Warangal: Nataraja in the eye of a needle

Warangal : The self-taught international microsculptor Mattewada Ajay Kumar of Warangal has created yet another rare and wonderful creation - a miniature sculpture of Lord Nataraja Swamy in the eye of a needle. The sculpture measures 700 microns in height (0.70 mm) and 550 microns in width (0.55 mm).

To make this Nataraja miniature sculpture, the artist used plastic powder, pieces of nylon, self-made soft wax, caterpillar hair for colouring and 24-carat gold. One could see this miniature sculpture only through a microscope.

The 49-year-old Ajay said that it took a lot of effort to make Nataraja Swamy’s jata jutam (hair). He made a 90-micron (hair thickness) sculpture of Apasmara (dwarf) under the feet of Nataraja with a height of 90 microns. He revealed that it took him 145 hours over a period of three months to complete this miniature sculpture.

Ajay is participating in the 10th World Art Dubai-2024 exhibition to be held at the World Trade Centre in Dubai from May 2 to 5, where he will display miniature sculptures at the exhibition. As many as 400 artistes from 65 countries are participating in this event.

Notably, Ajay’s wax-made idols portraying Dandi March inserted in the eye of a needle depicting Mahatma Gandhi walking with a stick in hand while seven other freedom fighters following him has found a place in the prestigious National Salt Satyagraha Memorial (NSSM) Project at Dandi in Navsari district of Gujarat.

This apart, he sculpted minuscule figurines of several dignitaries such as AB Vajpayee, PV Narasimha Rao, Narendra Modi, KCR and Prof. Jayashankar. He figured in the Limca Book of Records no less than five times for his amazing creations.