Businessman Srinivas Gupta unveiled the statue at a domestic party last Friday at his new family home in Koppal, in the southern state of Karnataka. The property had been his late wife Madhavi’s idea – but she died in a car accident in 2017 before the construction work was completed.
So to commemorate her, and to lend her presence to the house, Gupta installed the statue.
Photos of the domestic party, shared with CNN by Gupta, show the statue of Madhavi sitting on a bench with a pink sari and gold jewelry. It is incredibly lively, down to the individual hair strands around her temples and the lines on her skin.
“The planning for the house was all done by her and we could not imagine entering this new house without her,” said Anusha, one of Gupta’s two daughters.
Madhavi and the two girls had been in the car together during the accident in 2017. Madhavi died at the scene while her daughters sustained minor injuries.
“We had a great bond,” Anusha said. “It all happened in a few minutes when she left us. We could not bear the fact that she was no longer with us.”
The new house was something Madhavi “always dreamed of,” Anusha said – and it did not feel right to move in with her.
Someone suggested that the family make a wax statue. So, after consulting with various people, Gupta and his daughters have made contact with Shridhar Murthy, an artist and sculptor based in Bangalore.
After the statue was completed and construction was done, the family moved in late last week. The statue of Madhavi was the center of attention, with many posing on the bench next to it and posting pictures on social media, where the story soon went viral.
Now, the Gupta family says they will keep the statue in the courtyard of their new home.
“She used to enjoy the outdoors,” Anusha said. “We want her to stay with us, just like she used to be.”
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