An enthusiastic bunch of artists has carved out a sculpture of lord Jagannath and his siblings in sand to the great appreciation of the spectators here.
The sculpture measures 18 feet high in front of the Gandhi Smruti Bhawan. The sculpture has taken a week to be completed, in which about 20 truckloads of sand have been used. Nearly Rs 2 lakh has been spent for it.The artists led by Tuna Behera were encouraged by the local culture lovers to erect the sculpture. “Since last seven years, I have been erecting trinity in sand.
This time more artists voluntarily associated with me and people from various walks of life extended their support and encouraged me.It is all possible due to attachment towards the universal God and its culture,” said artist Behera.The sculpture would remain in place till Bahuda Yatra. In Baleswar, Behera is the first artist to build the sand art. Since 1999 he has been doing sand art of different forms on different occasions.
Jayant Das, a trade union leader as well as a key inspirer, said, “We have a plan of opening an institute for the young and budding talents in Baleswar in coordination with various departments like culture and tourism.There are many hidden talents in the district, but we hardly know them. Once it is established, the artists of the district would find a lot of opportunities,” he said.