You never know when a desire turns into a dream and when it becomes a reality. Sculptor Manjul Miteri of Miklajung rural municipality of Morang district feels this way now.
Under the leadership of 40-year-old Manjul, one Buddha statue and six other statues have been built at Kami-Amakusa in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu Province, Japan. The Buddha statue carved in stone is 65-feet tall.
Manjul cherished a dream of becoming an actor when he was 11 years old. He also started the work of making idols since then. After reading artist Araniko's biography for the first time in grade six, he felt the desire to be like Araniko. Manjul still remembers the fame that Araniko achieved by going to China. At the age of 12, Araniko made idols of many gods and goddesses like Buddha, Surya, Bishnu, Ganesha, Bhagawati, Brahma, among others.
Manjul came to Japan for this work in 2016 as well. After almost six years of hard-work, he has completed the construction of the biggest Buddha statue of the century. In this work he had great support from sculptors Sanubhai Biswokarma, Ramchandra Pandit, Ganesh Rai, Jeevan Paudel, Chaturlal Rajbangshi, Ramkumar Rai, Subhash Biswokarma.
Japanese philanthropist and businessman Oshima Shizuku had a plan to make a Buddha statue 30 years ago. He was looking artists from around the globe. Unfortunately, many artists who had the talent but lacked the courage saying that the cliff was too risky and precarious. However, Manjul mustered the courage.
"When he decided to take an artist from Buddha's birthplace, Shizuku also got my name. Then I got an offer to go to Japan to build a statue,” Manjul said.
Manjul also did not have trouble in the beginning. He thought, he was told to make a statue on the stiff cliff, how can it be done now? But there was no turning back as he had given his word.
It was an opportunity to introduce Nepali fine arts to the world, as well. There was no question of losing that opportunity. "Keeping this in mind, we accepted the offer," he says.
At the gate where the statue was to be built, there was a waterfall. At first he removed the waterfall elsewhere and made an idol. A lot of rain and water still does fall on the idol. However, it adds more charm and beauty to carved sculptures.
They wondered how the Buddha statue was carved out of the dangerous rock. They had never made such a big stone statue previously.
"We emboldened ourselves by remembering the huge statues made by our ancient sculptors," he says. "Since we have so many tools available in the present-day world. I thought we could do it."
Nepali art has also been mixed in this sculpture, which was made in the design of " Longmen Grottoes" located in the Henan province of China.
He says that all the artists are Nepali, so there is Nepaliness in the sculpture.
Influenced by Chinese-Buddhist art, the statue has been built based on the design prepared by Shizuku, the guardian of the project. However, those who observe deeply can assume that it is a statue made by a Nepali artist," he said.
Manjul hopes that his work will become a means of introducing Nepali sculpture and artists to the world.
"Those who come to study and observe sculptures will know about Nepal and Nepali art," he said, "This is proof that Nepali artists are so capable." With this, other Nepali artists can also get professional opportunities.
He said that with the completion of the stone statue of Buddha, many offers are coming from other Japanese organizations.
But Manjul wants to do more work in Nepal. Master's degree holder from Mahendra Morang Campus, Biratnagar, Manjul is not only a sculptor, but also a writer. His poetry collection 'Kami' has just been published. He planning to soon release it in Tokyo, Japan.
Although he is satisfied with this success, he says that there is still more to be done for the society and the nation. Manjul, who has made 200 statues of world famous and great people of Nepal, is planning to make 800 more statues and hand them over to his motherland.
(All photos: Manjul Miteri)
