A bronze half bust statue of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose was unveiled on Sunday to mark the patriot’s 125th birth anniversary. It was installed at Jai Hind Park which was inaugurated exactly a year ago.
According to sources, the full size statue of Bose that was inaugurated last year at the park fell short of aesthetic standards and was replaced.
“The available space does not merit a full size statue. So I suggested a half bust,” said Sandip Chakraborty, the dean of visual arts and head of the sculpture department at Rabindra Bharati University, who has sculpted the 150kg statue.
The statue was two and half months in the making and is 46 inches high, he said.
Chakraborty has earlier sculpted the full size Rabindranath Tagore at Rabindra Tirtha as well as a bust of Bose at Netaji Subhas Open University in DD Block.
Urban development minister Chandrima Bhattacharya at the opening of a three-day exhibition on Netaji at Jai Hind Park in Sector V. Sudeshna Banerjee
Urban development minister Chandrima Bhattacharya attended the unveiling of the statue along with Nabadiganta Industrial Development authority chairman Debashis Sen, executive officer Badri Narayan Kar and board member Kalyan Kar.
The minister pointed to various facets of Netaji’s life during his stay in the city. “He was the president of four pujas in north Kolkata,” she said. These were the Durga pujas of Bagbazar Sarbojanin, Simla Byayam Samiti and Kumartuli Sarbojanin, along with Pathuriaghata Sarbojanin Kali puja.
A three-day exhibition on Netaji was also opened. “We are considering a proposal to put up a permanent display on the life of Netaji in the park,” said Sen.