India has been one of the slower adopters of 3D printing technology, at least when you consider its size. With their Asian neighbor to the east, China, investing heavily into the technology, India has been a bit quieter on the additive manufacturing front. With that said, things are changing quite quickly. A couple months ago J Group Robotics emerged on the scene with the first Indian manufactured desktop 3D printer in the Vector PLA 3D, and the same company is working on the .

Things are certainly picking up in the nation, populated with 1.23 billion people. Altem Technologies, a ‘Strategic Vision Partner’ of Stratasys Ltd., understands this, and being based in Bangalore, India, has decided to create something which would get residents of the country excited about the prospects that 3D printing technology has to offer.

Altem didn’t start small, but instead they went all out with their plan, a plan to 3D print one of the most recognizable Hindu gods, both within the religion and out, Lord Ganesha. If you haven’t ever seen a depiction of Lord Ganesha than you must be living under a rock. The God of wisdom, new beginnings, and knowledge, who has the head of an elephant, emerged as a distinct deity in the 4th or 5th centuries. In addition to being a god in in the Hindu religion, Lord Ganesha is also frequently depicted in Indian art and sculpting.

“Lord Ganesha is widely revered as the remover of obstacles, and as the god of intellect and wisdom,” explained Mr. Prasad Rodagi, Founder, and Director of ALTEM Technologies Ltd. “Being the god of beginnings, he is worshiped at the start of rituals and ceremonies. 3D Printing is a technology used right in the beginning of the engineering design cycle to overcome flaws in design & development of new products. Invariably, any product takes 3D Printed form before taking its commercial avatar. Additionally, an idol of Ganesha is one of the most intricate idols in India, which can give the viewer an excellent idea about the possibilities of 3D Printing. Hence, Lord Ganesha is being 3D Printed in this scale for the first time in the country on the occasion of Ganesha Chathurthi.”

Because of the intricacies involved in most depictions of the god, this was the perfect project for Altem to show off the ability that 3D printing has in capturing fine details of objects. To do this, the company first 3D scanned an actual statue of the god, and then printed it and other idols on Stratasys FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) & Polyjet 3D printers. As you can see from the photos, the 6 foot tall, and 5 foot wide installation turned out to be quite amazing. The larger gray print of Lord Ganesha was created on a Polyjet machine using photopolymer resin, while the smaller white models were printed on an FDM-based machine using ABS plastic.

“We wanted to showcase this unique experience to tech savvy Bangaloreans & also Ganesha devotees under one roof. Enthusiasts can explore technology behind it, while devotees can get a glimpse of the 12 avatars of the deity & take a mini Ashtavinayaka pilgrimage from this art gallery!” said Mr. Srinivas Shastry, Director of ALTEM Technologies Ltd.

For those who will be in the Bangalore area, the installation will be open for public viewing at the M.G Road Metro Station’s ‘Rangoli – Metro Art Centre’ from August 28th until September 7th. If you do happen to pay a visit, please let us know what you thought in the 3D printed Lord Ganesha forum thread on 3DPB.com.

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