The Chola-era paintings being painted on the walls of RBI Subway, Rajaji Salai, as part of the “Singara Chennai 2.0” project will undergo changes as the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has asked the artists not to highlight ‘Hindu idols’, in order to avoid controversy. Already, about 20% of the artwork has been completed.
Artists working on the project were quoted saying in a report by Times of India that some groups exerted pressure and complained to the GCC. However, the civic body has denied such external pressure. “No groups have opposed it. “Some aspects of the paintings were not approved by Greater Chennai Corporation. So, we asked the contractor to rectify it. It is purely internal and there is no external pressure,” deputy commissioner (works) M S Prashanth was quoted saying in the report.
It is to be noted that on 7 February 2021, the Greater Chennai Corporation’s official Twitter page had tweeted photos of the semi-completed artwork. These photos had idols in them, and the officials did not seem to have any problem with it.
The contractor in charge of the project, J P K Vijay was quoted saying in the report that he did not get prior approval for the ideas, but also clarified that the concept was to recreate Chola-era paintings as public art. “They (officials) today asked us to modify the idols. I explained the theme undertaken and further told them that paintings from other religious beliefs too will be included. We will be modifying some of the already done work,” he said.
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