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Nanga Putla Square in Nagpur: The Untold Story of a City Landmark

Nanga Putla Square in Nagpur: The Untold Story of a City Landmark
Nanga Putla Square in Nagpur: The Untold Story of a City Landmark

Nagpur in the Vidarbha region is home to many landmarks with intriguing backstories. One such landmark is the oddly named “Nanga Putla Square,” a small junction in the old Gandhibagh and Itwari quarter of the city.


At its centre stands a striking bronze sculpture of a naked child held aloft by two outstretched hands. For decades, Nagpurians have been both curious and moved by this statue’s poignant appearance and the lore surrounding it.


This article delves into the history of Nanga Putla Square, exploring the tragic tale associated with its origin, the real facts behind its creation, and how it has remained a cherished city symbol over time.


The 1971 Accident and a Memorial Square


The popular story of Nanga Putla Square begins with a tragedy. On 9 November 1971, a local family’s five-year-old son, fondly called “Munna,” was fatally struck by a city bus in front of what is now Nanga Putla Square.


The child’s family, the Jains of Dharaskar Road, had been returning from Daga Hospital when the accident occurred in the busy Itwari wholesale cloth market area. This heartbreaking incident sent shockwaves through the community.

In its aftermath, authorities took immediate measures. City buses were banned from using that congested road, which had been a through-route at the time. The site of the accident, at the junction near the cloth market and Gandhibagh, was earmarked to honour the memory of the lost boy.


Local municipal councillor Vallabhdas Daga, who would later become a mayor of Nagpur, led the effort to create a memorial at the spot. With support from the Nagpur Municipal Corporation, he helped develop a traffic circle at the junction as a tribute to the child.


The small roundabout was formally inaugurated on 20 December 1980 in a public ceremony, with city officials and community leaders in attendance. Initially, the new square was given a philosophical name, “Brahm-Maya Sanyog,” reflecting a spiritual concept of life and illusion. Not long after, the junction was officially renamed “Shri Vallabhacharya Chowk,” likely in honour of the Vaishnavite saint or perhaps a nod to Daga’s own name.


Despite these official names, it was the statue at the square and its peculiar appearance that left the strongest impression on locals.


The bronze sculpture featured at the centre depicted an unclothed young child, which people found both touching and unusual.


In colloquial Hindi and Marathi, nanga putla literally means “naked doll” or “nude figurine.”

It did not take long for residents of Nagpur (and the wider Vidarbha region) to start referring to the site simply as “Nanga Putla Chowk”, the square of the naked child statue. Over time, this informal nickname eclipsed the official title. Even today, most Nagpurians know the spot as Nanga Putla Square, with its formal name all but forgotten in everyday conversation.


Folklore vs. Fact: Uncovering the Real Origins


As the story of the tragic accident passed into local lore, many assumed that the Nanga Putla statue was commissioned explicitly as a memorial for little Munna.


For years, the narrative stayed. A grieving family or community erected the statue to immortalise the child’s memory. However, local historians and insiders have revealed a different sequence of events, one that intertwines folklore with some unexpected facts.


According to reports in Marathi dailies, the tale of the accident-inspired memorial, while based on a real incident, does not tell the full story of the statue’s origin.

In reality, the sculpture that became Nagpur’s Nanga Putla had been conceived for a completely different purpose before fate intervened to place it at the Gandhibagh chowk.


Umesh “Babu” Chaubey, a city corporator in the late 1970s, originally commissioned the child statue as part of an art installation for Nagpur’s Mokshdham crematorium on the city’s outskirts.


Chaubey was spearheading improvements at the cremation ground and wanted to symbolically depict the human journey from birth to death. He engaged a local artist and sculptor named Moolchand Painter to create two sculptures for this project.


The first piece was a depiction of a foetus in the womb, representing the beginning of life. The second was the now-familiar design of two large hands, one male and one female, holding up a small child. The concept behind the latter was profound. A child being raised toward the heavens, perhaps signifying life’s fragility and the final farewell at the end of life’s journey.


Before these artworks could be installed at Mokshdham’s entrance, an unexpected twist occurred. Vallabhdas Daga, the same public figure who was championing the memorial square, happened to visit the sculptor’s workshop and saw the completed child-in-hands statue. Struck by its emotive power and aptness, Daga decided that this sculpture would be perfect for the planned junction memorial.

He obtained the piece by persuading Chaubey to part with it and proceeded to install it at the wholesale cloth market chowk in Gandhibagh. Thus, the artwork intended for a crematorium found a new home in the heart of the city as the centrepiece of Nanga Putla Square.

In a way, the tragic accident and the pre-existing sculpture came together serendipitously, a convergence of city folklore and artistic symbolism. Notably, the companion foetus statue that Moolchand Painter created did go to Mokshdham as originally planned, where it still remains on display. Meanwhile, its sibling sculpture has taken on a life of its own in downtown Nagpur, forever linked to the story of young Munna even though it wasn’t initially made for him.


Symbolism and Design of the Statue


Beyond its backstory, the Nanga Putla statue itself is a poignant work of public art rich with symbolism. The sculpture is mounted on a pedestal designed to resemble layered lotus petals.


Atop this lotus base, two outstretched hands, one appearing masculine and the other feminine, support a small child figure from below, as if both parents are lifting their young one toward the sky.

The child is depicted nude and smiling, with one arm raised upward. This raised right hand gives the uncanny impression that the little boy is waving goodbye to the world. It is a detail that resonates emotionally, especially in light of the narrative of a child’s untimely demise.


The statue’s designers imbued it with a sense of both hope and farewell. The child’s face is peaceful and innocent, even as he makes a parting gesture to those below.


In the sculpture’s lower section, by the child’s left foot, sits a small brass lotus often referred to as a Brahma Kamal, or divine lotus, which doubles as a fountain outlet. When the monument was first installed, this incorporated fountain could spray water around the base, and coloured lights illuminated the water at night.


At one time, the gently spraying lotus fountain and the well-maintained garden around it made Nanga Putla Square a charming little oasis that drew the eye of passersby. The artistic choice of the lotus carries its own meaning in Indian culture; lotus flowers often symbolise purity and the cycle of life and death.


Here, the lotus under the child’s foot reinforces the theme of a life cut short yet spiritually elevated. All these elements together, the mother’s and father’s hands, the waving child, the lotus and water, create a tableau that is both moving and contemplative.

It is arguably one of the most evocative public sculptures in Vidarbha, encapsulating personal loss and philosophical hope in a single visual.


As the decades passed, Nanga Putla Square continued to be a well-known reference point in Nagpur, but its physical condition gradually deteriorated.


By the 2010s, the statue’s bronze had weathered, the fountain had long stopped working, and the surrounding fixtures were in disrepair.


The once-bright little square had lost some of its sheen. In 2019, after 38 years with almost no upkeep, local media highlighted the sorry state of the Nanga Putla monument.

This spurred city authorities to finally take action to restore the beloved landmark. Vidya Rajesh Kanhere, the area’s municipal corporator at the time, allocated about ₹150,000 from her ward development funds for the renovation project. Restoration work included cleaning and repainting the statue, repairing cracks and damage, and installing new railings and lights to revamp the traffic island.


The refurbishment also extended to landscaping and overall beautification of the spot. Recognising the historical identity of the place, the authorities even installed a signboard officially labelling the junction as “Vallabhacharya Chowk”, reviving the formal name that had long been eclipsed in public memory. Thanks to these efforts, Nanga Putla Square began to shine again, much to the appreciation of residents who had grown up with this landmark in their midst.


The following year, the statue played a small part in public health awareness. In mid-2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic raged, someone affixed a face mask to the Nanga Putla child statue, a symbolic gesture urging Nagpurians to wear masks and stay safe.


The image of the iconic “naked baby” statue donning a protective mask was widely shared, demonstrating how deeply ingrained in the city’s consciousness this little monument truly is. Even in a modern context, the Nanga Putla figure was being used to communicate messages, reflecting its status as a beloved local icon.


From a memorial born of tragedy to a piece of art repurposed and now a heritage landmark, Nanga Putla Square has traversed a remarkable journey. It embodies both Nagpur’s collective memory and the city’s unique way of blending fact and folklore.


References




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The NewsDirt is a trusted source for authentic, ground-level journalism, highlighting the daily struggles, public issues, history, and local stories from Vidarbha’s cities, towns, and villages. Committed to amplifying voices often ignored by mainstream media, we bring you reliable, factual, and impactful reporting from Vidarbha’s grassroots.

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