Odisha Rath Yatra: Sudarsan Pattnaik uses 250 coconuts in sand art of Lord Jagannath at Puri beach

Puri (Odisha) [India], June 20 : Famed sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has to commemorate the auspicious occasion of the commencement of the Rath Yatra festival in Odisha's Puri has created art on the Puri beach.

Pattnaik has created a 6ft high sand sculpture of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra and three chariots with the installation of 250 coconuts, an official release stated.

In his sculpture, Pattnaik depicts the story of Dasia Bauri, a devotee of Mahaprabhu Jagannath. Dasia Bauri was a non-brahmin and not allowed into the Shree Mandir but when he offered coconut, which was accepted by the Mahaprabhu.

Pattnaik used about 5 tons of sand in the sculpture. Students of his sand art school joined hands with him to complete this sculpture. Every year Sudarsan creates different sand sculptures on Ratha Yatra like 3D sand art, Balaram Das's Bali Ratha etc.

Earlier, Bhubaneswar-based miniature artist, L Eswar Rao, curated eco-friendly chariots of the holy trinity Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra using papers and decorative stars ahead of the world-famous Rath Yatra.

The deities sitting inside the holy chariots have been made out of neem wood, and completed in 15 days. The chariots are 9 inches tall from bottom to top.

Speaking to ANI, the artist L Eswar Rao said, "To mark this year's Rath Yatra, I decided to craft miniature models of chariots of Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra and Lord Balabhadra using papers."

"It took me fifteen days to complete them by decorative stars. I used neem wood to make the deities", L Eswar Rao added.

Rath Yatra is celebrated on the second day of the two-week-long Ashadha month of the Hindu calendar and this year, it takes place on June 20.

Rath Yatra is one of the famous Hindu festivals celebrated across the world. The Yatra is associated with Lord Jagannath at Shri Kshetra Puri Dham in Odisha.

Its history is also depicted in Hindu scriptures like Brahma Purana, Padma Purana, Skanda Purana and Kapila Samhita.