Sand artist wins gold at international championship

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi congratulated noted sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik for winning the Golden Sand Master title and a gold medal at the International Sand Sculpture Championship in St Petersburg of Russia.

“Padma Shri, Sudarsan Pattnaik’s talent has earned him a reputation and made the whole of Odisha proud. He is the pride of Odisha and the whole of India. He continues to show his primacy in the field of sand art by winning many national and international competitions,” the chief minister said.

Twenty-one master sand sculptors from around the world participated in the championship held from July 4 to 12. Pattnaik was the only participant from India. The theme of the championship was history, mythology and fairy tales.

Pattnaik created a sand Ratha (chariot) of Lord Jagannath with his devotee and poet Balaram Das. The height of the sculpture was about 3.6m.

The 14th-century Odia poet Balaram Das was a great devotee of Lord Jagannath.

“I had a dream to create a sand sculpture of Mahaprabhu Jagannath and the founder of sand art Balaram Das a foreign land. The world-famous Ratha Yatra is going on at Puri. So with the blessings of Mahaprabhu, I have created sand chariot of Mahaprabhu Jagannath during this festival,” said Pattnaik. - IANS

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