Ahead of the Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath, noted sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik completed carving 103 sand chariots on the Puri beach with a view to creating a world record on Monday.
While Mr. Patnaik and his students completed 50 sand chariots on Sunday, the remaining 53 were completed by Monday evening to find an entry into the Limca Book of Records.
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The structures include three chariots for the three deities as per the colours used in the original chariots during the Rath Yatra with ropes carved in sand, and 100 other small colourful ones nearby.
Lakhs of pilgrims who have started converging in Puri to witness the Rath Yatra on Wednesday will be able to catch a glimpse of the sand art during the nine-day festival. It is believed in Odisha that sand sculpture was started during the Rath Yatra in the 16th Century by Balaram Das, a devotee of Lord Jagannath and a poet.
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Legend has it that the poet, who had been once humiliated by the servitors and not allowed to pull the chariots during the car festival, had gone to the beach and sculpted three chariots.
Meanwhile, the Jagannath Temple Administration has made final arrangements for the nabajouban darshan of Lord Balabhadra, Lord Jagannath and Devi Subhadra at the temple on Tuesday.