The statues of the Kangla-Sha were sculpted based on the photographs published in the books including "The Lost Kingdom" and "The Meitheis" written by Thomas Callan Hodson.

[22] Before the construction of the real sculptures, to take the comments, feedbacks, opinions and suggestions of the people, Sculptor B Mohendro Sharma presented the prototypes of the Kangla-Sha, made of mud, displayed on the public.

'rods between jaws'[27]) of the Kangla Sha statues were removed by the Government of Manipur, along with the performances of religious rites and rituals by Amaibas (Meitei for 'priests') and Amaibis (Meitei for 'priestesses'), due to the perception by the authorities concerned that the rods gave pains to Kangla Sha, resulting in the downfall and unhappiness of the people of Manipur.

However, this event of the removal of rods drew criticism by RK Nimai, a retired IAS officer,[32][33] as “The removal of kabak of the two kanglashas at Kangla which was shown in the local TV channels indicates the utter lack of knowledge of the so-called experts even in Meitei tradition.”[34]He wrote an article about its criticism in the Imphal Free Press.

[37] In a neutral response to the criticism and its reactions, Ethno Heritage Council (HERICOUN) stated: “The organisation (Imphal Free Press) is not an expert body on the issue at hand and as such it is not a party in the argument between the supporters and opposers of removing the support rods from the mouths of the twin Kanglasha.”[38]In reaction to the criticism, there was a strong objection by the "International Sanamahism Students' Association" (ISSA).

[41] The government of Manipur recognised the illustration of Meitei mythical animal "Kangla Sha" as the state emblem in the year 1980.