hanuman at Panchwati in Pilani and won the appreciation of Sri BK Birla and his wife Smt Sarala Birla who blessed him for establishing Maturam Art Cenre – MAC presently spearheaded by his younger son Shri Naresh Kumar who is himself a name to reckon with for several tall statues which include the 108 ft tall Hanuman statue at Jakhu temple towering among the mountains of Shimla staking claim for entry in Guinness Book of Records

With the commissioning of the 85 ft tall Lord Shiva “Mangal Mahadev” at New Delhi adjacent to the airport, the name and fame of Shri Matu Ram went to dizzying heights. From 1990 to 2012, he proudly says that he had worked on 30 such towering statues. Notable among them are the 100 ft Hanuman at Chattarpur Delhi; Lord Shiva at Noida, Bissau (Rajasthan), Baroda, Nepal and Mauritius; Lord Ganesh at Talegaon near Pune; Lord Buddha at Sikkim.

At the behest of Shri S K Birla in the year 2009, Matu Ramji took up the 80 ft tall Lord Shiva Statue “Siddheshwar Mahadev” project at Pilani for which he proudly says that he did not charge a single paisa and completed the same on 13 Nov 2011. At Pilani, the Bhagat Singh statue and the statue of Shri G D Birla opposite to the Goenka School were also done by him.

The current projects undertaken by him include 108 ft tall Goddess Durga at Mauritius, 108 ft tall Lord Hanuman in sitting posture at Faridabad and 60 ft tall Maharana Pratap at Udaipur. He had a twinkle in his eyes when he hinted about his involvement in a 500 ft tall statue of one of the "towering leaders" of India which is presently at discussion stage.

His philosophy is that one should not live life just for achieving materialistic pleasure and that pursuing art is more for soul satisfaction than pocket filling. He smiles and says that artist must be spiritual; else such divine duty of making tall structures of gods just can not be achieved. He is recipient of the coveted Rajasthan State artist award in 1988 and the Rajasthan Shiromani award in 1991.

Shri Matu Ram Verma has undoubtedly earned immeasurable reputation for his monumental statues of various gods in India today as well abroad.

For more details about Matu Ram Art Centre – MAC see http://templesmac.com

Matu Ram Art Centre – MAC today is known globally not only for towering concrete statues but also metal statues, wax models, home décor as well as wood / metal antique items. For more details see http://templesmac.com

Matu Ram Art Centre - MAC
Office: K-16/11, DLF Phase-II, Gurgaon, Haryana – 122001
Phone +91-124-2351641 Mobile: +91-9811006791.
Studio: Loharu Road, Pilani, Rajasthan - 333031
Phone: +91-1596-245218 / 242752 Mobile: +91-9414403190.
Email naresh@templesmac.com
Website: http://templesmac.com

This release was published on openPR.