The Living Master

Punya Raja Shakya was the playwright, director, musician, actor and dramatist who produced the play 'Sarvatam Siddhi' based on Gautam Buddha's life, and which had 360 actors and ran for 8 days at a time.  The play, produced during the Rana years, had such great impact that the erstwhile Rana rulers became apprehensive that the play might even influence soldiers to forsake the path of violence for one of peace. Hence, a short time after it was staged, the play was banned. However, Punya Raja Shakya even though deprived of his great interest, had another great talent that he continued to put into practice.

Punya Raja Shakya was also a sculptor and he sculpted statues in copper, brass, silver and gold. His line lives on and his great talent has been passed down to the generations following. Thus, in Oko Bahal in Patan, one will find his descendants, 83 year old Siddhi Raja Shakya and his five sons, Siddhi Ratna, Ashok Ratna, Nhuchhe Ratna, Binod Ratna and Bikram Ratna, busy whole days molding and casting sculpture in various types of metal. The statues they make are of Buddha and his different incarnations as well as of other Buddhist deities and are meant not for commercial sale, but to adorn monasteries all over the country as well in countries abroad.

"We only make idols for worship and so you will not find them being sold in shops," explains the pony tailed and goatee bearded Nhuchhe Ratna. His father, occupied with putting the final touches to a new bust of Tara, nods his head in agreement and adds, "We are descendants of Royal Monks who were in charge of the most important monastery, Rudravarna Mahavihar, in our area."

"That", he emphasizes with a twinkle in his eye, "is the reason for my middle name being 'Raja'." Siddhi Raja Shakya is old no doubt, but this does not deter him from putting in ten to twelve hours every day to the sculpting of beautiful pieces of sculpture. His eldest son is in his fifties while the youngest is twenty-seven. A daughter, Sita Laxmi, is married to a silversmith. Siddhi raja's wife, Purna Laxmi is in her 70's and also is an accomplished sculptress. Oh yes, Punya Raja can rest in peace knowing that the family genes have been passed down well. This is a fortunate thing for others too because at present, there are only four or five families in the country that can be said to be really carrying on the traditional art of metal sculpture for which Nepal has always been famous.

Siddhi Raja Shakya is probably the oldest among this elite group and it is heartening to see that he looks in fine fiddle for one who is eighty years old. However, he says, " I have problems with my heart and have to take more than twenty medicines each day." When he says this, some of the twinkle in his eyes is lost and one cannot help getting the impression that the master sculptor has had a very satisfying life and wishes it to continue for a long time still.  "I have made the twenty one Bhagwatis that adorns Hanumandhoka.," he says proudly. "Inside Narayanhiti Palace too I have made two lions as well as a Mayadevi and a Chintamani Lokeswar statue for Sri Sadan."

The figurines made by Siddhi Raja and his family are in copper, bronze, brass, silver, gold as well as in 'pancha dhatu' (amalgamation of five metals) and 'astha dhatu' (amalgamation of eight metals). Statues are generally in sizes of 14 to 18 inches but larger ones have been made occasionally. The largest one made till now has been a six and a half feet statue of Shakya Muni for the German funded monastery in Lumbini. " We have to say that we did that for free as we haven't received a paisa for it as yet," informs the master sculptor with a rue smile and the familiar twinkle behind his spectacles. Siddhi Raja also reveals, "There are plans to make an eleven feet statue of Buddha at Sitapaila."

According to Nhuchhe Ratna, "Once we made a mold for a three feet statue of Amodha Lokeswar (having eight hands) that was to be cast in gold. It was for a monastery in Nagasaki, Japan, and the casting was done there itself. I believe almost two hundred kilos of gold was used but we hear that the statue has been stolen." Siddhi Raja is sure that a statue as prominent as this one cannot remain hidden for long and says, "Mind my words, it will resurface someday."

Siddhi Raja Shakya and his family live in a five-storied house in Nhu-Baha in Oko Bahal, and the house has an interesting history as well. According to Siddhi Raja, it was the only house that was not felled in the area during the great earthquake of 1990 B.S.  The 'baha' or courtyard has a couple of 'chaityas' (stupas) as well as a large (about three and a half feet) bronze statue of Buddha flanked by two statues of Manjushree and Tara. Obviously, they have been made by the family themselves and were installed at the time of Siddhi Raja's 'janku' ceremony (a ceremony performed when a man reaches the seventy-seventh year, seventh day, seventh hour and seventh minute of his life).

The old master's room is adorned with plenty of statues of Buddha and other dieties, as well as some large photographs hanging on the walls. One shows him with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Siddhi Raja Shakya speaks highly of the late King Birendra with whom he has had audition a couple of times and also informs, "I have very good relations with the Bhutanese royal family as well, especially with the queen mother. I have done a lot of sculptures for them and even now am commissioned work as and when the need arises."

According to Nhuchhe Ratna, all their works are for devotional purposes and most are for domestic monasteries. They do get to export a part of their work and as far as the amount of work at hand is concerned, this is what Siddhi Raja says," Now booking has to be done at least five years in advance." That's how busy the Shakya family is! While beehive wax that is used for moldings are locally available, most of the metals are imported from places like Singapore, according to Nuchhe Ratna.

Siddhi Raja Shakya says that he started to work in sculpting at the tender age of nine years and informs, "My Guru was the Bhutanese master, Kushyo Chheksu and in Nepal, Man Jyoti Shakya." Doubtless, today, Siddhi Raja Shakya himself has been a guru to numerous apprentices who have worked for him at one time or another besides of course his five sons. And fortunate indeed has been his disciples, for Siddhi Raja Shakya is but one of the very few masters living who excels in the fine craft of metal sculpting.

The challenge for the near future is to make sure that craftsmen of caliber continue to be molded. However, it is no exaggeration to say that there could well be a dwindling of such fine sculptors in the years to come because such craftsmanship can only be fashioned by continuous and dedicated labor at the feet of the master, and for this, some things may well be compromised. Things like education for instance. It is indeed revealing to know that out of the five brothers, Nhuchhe Ratna is the only one to have done his graduation. Perhaps a better balance needs to be sought and better organization needs to be done so that exceptional craftsmen continue to be produced without compromising on the basic and essential requirements of the modern age.