Udupi: 'Kalya Unicorn Neither Rarest, Nor Combination of Animals'
Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (SP)
Pics by Hemanath Padubidri
Udupi, Jun 16: Artist, Purushottam Adve, has refuted the theory of the scholars that the idol they had found from Kalya was a combination of horse, elephant, and bull. He also dismissed the claim that it was one of the rarest unicorn icons ever found in the country. He was addressing a press conference here on Wednesday June 15.
It may be recalled that historian and folklore expert, S A Krishnaiah, and professor in the department of history and archaeology of MSRS College Shirva, Prof T Murugeshi, had recently claimed that the sculpture found by them as above from Kalya near Nitte was a combination of three animals. “Just because its legs are thick, we cannot term it as the feature of an elephant. Its tail cannot determine the icon to be featuring a bull, and horse-like face cannot be termed as representing a horse. The sculpture is of a horse, not a combination of three different animals.
While carving the legs of the icon, the sculptor would have allowed them to remain thicker than usual. At the same time, the claim that the sculpture is one of the rarest in the country is not backed by supportive evidence. A number of such sculptures can be found in the collections of Vijayanath Shenoy of Manipal Heritage Village, and me. The part of the icon which they have identified as a horn at the centre of the sculpture’s head is not a horn. It is just a part of a decorative ornament,” Adve said.