Correspondent
Chief Minister assures sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik of providing a piece of land on Puri beach for the park.
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.