Dhanraj Bhagat occupies a crucial position in the development of postcolonial Indian sculpture. Rejecting academic naturalism, he developed a stylised idiom drawing on tribal iconography, sacred geometries, and architectural volumes. His use of materials such as wood, papier-mâché, and metal reflects an interest in both tactile immediacy and formal experimentation. Bhagat’s work does not conform to Western modernist minimalism but seeks a structural clarity that is spatially symbolic. His pedagogical role at Delhi Polytechnic was instrumental in expanding the vocabulary of Indian sculpture, emphasizing process, material, and cultural specificity. Rather than monumental narratives, his figures often suggest ambiguity poised between anthropomorphic and abstract. Bhagat’s practice offers insight into the formation of sculptural modernism in India, marked by vernacular engagement and institutional critique. His contributions remain relevant to discussions on how form and material culture intersect in the shaping of a non-Western modernist canon.