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In an attempt to recreate the sand chariots
of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi
Subhadra that the 14th Century poet Balaram
Das created to worship the deities, sand
artist Sudarsan Pattnaik has carved three
colourful chariots on sand.
As the legend goes, author of Dandi Ramayan
Balaram Das had gone to the Puri beach at
Banki Muhana to create the chariots of the
deities and worshipped them there after
he was prevented from participating in the
Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath for not being
a Brahmin. Lord Jagannath had heard the
prayers of the poet and arrived on the beach
to bless him.
Sudarsan and the students of his Golden
Sand Art Institute took 12 hours to create
the sand images of the three chariots -
Nandighosha, Taladhwaja and Debadalana -
by using 20 tonnes of sand on Saturday.
Sudarsan, who describes Balaram Das as
the father of sand sculpture in the world,
said that the aim behind creating the sand
chariots was to remember the poet and highlight
the message attached to the Balaram Das
episode that people belonging to all castes
were equal before Lord Jagannath.
Sudarsan has so far participated in more
than 34 international sand sculpture championships
across the world and won many awards for
the country.
The three chariots created by Sudarsan
and his students are attracting a large
number of devotees thronging the beach.
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