Sudarsan Pattnaik Completes Carving 100 Sand Rathas At Puri Beach

Internationally acclaimed sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik on Monday completed carving 100 sand chariots at Puri beach in Odisha.Apart from the grand wooden chariots, pilgrims will get a glimpse of the sand chariots during the Ratha Yatra of Lord Jagannath, said Mr Pattnaik.

"Twenty-five students of my institute and I started working on the 100 chariots on Friday. We completed it this afternoon," said the artist who has been making sand art related to Rath Yatra every year.

Odisha Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda inaugurated the sand chariots and congratulated the artist and his team.

"We have used about 800 bags of sand in it. We worked about 20 hours in three days. I am trying to get a place in the Limca Book of Records for the creation. After getting official permission and instructions from the editor of Limca book of records, we ventured into this," said Mr Pattnaik. He said he already has 20 entries to his credit in Limca Book of Records.

Sand sculpture is believed to have started during the Rath Yatra in the 16th century by Balaram Das, a devotee of Lord Jagannath and poet who was once humiliated by the servitors and not allowed to pull the chariots during Rath, said the artist.

He then went to the beach and sculpted chariots on the sand. Later the King himself went to balaram Das to apologise to him, said Mr Pattnaik, a Padma Sri awardee.