Puri, July 15: The Nabakalebar or divine transition of the idols in Puri Jagannath temple has opened up new creative urge in artistes. They want to express their own thoughts and philosophy on the subject.
The artistes are aware of the fact that lakhs of tourists are likely to visit the pilgrim city during the car festival.
Noted sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik has created more than 10 beautiful sand art sculptures on the Puri beach on Nabakaleber theme. One of the sand art titled Daru Brahma has went viral on social networking sites.
Patnaik said that he proposed to the state government to organise a sand art festival involving all the local sand art artists of Odisha, mainly from the pilgrim city. The festival may start on July 17 or 18 and continue for three to four days. The state government will decide on the timings soon.
"I had also created a sand art at the New York Travel Show in February on Nabakalebar. I also showcased my art in Washington DC,'' Patnaik said.
Patnaik's sand artworks on Nabakalebar is also getting the pride of place in several in-flight magazines and are also being used by the India Tourism Development Corporation (ITDC).
Noted sand art animation artist Manas Sahoo plans to release an animation film in the next few days. "The duration of the film will be of 12 minutes, and the exact release date will be decided in a day or two. The film will depict everything on Nabakalebar and rath yatra from the rituals to the selection of the daru, creation of the idols and the car festival. The film is a work of research. I hope people will love it once it is out,'' Sahoo said.
Sahoo had also displayed his talent at the reality show 'India's Got Talent' (season II) on sand art animation and surprised the entire world with unique themes based on the saga of Lord Jagannath in 2011. He is also hopeful of a grand show at the proposed sand art festival by the state government on the Puri beach during rath.
Sahoo had also done two other short films based on sand animation. One of them is based on the banajaga yatra (the ritual journey to collect the holy wood) and the other on Brahma paribartan or transfer of the divine soul.
Apart from sand art-based activities, the use of traditional art forms is also attracting a lot of people.
"The architectural design of the mega bus terminal in Puri which was inaugurated recently, is based on the traditional temple design style with an idea of maintaining a coherence with the temples in the surrounding areas. The project was assigned to Rail India Technical and Economic Services (Rites),'' said a senior official of the commerce and transport department.
"Apart from the engineering work, the Soura tribal art motifs on the walls of the bus terminal and the narration of the various tales relating to Lord Jagannath makes the place colourful," said Rites consultant Rajen Singha.
The walls of the newly opened flyover from Malatipatapur to Puri-Konark are painted with traditional Odia arts such as pattachitra.
"Display of artworks at public places will definitely popularise our art forms since lakhs of devotees will gather in and around Puri. We have to grab this opportunity,'' said Tarakanta Parida, the secretary of Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi.
