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 . By T.V. Antony Raj

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In recent times many Indian artists have turned to sculpting images on sand. Sand sculpturist Sudarsan Pattnaik, 35, hails from Puri, nearly 60 km from Bhubaneswar, the capital city of the State of Orissa, India. At the recently concluded Solo International Sand Art Contest in Marbella, Spain held from July 9-17, 2012 he won two Gold medals for his sculpture of Ganesh, the Hindu god of wisdom and good health.

The theme of the competition was “Secrets of the Sea.” Pattnaik`s 3.5-metre sand sculpture (see above photo)  bearing the message – “SAVE THE SEA LIFE” – won medals in “People’s Choice” and “Best Positive” categories.

He learned this form of art by himself without any guidance – by persevering practice. He started sculpting images on sand since the age of seven. Till now he has designed hundreds of sand sculpture.

He has won many national and international awards for his creative designs. His name is recorded in the World records for sculpting the tallest Santa Claus. Using 1,000 tones of sand, Sudarsan Pattnaik and his team carved a moving image of Santa Claus at Orissa’s Puri beach, measuring 100 feet, 30 feet wide and 15 feet high-which sets the record for the Tallest sand sculpture of Santa Claus.

Sudarsan Pattnaik has also won the accolade for most Santa Claus images sculpted on sand. He won the People’s Choice Prize at the first Moscow International Sand Sculpture Championship.

Sudarsan Pattnaik beat stiff competition from nine participants to win an international sand sculpture championship in Denmark in end May this year, making India proud at the first such event in Copenhagen. His 2.5 metres high sand sculpture of a mermaid pleading for human effort to save the oceans was declared the winner of the championship.

Below are a few photographs.of his sand sculptures.

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