A sand sculpture at the sand art park on Giral beach near Puri. Picture by Sarat Patra

Bhubaneswar, Nov. 21: Sand art wizard Manas Kumar Sahoo has sprung a “sandy” surprise on art aficionados. He has designed and structured what he claims to be the country’s first sand art park on Giral beach, 12km from Puri.

The park is perched on 15 acres of private land, about 20 feet above sea level, where Manas has erected six sand sculptures with his dexterous hands. Each sculpture is about 10 to 15 feet high and the artwork is, undoubtedly, marvellous. Set on 20 acres of land, the park would be inaugurated soon and remain open till the end of December, he said.

“In Japan, there are snow hotels which remain open only for two months in a year, but attract thousands of tourists. Although my sand sculpture, like any other form of sand art, has a short span of life, I hope it will cast an everlasting impression in the hearts of those who visit the park,” said the Puri-based artist, who made it to the finals of a popular talent hunt show on a national television channel earlier this year.

Sahoo said it took him about one month to complete the sculpture, which includes abstract designs. The six sculptures are of Mother Mary, Aladdin and Jasmine, a heavenly sword, a fairy and the other two are based on Michelangelo’s famous “Pieta” (showing Mary holding the body of Jesus) and on global warming.

“The land is privately owned and I have taken the owner’s permission to set up the park. Since it is on a higher plane, I had to run up and down several times to get water from the sea. I also had to use big pipes to draw water, as the water level does not always remain constant. Each sculpture needed around 20 tonnes of sand,” he said.

Manas achieved all this without any financial or physical assistance. He said he spent nearly Rs 1 lakh on the park. “I was determined to do something new and challenging. I feel happy and proud that I have been able to turn my ideas into reality,” he said.