World's wonders sculpted on ice at art expo in city

The festival features ice sculptures of five of the world's seven wonders, along with a sculpture of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Bengaluru: A three-month ice sculpting festival is on at Snow City on Jayamahal Main Road.  

The festival features ice sculptures of five of the world's seven wonders — Taj Mahal, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Pyramids of Giza, Eiffel Tower and Statue of Liberty — along with a sculpture of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. 

Made out of 5,000 tonnes of ice blocks, the exhibition is spread over 30,000 sq ft and will be preserved at sub-zero temperatures of -5 to -15 degrees Celsius. The sculptures have been designed by 20 artisans over 90 days inside the premises. 

One such artist, Amila from Sri Lanka, said that they have to take breaks every two to three hours to prevent frostbite.   

Elaborating on the process, he said that a special kind of ice, which does not melt easily, was used to make the sculptures. “Firstly, the ice blocks, like stones, are kept on top of each other symmetrically and then figures are carved out using various hand and mechanical tools, like chainsaws." 

"We wanted to do something innovative with ice this summer, which is when we thought of creating the world's wonders”, said Shrenik Doshi, director of Snow City.

Recycled water

Doshi added that recycled water from their filtration systems was used to make the sculptures.