Arjun Prajapati: The master of statue art in Jaipur

Nationally and internationally known, prominent winner of the Padma Shri award, Mr. Arjun Prajapati is an Indian artist known for his pottery and his art skills.

Belonging to the city of Jaipur, Prajapati has had exhibitions of his pottery, sculptures and art on his name in not only the city but also beyond the city boundaries.

Residing in the ‘Officers Campus’ in Jaipur, Prajapati has been the king of pottery art for about four decades now in a row.

He has made the skill come out of thousands of aspiring artists. It’s his keen desire to impart pottery art, its technicalities and refined details to the young students who wish to learn art.

Wishes to beautify Vaishali Nagar:

Prajapati wishes to do something exceptional for the locality of Vaishali Nagar in the city. He states that he has noticed that the locality is bereft of a statue in comparison to other areas of the city which are equipped with statues fairly. He along with his fellow artists wish to request and present their tender before the government to erect a statue or building up of an institution of art similar to that of Jawahar Kala Kendra in the city.

Government should focus on artists and the upliftment of their art and creativity. Tender process for art work must not be taken up as a medium by the government for it does not benefit the artist and also his art does not come out in the desired and perfect way. Tenders are solely beneficial for businessmen. Old and established artists must be given work for any form of art.

School life and early memories:

Re-visiting old memories, Prajapati tells about his school life where on the way to his school he used to stop by in a lane where potters made sculptures and art forms. Prajapati skipped his school and spent hours in this lane. Parents wished for him to choose IAS as his career path but his interest lied in art. Gaining support from his elder brother, Prajapati went to his first art guru, Mr. Anandi Lal Verma, after which he learnt art and its fine details from his other gurus namely Mr. Dwarka Prasad and Mr. Mahendra Das.

Prajapati wishes to also establish a museum for the collection of his art. He states that his sons namely Sunil, Rakesh and Rajendra are also into a creative space, taking forward art. Prajapati expresses how he will not charge anything from keen to learn art students.

Statues till date:

Prajapati on being asked of the number of statues he has made with his hands till date responds that he has lost the count of such statues for he has made innumerable of them now. He has designed various statues till date from religious, political, cultural, sports to animals etc.

The first statues he made was out of soft stone of Lord Hanuman which is still kept safe and intact at his home. The first professional order Prajapati received was to carve out a statue of Sai Baba. Majority of the statues in the country that have been erected have been made by him, as Prajapati tells.

Fact file of Prajapati:

• Began with his art and its journey at an early age of 14 years.
• It has been 46 years till date of his art and his work journey.
• He was awarded with the “Rashtrapati Award” in the year 2004 and was awarded with the “Padma Shri” in the year 2010.
• The tallest statue created by Prajapati is 40 feet high whereas the shortest statue made by him is 2 inches high.
• Prajapati has a skill to finish drawing a portrait in a mere short span of 20 minutes.
• Prajapati makes use of sand, clay, fibre, marble and plaster of paris for making statues and other art forms.
• Prajapati rose to fame with his art and statue creation of “Arjun’s Bani Thani”, “Rajasthani Sarangi Vaadak”, “A woman welcoming” and “Menka and Vishwamitra”.
• Prajapati made a sand portrait of the US President Bill Clinton in mere 20 minutes when the latter was on a visit of state art exhibition.
• Made a portrait for Prince Charles of Britain in 30 minutes when the latter was in the city.
• Mauritius Prime Minister Ramchandra Gulam visited Prajapati’s showroom where on the former’s order, Prajapati made a portrait and sent.
• Has made statues for Lata Mangeshkar, Jagjit Singh, Amitabh Bachchan, Navjot Singh Sidhu, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, etc.
• Has made a 12 feet high statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the United States of America.
• Made a 9 feet high statue of Bharat Mata in Ujjain.
• Chhattisgarh government is getting him to build a 15 feet high statue of Pandit Deendayal.
• Building a 35 feet high statue of Lord Hanuman on request of Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.