Bhubaneswar: Â Sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has created 500 sand Santa Clauses on the beach of his home town Puri in Odisha aiming to create a new world record.
Pattnaik said that Santa Claus generally brings gifts home for good children, but the sculptures he has created were meant to spread awareness on environmental conservation.
“I have created at least 500 sand Santas along with a 38-foot-high image of Jesus, with the message ‘Go Green, Save Earth,'” Pattnaik told IANS over the phone.
Pattnaik said he had used nearly 5,000 tonnes of sand and worked for around four days to complete the sculptures. He also used colour sand to create images of Santa.
Nearly 30 students of his sand art institute assisted the artist in this project. Sudarsan has participated in more than 50 international sand sculpture championships and festivals across the world, and won many awards.
Pattnaik said he is the only artist in the world so far to create such a large number of sculptures. “I have already informed officials of the Limca Book of Records about this and hope it will find place in the upcoming edition of the record book,” he said.