'The forgotten hero': Meet Yadagiri Rao, the artist who designed Telangana Martyrs Memorial

Hyderabad: Behind the creative genius of Yadagiri Rao lies a disheartening struggle of five decades.

As the youngest state turned 10, Yadagiri Rao, who designed Telangana Martyrs Memorial popularly known as Gun Park, expressed his distress in no uncertain terms.

Yadagiri Rao's creation holds immense emotional and historical significance, as evidenced by the reverence it commands from important figures. “Even current Chief Minister KCR paid his respects at the memorial immediately after his return from Delhi before taking the oath as CM,” he says.

However, the 85-year-old artist claims that his bills have been pending since the very inception of the project. “The initial contract was for Rs.1 lakh. Of which I received only Rs. 60,000. A significant portion of that amount was spent on materials and importing stones. I have approached the authorities time and again, but all I heard from the then officers were we’ll clear the bill once the monument is inaugurated. But the saddest part is that the monument was never inaugurated so my bills are not cleared,” he said.

On copies of the bills, the artist says, "Since it was during the 1970s, I'm unsure of the exact whereabouts of the bills. I will have to search for them to provide any further information."

Yadagiri Rao expressed his disappointment with the new Martyrs Memorial, “Instead of being called a memorial, it should be referred to as a Martyrs Museum. What purpose does a memorial serve if there is no designated space for paying respects? The structure lacks the appreciation it deserves, and at the very least, it should not be named a memorial. They say martyrs memorial roar for justice, which martyr memorial will roar, there are two now?” he asked.

Aekka Yadagiri was invited to Gun Park every year for the celebrations of Telangana Formation Day, but this year he got an invite from the Governor of Telangana. He says, “On the occasion of Telangana Formation Day, Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan invited us to Rajbhavan and felicitated statehood movement fighters of 1969.”

The Journey of the artist

Aekka Yadagiri is the man who sculpted and executed the popular landmark of Telangana in 1974. Telangana Martyrs Memorial. Gun Park is a monument built for 369 students who died during the 1969 agitation for a separate Telangana state.

Yadagiri Rao’s artistic journey has been deeply rooted in his lifelong passion for sculpture. His fascination with the art form began during his childhood. “I was always fascinated by sculptures when my uncle used to carve Ganesha and elephant idols for temples. On the other hand, my father, a teacher, and philosopher, made me think of the thing which doesn’t exist. I wanted to choose both paths and thus entered the field of abstract in 1957 by joining the College of Fine Arts, Hyderabad, for the Diploma in Sculpture. My parents wanted me to become an engineer. I joined BA Mathematics in the night college simultaneously,” says Yadagiri Rao.

An ardent student of sculpture, Yadagiri Rao always had a creative urge to express his ideas. He is one of the few outstanding sculptors who have produced welded metal sculptors with expressive forms, and his large-sized stone sculptures express truth in their utmost simplicity.

“I felt it was pointless to use the heavy bulk of clay and plaster casts with unimportant details in the name of the sculpture. All I wanted was to create a sculpture with the stamp of originality,” he says. The artist studied various trends of modern sculpture and his contribution is vital to contemporary sculpture in India.

Art that represents India

One of the works that brought him recognition was Telangana Martyrs Memorial. Executed in 1974, the 25-foot tall monument is indigenous, textured, and used colored granite stone. The blossoming lotus bud in marble was rendered in modern form and left no stone unturned in giving a contemporary appeal by depicting bullet impressions at the bottom of the monument, in memory of those who laid down their lives for the cause of the Telangana Movement during the 1969. The monument has turned into an important landmark of the twin cities situated in Gun Park, opposite the Legislative Assembly.

Rao’s creations have an element of India. He makes sure his style sticks to the culture of India even in his contemporary sculptures. “There was a time when art was meant to be the toughest of all and when critics decide the standard of art. My sculpture stood amongst the international standards and represented India,” the artist says.

His sculptures are displayed in prominent places globally. Salarjung Museum displays one of his sculptures, ‘Standing Woman’. National Lalit Kala Academy in New Delhi displays ‘Chaturmukhi’; ‘Meera’ is at the State Museum of Andhra Pradesh; and ‘Mithuna,’ compared to Pablo Picasso’s art, was acquired for a private collection in the US. He received numerous awards and two doctorates from the colleges where he studied and worked as a professor, JNAFAU and Gitam, Hyderabad.

From sculpting to painting

Yadagiri Rao couldn’t pass a day without creating something, and with his growing age, he couldn’t continue making sculptures. So, he shifted his focus to painting which in all these years he had never tried. “It was 10 years ago when my grandchildren asked me to teach them painting. As I had never tried my hand at it, I did it for them and it turned out to be a nice painting. Since then, I continued using canvas board and created abstracts which I’m always fond of,” says Rao whose paintings were exhibited in Russia.

The artist is saddened speaking about the future of art. “I’m doing it for my satisfaction, but what will happen to my creation after I die? There is no place to restore art. The great yesteryear artists like K Rajaiah, their art lying in the trash. I wish there was a place like Lalit Kala Academy, which was abolished by the government of Andhra Pradesh in 1984, to restore paintings and exhibit them,” he says.

Advice for students

The artist, who always has a knack to create something new, asks the present-day students to be serious when it comes to the subject. “To create modern art and express Indian culture, you shouldn’t copy Western art forms. You can always create your art form and make a mark,” says the artist who was awarded the Padma Shri in 2017 by then-President Pranab Mukherjee.