By IANS,
Puri : Sand artist Sudarsan Patnaik has created a 10-foot long replica of Mughal emperor Shah Jahan’s dagger at Orissa’s Puri beach.
The original dagger, which dates back to 1629-30, was once carried by Shah Jahan and has fine gold inscriptions and decorations. It was sold earlier this month at a London auction for an astounding 1.7 million pounds ($3 million).
Patnaik used about 10 tonnes of sand to create the sculpture of the dagger along with those of Shah Jahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal on the beach of his hometown of Puri, about 56 km from state capital Bhubaneswar.
Patnaik told IANS that students of his sand art institute helped him in the project, which took about seven hours to complete.
Uttar Pradesh Governor T.V. Rajeswar came to see the sculptures Tuesday evening and donated Rs.20,000 to Patnaik’s sand art institute.
Patnaik has participated in international sand sculpture championships in more than 35 countries and won many awards.