Painter Soumya Ranjan Pattanayak from Kendrapada district has created a three-foot-tall painting of 15th President of India,
Droupadi Murmu, to congratulate her on becoming the first tribal woman President of the country and the second woman to occupy the highest constitutional post after Pratibha Patil.
To commemorate her victory and oath taking in the Parliament premises on Monday, Pattanayak has made an artistic lively painting of Murmu.
“On July 22, the former Jharkhand Governor and NDA's presidential candidate Droupadi Murmu from Rairangpur was officially declared as the President of India after registering a historic win over her rival Yashwant Sinha in the Presidential election. So being an Odia, it feels proud that a woman from our State has become the President. As I am a painter in profession, I decided to congratulate our President through my painting,” stated Pattnayak.
He further said, “I have made a 3 feet tall and 2.5 feet wide painting of Murmu. The painting features a smiling face of Murmu with a flower bouquet in her hands. In the backdrop are the Indian flag and Lord Jagannath. It took almost a week to make the painting.”
He has decided to send the painting to the Rashtrapati Bhawan very soon and he hopes his painting will be displayed in there.
The 36-years old artist of Balarampur works as an art instructor at Kakat Mangala Upper Primary School and also is the director of Kendrapada based - Krishna School of Art and Crafts. Pattnayak has bagged several awards and prizes, including four international, 16 national and 30 State levels, by participating in art competitions across the globe. His painting was displayed at Tokyo Olympic Memorial Hall to boost the spirit of the Indian players last year.