National emblem atop Parliament studied in detail, says sculptor

Aurangabad: Amid a row over the national emblem installed atop the new Parliament building in Delhi, its sculptor Sunil Deore said the sculpture should be seen from a distance and from the same angle as the original version at Sarnath is viewed.

The controversy over the national emblem atop the new Parliament building erupted on Tuesday with the opposition accusing the government of giving a “ferocious” look to the sculpture and insulting the symbol, while the BJP dismissed it as yet another “conspiracy” to target Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi had on Monday unveiled the cast of the national emblem on top of the new Parliament building. The new statue is an adaptation of an ancient sculpture ‘Lion Capital of Ashoka’ at Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh, dating back to 250 BC.

Its sculptor Deore, who is based in Aurangabad, claimed that he has made the replica of the emblem based on its original version, and added that the new sculpture should be viewed from a distance.

“The original structure is 3.5 feet, while the height of the new one is seven meters. The photo (of the one atop Parliament) which has gone viral on social media is shot from the ground level angle. But if it is clicked in the manner that shows it parallel to the ground, we can see that it was copied from the national emblem,” he told a news channel.

“I am an artist. What sort of expressions people look for I cannot tell…I studied the original model, made a small replica of it initially and a bigger one later. I have made the sculpture only after a detailed study and by following the routine methodology. I had no purpose to show any expressions. I did what is authentic,” Deore said.

People should see the emblem atop the new Parliament from the same angle as the original sculpture of Sarnath is viewed, he said.

The opposition parties have accused the Centre of replacing the “graceful and regally confident” Ashokan lions with those having menacing and aggressive posture, while the ruling BJP asserted that the lions atop the new parliament building are a “scaled up” version of the original emblem.