Dongol's Stone Craft Appeals To People

Renuka Dhakal

Chandra Shyam Dangol, known for making stone sculptures, is a maestro of Nepali fine arts. Born in Khokana, Lalitpur, Dangol was drawn to and captivated by sculpting art since childhood.

He earned popularity after he carving a 33- feet- tall stone idol of Manjushree at Chobhar, which remains a key attraction of the people visiting the site.

Tallest Statue

He claims that the Chobhar statue is the tallest among all Manjushree statues in the world.

 Before sculpting the Manjushree statue, he made an 18- feet- tall ‘Maitri Buddha’ stone idol for Maitri Buddha Bihar, Bara, in 2011. Ram Bahadur Bomjon of Bara district is known for Maitri Buddha. 

Dangol has been relentlessly creating artistic sculptures by carving shapes in stone, wood and even metal for about three decades. 

In his long journey of creating incredible art using stone, he created thousands of small and medium-sized stone idols. 

He has also made a four-feet high Shivalinga equal to the Shivalinga of Pashupati temple which was installed in Canada. The maestro visited Canada to instal the Shivlinga.

Even though he started his artistic journey at a young age, he rose to prominence after participating in the ‘Shanghai World Expo’ in China in 2010. At the expo, he created various sizes of stone idols ranging from 4 to 12 feet.

 He exhibited his solo art exhibition and participated in Nepal and other countries several times. Along with Nepal, his art was displayed in countries like India, Bangladesh, Finland, Bhutan, Canada and other countries. 

On his father's advice, Dangol embraced art and ventured into it.

He started his art journey only to honour his father's guidance but after two years of working, he came to know that there is a fine art college in Kathmandu. He joined the Nepal Academy of Fine Art to further accelerate his knowledge in sculptor art.

From the time he started studying, his passion for art began to flourish and he completed his master's degree in sculpture.

While studying at college, Dangol always wondered why there are no big stone idols and statues in Nepal. Luckily, he got an opportunity to make the 33- feet- tall statue of Manjushree in coordination with Jalbinayak Samudayik 

Upabhokta Ban Samiti.

He said that since it is his yearning and dream to make a tall stone statue in Nepal, he has not even charged a single penny to make Manjushree's statue. 

He faced many obstacles while making this statue, but he confronted the odds and completed this ambitious project without charging any.

He started making this sculpture in 2012.

Stone is the biggest challenge for stone sculptors in Nepal. He said that the government did not support the artists in formulating the policy of using stone to make idols.

While working, he was threatened by many and had to face challenging situations and had to deal with such threats.

While making the tallest Manjushree idol, he had to face a big hurdle. When bringing stones from Pharping, various groups gave him a lot of stress, asking for unnecessary donations and not allowing the vehicles loaded with stones to pass.

He said that since there is no government policy to address the problems of stone artists, stone artists have to deal with many problems.

 In his initiative to address the shortage of stone, he established the Stone Craft Association to connect artists to stone. He also urged the government of Nepal to facilitate the bringing of stones.

 He said that this association was born to advocate the problem of stone for stone artists. 

Various institutions have recognised his contribution to traditional art. He  has been honoured with prestigious awards including National Best Entrepreneur, Small Scale Cottage Industry, Government of Nepal; Achievement Award, Qita Asian Sculpture Exhibition, Japan; Fine Arts Special Award, Nepal Academy of Fine Arts; Best Artist of the Year, Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal. Furthermore, he is honoured as a Distinguish Professor from Suzhou Art and Design Technology Institute, Suzhou, China. 

He had already started making a 108- feet- tall ‘Ardhnarishwar’ Shiva idol for Mahashila Rural Municipality of Parbat. Although he started working on this project before the lockdown, this work has been halted due to political reasons. He claims that if this statue is built, it will be the tallest stone statue of ‘Ardhnarishwar’ in the world.

Dangol built a 33-feet- tall ‘Chunidevi temple’ in Budhanilkhanth Municipality-13 four months ago.

Now he is doing stone work at Rudrahini temple in Khokna.

He is a member of the Shrijana College of Fine Arts, Federation of Handicraft Association of Nepal, Nepal Heritage Society and Artists' Society of Nepal

His main desire is to preserve and promote Nepali traditional art within Nepal and spread it around the world.

 For this reason in 2005 he initiated Khokana Stone Carving in Khokana Lalitpur which is a workshop where he makes stone sculptures. 

Dangol not only creates sculptures but also teaches students.

 He  encourages the younger generation of artists to make them aware of the traditional art of Nepal.

 He is worried that not enough measures have been taken to promote the glory and significance of the traditional stone sculptures in Nepal.

Solo Art

He is currently busy with his solo art exhibition which starts in Kathmandu from November 10 to 28. In this exhibition, he is exhibiting his art along with demonstrating the process of stone carving.

He first made a -feet- high Chaitya which he sold for Rs. 15,000.  He has sold his idols up to Rs. 31, 00,000 (Over Rs. 3 million).

He said that artists can easily survive by doing art in Nepal.

  He believes that studying art abetted him to become an artist. He did his master's degree in sculpture.

Before making any sculpture, artists must deeply understand the essence of the sculpture.

He believes that it is difficult to make and instal a tall statue in Nepal due to financial shortages and the geographical structure of Nepal.

The study of art in Nepal should start at the school level. Dangol believes that Nepali art should be promoted in Nepal and that Nepali art should be included in the curriculum to promote and elevate Nepali art. 

(Dhakal is a journalist at this daily)