Life-size cotton sculpture of Mahatma Gandhi, walking with a staff

Nashik, India

Sculpture, entirely in cotton.

Anant Khairnar works in a material almost no one else does — raw cotton, shaped, layered, and hardened into figures that hold the softness of the fiber and the permanence of stone. Eco-friendly, biodegradable, and unlike anything else in Indian sculpture.

View the Portfolio

Record

A Guinness World Record, made from thread.

The Mahatma Gandhi sculpture shown above stands 7 feet 6 inches tall, built entirely from cotton — the largest cotton sculpture in the world, holding the Guinness World Record. It captures Gandhi’s presence with the same fine detail as marble or bronze, but in a fraction of the weight, and none of the waste.

Selected Works

From the portfolio

Cotton sculpture of the goddess Saraswati, seated on a lotus — Plate 14

Saraswati

Cotton sculpture of Gajanan Maharaj, seated ascetic figure — Plate 13

Gajanan Maharaj

See all 25 works