National emblem: India rejects criticism over ‘snarling’ lion statue
National emblem: India rejects criticism over ‘snarling’ lion statue
The new statue, adapted from an ancient Indian sculpture, was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
The 6.5m (21ft 3in)-tall cast shows four Asiatic lions mounted back-to-back on a circular disc.
Critics say the new lions look "ferocious" and stray from their original depiction.
Opposition leaders have also criticised the government, saying that the new avatar of the emblem - adapted from the Lion Capital of Ashoka, a sculpture that was atop one of the several pillars erected by Emperor Ashoka during his reign in 250BC - was a "brazen insult to India's national symbol".
But a federal government minister on Tuesday dismissed the criticism, saying the statue was a "perfect replica" of the original "except for the size".
"Sense of proportion and perspective. Beauty is famously regarded as lying in the eyes of the beholder. So is the case with calm and anger. The original Sarnath Emblem is 1.6-metre high whereas the emblem on the top of the New Parliament building is huge at 6.5 metres," Hardeep Singh Puri wrote on Twitter, posting photos comparing the original emblem and the new statue.
The minister added that the if an exact replica of the original were to be placed on the new building, "it would barely be visible beyond the peripheral rail".
Sunil Deora, one of the two sculptors behind the statue, said that the perceived difference in the lion's demeanour was because of the "scale and dimension" of the new emblem.
"If you look at the Sarnath Lion Capital from below, it will look the same as the parliament emblem does," the 49-year-old sculptor told The Indian Express.
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