By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : A sand sculpture of Lord Ganesh expressing his concern over global warming, created by Orissa artist Sudarsan Patnaik, has won the people’s choice prize at an international sand sculpture championship in Moscow, the artist said Saturday.
Patnaik told IANS by phone from Moscow that he created a 15-feet high sculpture of Hindu god Ganesh in the first International Sand Sculpture Championship held in Russia May 24-30.
“I had shown the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas and in the flowing water Lord Ganesh is travelling on a boat with a sign ‘Divine Concern on Global Warming’. This was to educate people through art about the effects global warming,” he said.
“The image created by me won the ‘People’s Choice’ prize. The artists from Italy won the ‘Jury Choice’ and Ireland won the ‘Sculptor Choice’ prize in this championship,” said Patnaik.
Patnaik said he was the only participant from India. Other participants were from Italy, Spain, Japan, Bulgaria, The Netherlands, Ireland, Russia, and Denmark.
The championship ended May 30 at Moscow. The prize giving ceremony was held Friday evening where the jury announced the awards and India won the ‘Peoples Choice’ award.
Patnaik hails from Puri, 56 km from here. He has participated in over 35 international sand sculpture championships and has won several awards.