Kartar Paras Ram Singh

Kartar Singh Sonkhle is a retired chief pharmacist from Himachal Pradesh with an unusual craft: building miniature models out of bamboo, and assembling some of them inside glass bottles. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2021 in the field of art, from Himachal Pradesh ^[1].

A farmer’s son

Sonkhle was born on 1 April 1959 in Ratera village, Hamirpur district, to Janaki Devi and Paras Ram Sonkhle, a farming family of modest means ^[2]. He went to the government senior secondary school at Galore, graduated in Shimla and trained with the state’s medical department, where he worked for 33 years ^[2].

Saving buildings in miniature

He had always been interested in things from India’s past that were disappearing ^[2]. Seeing fine old buildings, some of historical and religious importance, falling into ruin, he began making models of them ^[2]. The hobby became a passion: he works with bamboo as the base and with waste such as plastic bags, glass bottles and rags, making replicas of historic buildings, temples and animals ^[2].

His most striking pieces are built inside intact glass bottles, put together through the narrow neck ^[2]. He has also made bottle miniatures of public figures such as Mahatma Gandhi and A. P. J. Abdul Kalam ^[2].

Shows and teaching

His work has been exhibited at Bantony Castle in Shimla and the Nicholas Roerich Art Gallery at Naggar in Kullu ^[2]. At the time of the award he was training students under the central government’s skill development scheme ^[2]. His name appears in the India Book of Records and the Asia Book of Records ^[2].