Eminent sculptor , Ganapati Sthapati who sculpted the famous Tiruvalluvar statue died

Eminent sculptor Ganapati Sthapati died on 6 September 2011 in Chennai. He had sculpted the famous Tiruvalluvar statue in Kanyakumari and Buddha statue in Hussainsagar.

Professor Sthapati was the chief architect of the 133-feet-tall statue of Tiruvalluvar, the Tamil saint who penned the Tamil treatise, Thirukkural. The statue is erected on a rock in the Indian Ocean in Kanyakumari. The Telugu Desam founder N.T. Rama Rao had engaged him for several of his pet projects during his stint as chief minister including the tallest Buddha statue, sculpted by Sthapati from a monolithic rock.

After completing his graduation with a degree in mathematics he became a Sthapati (Hindu traditional architect) at Palani Murugan Temple, Palani, TN, India. He resigned after the death of his father, who had served as principal of the School of Architecture and Sculpture at Mamallapuram from 1957 to 1960. He succeeded his father as the Principal of the Government College of Architecture and Sculpture, Tamil Nadu.

Sthapati campaigned since the 1980s to restore and elevate the status of traditional Hindu architecture in modern Indian society, by affiliating courses to the University of Madras and offering degree courses, bringing about a revival of Vastu Shastra. 

He also established the Vaastu Vedic Trust and the Vaastu Vedic Research Foundation, aimed at research, development, and globalization of Vaastu Shastra. He was also the head of the professional guild named V. Ganapati Sthapati & Associates.

Professor  Sthapati initiated the development of the American University of Mayonic Science and Technology as an authorized institution to teach this body of knowledge in the western world.

Sthapati has authored a number of books on the science and technology of Vastu Shastra and conducted numerous seminars. Books he has authored include Iconometry, Temples of Space Science: The Building Architecture of Sthapatya Veda and Commentary on Mayan's Aintiram.

He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan in 2009.