Rajendra Tiku

Rajendra Tiku, is an Indian sculptor and art teacher known for his outdoor stone sculptures. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2013, by bestowing on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the field of art.

In 2013, the Government of India honoured Rajendra Tikku with the fourth highest civilian award, Padma Shri. Besides, Rajendra Tiku has been honoured by different organizations many times.

Rajendra Tiku has received both the junior (1993–95) and senior (1997–98) fellowships of the Ministry of Human Resource Development, the Government of India. He is also a recipient of a grant from the Pollock-Krasner Foundation, New York for commissioning sculptures at various parts in India, one of which can be found on the lawns of the Danwantri Library of the University of Jammu. Tiku has been invited to many sculpture workshops in places like USA, Switzerland, Israel, Russia, Egypt, Russia and Thailand.

Rajendra Tiku was born in Wadwan, a remote village in the mountainous landscape of Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state of India, in 1953, in a Kashmiri Pandit family. He did his primary schooling at a local school and passed his matriculation from a high school in Srinagar. His graduate studies were at the Sri Pratap College, Srinagar, where he founded the Sri Pratap College Artists' Association and Tiku, simultaneously, studied clay modelling and stone carving, by attending the evening classes of a five-year course conducted by the Institute of Music and Fine Arts in the city, which he completed in 1978. The course offered Tiku exposure to the art of ancient cultures and modern masters. After completing BSc, Tiku graduated in law from the Srinagar University, but continued attending the various art camps organized by the Jammu and Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages.