Sculptor Ram Sutar, designer of Statue of Unity and KIA's Kempegowda statue, to get Maharashtra Bhushan award

Mumbai: Veteran sculptor Ram Sutar will be conferred with the coveted Maharashtra Bhushan, the highest civilian honour instituted by the Maharashtra government.

The 100-year-old Sutar has designed the iconic Statue of Unity in Gujarat, the tallest statue of the world. The statue honours Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, who played a significant role in political integration of India.

He designed the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in a seated position, located at the Parliament of India. A larger replica of the same was made by him at the Vidhana Soudha. He is also the designer of the 108-ft tall statue of Kempe Gowda at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru.

Sutar is also designing the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar at the grand memorial at Indu Mills in Mumbai to honour the chief architect of the Constitution of India.

The Dhule-born artist has also designed the statue of Lord Ram, which would come up in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.

“Ram Sutar ji has been unanimously selected for Maharashtra's highest civilian award, the 'Maharashtra Bhushan 2024’,” Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said making the announcement on Wednesday.

“Sutar ji’s sculptures he has created still bear witness to history. He has a hand in building real and life-like statues. The human emotions in his sculptures are so subtle and eloquent that they convey a message to the viewers,” the CM said

In 1999, Sutar received the Padma Shri and later in 2016, Padma Bhushan from the Government of India. In October 2018, Sutar received the Tagore Award  for cultural harmony of 2016.

Sutar is a Gold medalist from J. J. School of Art, Bombay. Ram Sutar works with ease and mastery in bronze. He has mastery in realistic sculptures and has been recognized by various countries and Artists from all over the world.

His bust of Mahatma Gandhi has been highly appreciated and has been selected for installation in more than 450 cities all over the world including France, USA, Italy, Argentina, Barbados, Russia, England, Malaysia, Caracas, Germany, Australia, China, Egypt, Poland, South Africa and many more.

Dr Sutar’s works have been appreciated in India and also all over the world. Artists from all over the world have visited his studio to see and learn the techniques of sculpting. Many have compared his works to the mastery of Rodin and Michelangelo.

Sutar’s son Dr Anil Sutar is a sculptor and painter.

Past Recipients: 

In the past, the Maharashtra Bhushan has been conferred to

Purushottam Laxman Deshpande (1996 - literature),

Lata Mangeshkar (1997 - arts, music),

Dr Vijay Bhatkar (1999 - science),

Sachin Tendulkar (2001 - sports),

Bhimsen Joshi (2002 - arts, music),

Abhay Bang and Rani Bang (2003 - medical services),

Baba Amte (2004 - social work),

Raghunath Anant Mashelkar (2005 - science),

Ratan Tata (2006 - public administration),

Ramrao Krishnarao Patil (2007 - social work),

Nanasaheb Dharmadhikari (2008 - social work),

Mahesh Padgaonkar (2008 - literature),

Sulochana Latkar (2009 - art, cinema),

Jayant Narlikar (2010 - science),

Dr Anil Kakodkar (2011 - science),

Babasaheb Purandare (2015 - literature),

Asha Bhosale (2021 - arts, music)

Dattatreya Narayan Dharmadhikari, popularly known as  Appasaheb Dharmadhikari (2022 - social work)

Ashok Saraf (2023 - arts, cinema).