New Delhi, Sep 5 (PTI) It took a special green corridor, support of administrative staff of several states en route, cheering crowds, and less than four days for the 27-foot tall Nataraja single cast statue to leave Swamimalai in Tamil Nadu's Thanjavur to reach the national capital, where it has been installed to welcome foreign delegates for the G20 Summit.

The world's tallest 'ashta-dhatu' (a mix of copper, zinc, lead, tin, silver, gold, mercury and iron) statue is truly one of its kind that has been made using the traditional sculpting technique -- the lost-wax casting method -- of the Chola period, said the chief sculptor Radhakrishna Sthapati on Tuesday.

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The lost-wax casting method (madhuchisht vidhan) is used to make finely detailed single piece sculptures, which means there are no welded parts in the Nataraja statue.

"It took us nearly seven months to complete the statue. It would have taken only three months if we made each part separately and joined them through welding and other processes. But we wanted to follow the ancient Chola technique used by our forefathers," Radhakrishna, a qualified engineer in temple architecture, said.

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The sculptor comes from a family of temple architects (called sthapati) who have been making statues using traditional techniques for the last 34 generations.

Radhakrishna's father, master sculptor Devasenapathy Sthapati, is known for making Chola bronze sculptures, including at Rajarajeshwari temple in Delhi's Janakpuri.

It took more than 100 artists over the course of seven months, nearly 3.25 lakh man hours, to complete the different processes involved in the lost-wax casting method to create the hollow bronze statue which weighs around 18-20 tonnes.

"The time of casting is like child birth. We have to concentrate on the process like dealing with a pregnant woman. At the time of pouring the metal, people of the state offer prayers to Lord Shiva. People came to Swamimalai to pray for the statue and wish for its safe journey to Delhi," Radhakrishna said.

Talking about transporting the statue from the small town of Swamimalai to Delhi, Head of Conservation Unit at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) Achal Pandya said it took efforts of artists, civilians and administrative machinery of eight states.

"A green corridor was created with two cars in the front and two in the back. Wherever we went, people met us with great respect, they helped us all along. We travelled through Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi in three-and-a-half days. In every state, people of the NHAI, district magistrates and police commissioners supported our journey," Pandya said.

The 'Nataraja' statue symbolises Lord Shiva as the 'lord of dance' and his cosmic power of creation, preservation and destruction.

Talking about the symbolism of the Nataraja sculpture, Sachchidanand Joshi, member secretary, IGNCA said they have tried to depict the traditional Indian thought process that everything that takes birth has to die and reborn.

"We relate Nataraja, a symbol of Lord Shiva, with cosmic energy and how it creates a balance in cosmic energy. Our 'shastras' have explained this. Lord Shiva's dance depicted in the Nataraja pose symbolises the cosmic cycle of creation, preservation and destruction," Joshi said.

He added that the Indian thought process has never been linear, but cyclic which has been depicted through the Nataraja sculpture.

The statue was finished at the cost of approximately Rs 10-12 crore, Joshi said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)