Sudarshan Sahoo

Sudarshan Sahoo is a sculptor in stone, wood and other materials in the classical Odisha style, with seven decades of work behind him. He was named for the Padma Vibhushan in 2021 in the field of art, from Odisha ^[1]. He had received the Padma Shri in 1988 ^[2].

Puri’s carvers

Sahoo was born in Puri on 11 March 1939 ^[2]. Watching sculptors near his home shape stone into statues lit his passion, and the temples of Puri inspired him ^[2]. At 13 he began training in stone carving under Kunia Maharana, and later under Bhubaneswar Mahapatra ^[2].

Museum and gurukul

In 1977 he founded the Sudarshan Crafts Museum in Puri to train young artists in stone and wood carving ^[2]. After completing the sculptures of the Dhauli Peace Pagoda, he built a Buddha temple in Puri in 1985 ^[2]. In 1991 he set up the Sudarshan Art and Craft Village in Bhubaneswar as a gurukul where teachers and students live and work together, with training spaces, a library, a hostel, a museum and a research centre ^[2]. He has trained more than 250 students, some of them national award winners ^[2].

Abroad

Since 1976 he has travelled to Japan and other countries to carve and install Buddhist statues and murals ^[2]. In 1986 he lectured and demonstrated at the Festival of India in the United States ^[2]. His exhibitions at the Jehangir Art Gallery in Mumbai in 2011 and 2018 drew critical praise ^[2].

He received the National Award for stone carving in 1981 and the Shilp Guru award in 2003, and in 2018 became chairman of the Odisha handloom and handicrafts promotion council ^[2].