Rajya Sabha MP and eminent sculptor Raghunath Mohapatra passed away after being infected with Covid19. Raghunath was undergoing treatment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar. But Sunday afternoon the director of Bhubaneswar AIIMS said that Raghunath passed away at the age 78 at 3.49 pm. Raghunath was awarded the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan. Raghunath’s demise is an irreparable loss to the state and the country.
Raghunath was awarded the Padma Shri in 1955, Padma Bhushan in 2001 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2013 for his outstanding contribution in the field of stone work. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke on the phone with Raghunath Mohapatra’s son and inquired about his health.
Raghunath Mohapatra was born on March 23, 1943 in Pathuria Sahi, Puri. He dropped out of eighth class and began making sculptures in stone. At the age of 18, he left Puri and moved to Bhubaneswar. He started his career at the Government of Odisha’s Handicraft Training and Design Center.
He was also the founder of Shilpi Village and Raghunath Crafts on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar. Acting as the chief architect of the newly built Taratarini temple in the old style, he has built many temples throughout India. In 2014, the Odisha government appointed him president of the Odisha Academy of Fine Arts.
His rare achievements include a 14-foot-long and 15-foot-tall Konark horse at Bhubaneswar’s Master canteen Square, a 12-foot Konark horse at Cuttack’s Barabati Stadium, a 14-foot-tall Konark wheel at Bhubaneswar airport, a five-foot-tall temple, a five-foot-tall temple, a three-foot-tall temple, a three-story temple. Rajiv Gandhi’s tomb, the 14-foot-tall Konark Chakra at the Ashoka Hotel in New Delhi, two Buddhist statues in the dust, three 20-foot-tall Buddhist statues in Ladakh, a huge wooden Buddhist statue in France, and a 15-foot-tall statuette in Japan. Many dignitaries, including Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, have mourned his death.
