| The District Rural Development Agency, Kancheepuram, in collaboration with the Sculpture Producers Welfare Association, Mamallapuram, proposes to establish a Sculptors Park at Poonjeri, in Mamallapuram to house the sculptors in a designated area with all infrastructure facilities for them and all recreational facilities for visitors, in order to exhibit the art of the sculptors both at work and sale to enhance their incomes, which have been affected by the tsunami of 2004, in addition to restoration and education of traditional stone architecture in Mamallapuram.
The Stone temples of Mamallapuram, a declared Heritage Site, showcase the best of stone architecture in southern India. The area has been an important centre for stone carving for centuries and some of the finest examples of rock-cut and structural temples are found here. It is also a source for the excellent sculptural stone, charnockite.
Today Mamallapuram is a thriving tourist centre mainly for its architectural attractions. There are over 100 units in the city with about 15 master craftsmen and over 1000 carvers.
The main features of the projects shall be showcasing applications of stone technologies and artefacts in the built and external spaces. These shall be crafted by the stapathis themselves custom designing each item. The stone features shall include a majestic Rajagopuram as the focus, about 7 to 8 stone crafted buildings, crafted stone facing for all structural columns, decorative stone sculptures as part of external and internal spaces etc. |
