Sudarshan Sahoo, a renowned sculptor from Odisha, was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the country’s second-highest civilian award, for his exceptional achievement in the field of art. President Ram Nath Kovind gave away the awards today in Rashtrapati Bhawan in New Delhi.
Sudarshan Sahoo was born in Puri, Odisha, India, on March 11, 1939. Under the guidance of Guru Bhubaneswar Mohapatra and Guru Kunia Moharana of Puri Town, he learned the art of traditional sculpting.
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He is well-known throughout the world for his stone work. He still travels to Japan, the United States, and other countries for his artwork. In 1977, Shree Sahoo founded the Sudarshan Crafts Museum in Puri. As stated in the official website of the museum, “For a long time Shri Sahoo, a nontraditional artist, had been practicing the art of traditional sculptures in the medium of stone and wood at his ancestral home in Kumuti Sahi, Puri town. After visiting all over India and abroad with relation to his art he thought of institutionalizing the set up so that a proper workshop, showroom along with facilities for artists will be created so that tourists and dignitaries can see and feel the inheritance and continuous development of traditional sculptures.”
Sudarshan Sahoo, with the support of the Odisha government, built Sudarshan Art & Crafts Village, Bhubaneswar in 1991, reviving the Gurukul system of education. After obtaining the Padma Shri Award in 1988, the State Leadership asked Shree Sahoo to create an institution in Bhubaneswar, Odisha’s capital city, to highlight the living heritage of Odishan art and crafts.
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It is a Gurukul-style teaching and production centre where master craftsmen, artists, assistants, and students live and work to pursue traditional art and sculpting, which includes training, skill development of existing artists, production, and sale of art objects.
