A visit to the Jai Ram Ashram in Kharkhari these days takes to an eye-catching statue in the making-the statue of a horse not meant for a deity to ride on but as an emblem giving message that “Animals must be honoured too.” The sculptor directs his worker to rub the back of the horse with sand paper and has put his heart and soul into making of this horse.
Another Shaktiman with the same looks as it had before getting attacked is ready to charge the politics of Uttarakhand soon. The same flesh and bones but the only difference being lifeless, Shaktiman is almost ready in the hands of its creator Fakir Chand Pareeda of Haridwar.
After undergoing surgeries for over a month, Shaktiman, a police horse whose hind limb was injured during a protest rally, had breathed its last two months ago. Now at the behest of the Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat, another statue of Shaktiman has been made by the famous sculptor of Haridwar who runs his Murti Kala Kendra in Bhupatwala. In a bid to immortalise the horse and the story attached to it, this statue is ready in flesh and bones. Just the painting is left. After the completion, this statue would be sent to Dehradun to be installed at Rispana bridge.
Speaking to The Pioneer, the sculptor Pareeda says, “Maharaj had asked me to make the horse of fibre glass. I had offered to make it a bronze statue, but he said the limited budget could not afford the bronze statue.”
Asked about the estimated cost, the sculptor says, “The statue is priced at 4.5 lakhs and materials weighing 400 kgs have been used to make this. A team of five to seven persons is working on it.”
“Creation is a matter of passion. One gets inner inspiration and idea impulse which comes into form. It is work of hobby not compulsion,” he said.
The owner of the ashram, Brahmswaroop Brahmchari said, “Shaktiman’s sacrifice must be duly honoured. We salute his sacrifice. The statue to be installed at Rispana bridge in Dehradun would embody the message that animals must be honoured too.”
When asked about the expenditure incurred in making of the statue, Brahmchari said, “The Uttarakhand CM announced about the statue. I have offered to gift it to the State.”