Brass, not bronze? Problems with Karkala's Parashurama statue exposed in CID investigation

The chargesheet submitted by the Karkala police to the court on the controversial Parashurama Theme Park project has revealed that the 33-foot-tall statue of Parashurama on the Ummikal betta in Karkala is made of brass, and not bronze as claimed by the sculptor and the Udupi Nirmiti Kendra, who commissioned the project.

In the 1,231-page chargesheet, the police have reported serious irregularities in the construction of the statue, naming three key accused—Krishna Naik, the sculptor, Arun Kumar, project director of Udupi Nirmiti Kendra, and engineer Sachin Y. Kumar.

They have been charged with cheating, criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, and destruction of evidence.

It may be recalled that the statue was unveiled in January 2023, by the then chief minister Basavaraj Bommai.

The theme park, housing a Bhajana Mandir (prayer hall), an amphitheatre with the capacity to house up to 1000 people, and a hilltop restaurant, was to be developed at a cost of ₹11 crores by the Udupi Nirmithi Kendra (UNK).

This was to be done by the UNK in collaboration with the Tourism department and the Kannada & Culture department to boost tourism and to preserve the legacy of the region.

However, in October 2023, following complaints of poor quality work, the statue was dismantled, citing safety concerns. The upper portion of the statue was removed and secretly stored at Nirmiti Kendra’s shed in Alevoor, Pragati Nagar.

The work order had been issued by the UNK to Krishna Naik (of Bengaluru-based Krish Art World) in 2022 to make a bronze statue of Lord Parashurama (the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu) for the theme park in Karkala.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah ordered a probe by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) into the alleged corruption.

A complaint by one A. Krishna Shetty against the sculptor stated that the latter had received ₹1.2 crores from the Kendra, though the statue had been removed, citing wrong alignment.

It was alleged that the sculptor had defrauded the Kendra by fabricating a statue using brass: a cheaper metal instead of bronze.

The investigation revealed that the sculptor had “misled” the authorities, and falsely claimed to have shifted the dismantled part of the statue to Bengaluru to rectify alignment issues.

The police have concluded that the accused deliberately misrepresented facts and also violated the contract by delivering substandard work. In October 2024, the High Court had also dismissed the sculptor’s plea seeking to quash the criminal proceedings against him. The court stated that the sculptor had done a “shoddy job, prima facie”.

The court also noted that public money of ₹1.8 crores had been sought and ₹1.2 crores was paid, all for an erroneously aligned statue that was sculpted hurriedly. The court said it was “fortunate” that the statue did not fall after its inauguration.

Former energy minister and BJP MLA Sunil Kumar, in an X post said that "the Congress’ lies now stand exposed".

"The police investigation has proved that the Congress’ allegations that the statue has been made of fibre is false and the Congress toolkit has been defeated. The chargesheet mentions that the statue has been made of brass and the police have clarified before the court that the upper part of the statue was removed (after installation) for redesign and repair," he alleged.

"At least now, the Congress government must release the grants allocated for the theme park and also open it up for tourism. Politics of hate should not hamper development," he added.

India