Famous sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has made artwork on the Puri beach to mark the auspicious occasion of the start of the Rath Yatra festival in Odisha’s Puri.
According to a published statement, Pattnaik used 250 coconuts to build a 6 foot tall sand sculpture depicting Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra, Devi Subhadra, and three chariots.
In his sculpture, Pattnaik tells the tale of Mahaprabhu Jagannath devotee Dasia Bauri. Dasia Bauri, a non-Brahmin who was barred from entering the Shree Mandir, presented the Mahaprabhu a coconut, which the Mahaprabhu accepted.
About 5 tonnes of sand were used in the artwork by Pattnaik. He collaborated with his sand art school’s students to finish this artwork. Every year, Sudarsan makes a variety of sand sculptures for Ratha Yatra, including Balaram Das’s Bali Ratha and 3D sand art.
Prior to the annual Rath Yatra, miniature artist L Eswar Rao from Bhubaneswar created eco-friendly chariots for the sacred trinity Lord Jagannath, Devi Subhadra, and Lord Balabhadra out of papers and beautiful stars.
The gods seated within the holy chariots were constructed in 15 days out of neem wood. The height of the chariots is 9 inches from bottom to top.
Speaking to the sources, 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
