On the eve of the 84th birth anniversary of former president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam on Thursday, internationally-acclaimed sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik on Wednesday created a sand sculpture of the Missile Man on the Puri beach as a mark of honour.
Pattnaik said he has created the five-feet-high sculpture using about four tons of sand with the message “Tribute to Dr Abdul Kalam, 84th Birth Anniversary.”
Students of Pattnaik’s sand art institute joined hands with him in creating the sculpture. Many art lovers and local people gathered at Puri beach to see the sculpture, he said.
“He was the first President who had invited me to Rastrapati Bhawan in 2005 when sand art was not very popular in our country and encouraged me a lot through his inspiring words,” Pattnaik said.