Bhubaneswar, July 13: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Friday congratulated noted sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik for winning the gold medal at the International Sand Sculpture Championship held in St. Petersburg of Russia between July 4 to 12.

“Padma Shri, Sudarsan Pattnaik’s talent has earned him a reputation and made the whole 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.

The renowned Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has won the Golden Sand Master Award with a gold medal at the International Sand Sculpture Championship/festival, held between July 4 to 12 at St. Petersburg (Russia) in one of the most iconic places - Peter and Paul Fortress.

As many as 21 master sand sculptors of the world participated in this championship. Pattnaik was the only participant from India. The theme of the championship was history, mythology and fairy tales.

Pattnaik had created a sand Ratha (chariot) of Lord Jagannath with his devotee and poet Balaram Das. The height of the sculpture was 12ft.

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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