Kasaragod: At noon, under a sun that beat down at 30 degrees Celsius, 87-year-old sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman — celebrated for his colossal works across Kerala — was hoisted 40 feet into the air on a telescopic crane to monitor the progress of his first creation in his birthplace, Kasaragod.

Kunhiraman's trembling fingers could barely clutch the dangling man bucket. On top of the structure, he stepped onto the scaffolding to give precise instructions to his chief mason, Antony, from Thiruvananthapuram. "I am calling this work 'Victims' as a reminder of the endosulfan tragedy. This is my tallest sculpture yet," Kunhiraman announced from atop the structure in front of the Kasaragod District Panchayat office.

His wife Nalini, who manages him and his workers, was waiting on the ground with bated breath. "There is no need for you to go up every now and then," she would tell him as the crane lowered the man bucket and extended the boom to drop the sculptor inside the newly constructed three-storey building of the District Panchayat. Holding on to Nalini's hand, Kunhiraman took measured, mincing steps and slumped into a plastic chair. Before catching his breath, he lashed out at architect G Shankar of Habitat Group for positioning the building less than three metres from his artwork. The mundane building has dwarfed the towering sculpture and robbed its viewing canvas. "Politicians would just want buildings to come up anywhere, but I expected the architect to have better sense. Now you will have to walk to the foot of the sculpture and look up to see it," he said. When Kunhiraman first began work on 'Victims' 18 years ago, the space was an open courtyard, and the District Panchayat office stood 30 meters behind the site.

Unlike Kunhiraman's other well-known sculptures, such as Malampuzha Yakshi (Enchantress) and Sagarakanyaka (Mermaid) at Shankumugham beach that feature curvaceous women, 'Victims' is semi-abstract and incorporates elements of cubism. The artwork portrays two children with oversized heads and large arms—traits drawn from the endosulfan victims—clinging to their helpless mother. The mother faces the District Panchayat office rather than the road, a deliberate choice that contrasts with the typical orientation of sculptures in front of public offices. "It is the administration that should hear her pleas, not the public. Her cries for help should reach those in positions of authority," he explained.

A work in progress for nearly two decades
Kanayi Kunhiraman was born in 1937 in his mother Madhavi's village at Kuttamath, near Cheruvathur in the Kasaragod district. He now lives in Kanhangad. (His father, Kanayi Raman, was from Kanayi near Payyannur in the Kannur district.)

In 2006, the then-District Panchayat President M V Balakrishnan reached out to Kanayi Kunhiraman to create an artwork for Kasaragod. "We are from the same place. I realised he didn’t have a public sculpture in Kasaragod, and I wanted to correct that," said Balakrishnan, now CPM's Kasaragod District Secretary.

The District Planning Committee approved the project on September 1, 2006, with the District Panchayat allocating Rs 20 lakh. Kunhiraman conceived the idea of depicting the human tragedy caused by the aerial spraying of endosulfan pesticide on the Plantation Corporation of Kerala’s cashew plantations over 20 years. "Some leaders were taken aback," Kunhiraman recalled. "They asked, 'What does endosulfan have to do with the district panchayat?' They were expecting a 'revolutionary' sculpture." Kanayi came up with a sculpture next to 'Victims' to placate them, too.

As the work progressed, Balakrishnan lost the majority in the District Panchayat board as a section of the Indian National League (INL) joined the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). In 2007, IUML's P B Abdul Razak became the president, but Kanayi Kunhiraman's work took a hit.

In 2010, the LDF wrested control of the District Panchayat. The then president, P P Shyamala Devi, and vice-president, P S Kuriakose, met the celebrated sculptor at least six times to urge him to restart the work. He was busy with the 'Akshara Silpam' for Kottayam Public Library and projects he committed for the Kumaran Asan National Institute of Culture at Thonnakkal in Thiruvananthapuram.

In 2015, the UDF won the election, and the District Panchayat board under A G B Basheer met the sculptor. Kanayi restarted the work in 2019 but had to stop again because of the Covid-19 lockdown.

He resumed the work again after meeting with the current District Panchayat president, Baby Balakrishnan. She said that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had tentatively agreed to inaugurate the District Panchayat building, a three-storey meeting space, in February. "We want to unveil Kanayi's sculpture on that day," she added.

The funds have been secured. Since December 2024, Kanayi Kunhiraman and his wife Nalini have been visiting the site almost daily. He is not taking any compensation for the project and drawing only the wages for his workers. "You have to be only rich in art," he said, explaining why he does not charge for public projects.

Next to the 'Victims', Kanayi is working on another sculpture. This piece depicts a group of people, their arms raised, fists clenched, caught in a moment of defiant energy, as though they are shouting revolutionary slogans. In front of them sits another figure, hunched between his knees, with his head resting on his arms, as if in deep contemplation or despair. "I have named it 'What's next'," Kunhiraman said. Many, including public representatives, view the two sculptures as part of a single narrative. "No. They are two different works," Kunhiraman clarified but left its meaning to the people to interpret.