Sudarsan carves 100 sand chariots on Puri beach

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar: Renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has attempted for another world record in sand by carving 100 sand chariots on Puri beach in Odisha.Apart from the grand wooden chariots, pilgrims will get a glimpse of the sand chariots during the world famous Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath.Twenty-five students of his sand art institute and Sudarsan started working on the 100 chariots from Friday and the 100 chariots were completed on Monday.Odisha Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda inaugurated the 100 sand chariots.Panda congratulated Sudarsan and his team for this.The artists used about 800 bags of sand to carve the 100 sand chariots.“We worked for about 20 hours in three days to carve the 100 sand chariots.I am trying to set a place in the Limca Book of Records,” said Sudarsan.Sudarsan has already 20 records in Limca Book Records.He has been making sand art related to Rath Yatra every year.This year’s sand sculpture of Sudarsan is likely to be a big draw for tourists during the Rath Yatra.Padma Shri awarded Sudarsan has participated in more than fifty international sand art championships and festivals around the globe and won many prizes for the country. His sand arts are always based on social issues and current topics.Sand sculpture is believed to have originated during the Rath Yatra in the 16th century by Balaram Das, a staunch devotee of Jagannath and 16th century poet who was once humiliated by the servitors and not allowed to pull the chariots during Rath Yatra.Das then went to the beach and sculpted chariots on the sand.It is said his chariots moved on sands whereas the real ones on the Grand Road in Puri got stalled.The then King Prataprudra came down to Das to apologise to him and pull the chariots.