Thrissur: The statue of Sakthan Thampuran, damaged after being rammed down by a KSRTC bus in Thrissur, was restored after repairs on Friday. As Revenue Minister K Rajan earlier said, the repair cost totalled Rs 19 lakh, with Rs 10 lakh provided by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation and the remaining amount sourced from the development fund of Thrissur MLA P Balachandran.
The restoration work was undertaken at the SIDCO Industrial Estate in Pappanamcode, Thiruvananthapuram, under the supervision of sculptor Kunnuvila Murali. Murali originally crafted the bronze statue in 2013 for Rs 35 lakh. He designed the structure based on historical references to Sakthan Thampuran, the architect of modern Thrissur.
The statue was damaged in the early hours of June 9 when a KSRTC Low Floor bus travelling from Thiruvananthapuram to Kozhikode crashed into the iron fence surrounding it at the roundabout at Sakthan Nagar. The impact caused the statue to topple forward, severely damaging its lower torso and arms.