Fifteen hours, three sessions, more than 30 needles and Om Acharya, the only certified tattoo artist in the city. Together they carved a beautiful piece on Nabakalebar and lord Jagganath on the back skin of Ananta Prasad, a resident of Puri.
A magnificent piece of art, painted by Sunil Kumar Sahoo, a PG student of Utkal University of Culture, the tattoo was conceptualised by Ananta Prasad and Alok Mohanty. Popular tale of Daru coming in the sea, the Ratha Yatra and Shree Mandira were depicted on the skin.
“Tattoo is not a taboo anymore; rather it’s an art which is carved on the skin and remains forever. This piece of art is primarily done to promote the Jagannath culture and Nabakalebar,” said Ananta.
This is one of the biggest tattoos that someone made on his back in Odisha and this is one of my favorite among 2,000 odd tattoos I have painted so far in Odisha. This tattoo involved lots of emotions and faith which was something I was very cautious while doing it. I am also thankful to Sunil and Alok, who developed the concept and
finalized the painting, said Om Acharya, who is founder of SKIVAS Tattoo studio. He also developed a number of other concepts on Nabakalebara.
It is worth mentioning here that while the whole State is under the Nabakalebara wave, this tattoo has become the talk of the town for its magnificent look and tremendous effort that was put into it. Om has been a pioneer name in the city as a tattoo artist and has done loads of experiments in tattoo such as tatto Jugalbandi, water colour in tattoo, customized tattoos and cover up tattoos etc.