Sudarsan Pattnaik said he created a five-foot-tall replica of the temple on the beach.
Bhubaneswar:
Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik said on Tuesday he created a replica of the Ram Temple on Puri Beach, on the eve of his dedication ceremony in Ayodhya.
Mr Pattnaik said he wanted to create a sand sculpture of Ayodhya temple during the ‘bhoomi pujan’, but had to do it on Puri beach due to an outbreak of COVID- 19.
“In fact, I visited Ayodhya last year and conducted a study for it. However, I had to change my plans due to the pandemic,” he said.
The artist said he created a five-foot-high replica of the temple on the beach for which he used around four tons of sand.
It took about five hours to create this sculpture.
“We are very happy that after a long wait the temple has been built. This is a historic day for us,” said Pattnaik.
The Aug. 5 ceremony will mark the start of construction on the Ram Temple after a decades-long title lawsuit at the Ayodhya site was settled by the Supreme Court last November.
A recipient of numerous awards, Mr. Pattnaik has participated in over 60 international sand art competitions around the world and has won numerous prizes for the country.
