Other States - Orissa   

Sand art park to be a reality soon

—A file photo

Sudarshan Patnaik making the sand sculpture of Taj Mahal at Puri beach.

BHUBANESWAR: The tourists’ and pilgrims’ paradise of Puri will soon have the world’s first Sand Art Park. Thanks, to the globe-tottering sand sculptor Sudarshan Patnaik.

Upon his arrival in the State capital from Germany after bagging the prestigious Public Prize for sculpting the replica of Taj Mahal in the 5th Berlin International Sand Sculpture Championship, the acclaimed artist had a courtesy call on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday.

“The Chief Minister assured me to provide a piece of land on Puri beach to build up my dream project - the Sand Art Park - which will be unique in the world,” said ecstatic Sudarshan who has brought laurels to the country by representing India in 31 international events.

“The park will be a major attraction for the tourists thronging the temple town. With the help of my students, I will create a wide variety of sand sculptures everyday. The visitors will definitely love to see a new set of sculptures daily,” revealed a confident Sudarshan who has set up his 12 year old Golden Sand Art Institute at Puri.

The institute, located on the Golden Beach in Puri, attempts to develop the 700-year-old sand art as a professional career, explained Sudarshan. “I started with just two students and now it has grown to a 40-member team”, he informed and added that the team would display their individual and team works at the Sand Art Park everyday throughout the year. “Students from India and abroad have enrolled in my institute for long and short-term courses," informed the master artist.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

New course
Rs. 3.5-crore grant for varsity
Hope for ‘Chitrakars’
Campaign on for probe into foeticide racket
Health matters
Move to protect Olive Ridley turtles
Rivers in spate
No-parking zones notified in city
Opposition to SEZs mounts
Schoolboy missing
High-level meeting to be held to save the beach on August 14
Sand art park to be a reality soon
Judgment copy issued in Oriya
Maoists kill abducted villager
Naveen orders probe into marks row

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu