Berhampur: Sand artist Satya Maharana, 33, on Thursday created a chariot of Lord Jagannath measuring 4.5 inches high and 3 inches wide with a 1cm wooden idol of the Lord inside it.

With the creation, which Maharana claims to be the smallest chariot of the Lord, he eyes entry into a record.

Maharana already has 10 USA World Record Setters, three India Book of Records and two Global Book of Records to his credit for creating smallest artefacts.

"The chariot having 16 wheels and all the details took me two hours to complete. I constructed the sand chariot near the Bijipur pond with continuous spray of water on it," he said.

Legend has it that in the 14th century, Balaram Das, a devotee of Lord Jagannath and the author of Dandi Ramayan, was denied permission to ride the Lord's chariot in Puri. Humiliated by the temple priests and the then Puri king, Das came to the Puri Mahodadhi beach and built chariots of Lord Jagannath, Balabhadra and Subhadra out of sand. His devotion was so strong that the deities vanished from the original chariots and appeared on the sand ones built by Das. Later, the king and priests traced the deities to the sand chariots. To commemorate this event, even today the chariot pauses for a while at Balangadi Square in Puri.

"I have created so many sand arts on various occasions. But, the devotion of Balaram Das has a lasting impression in my mind. I did the chariot of Lord Jagannath on sand as an inspiration from him," he said.

Maharana had made three chariots out of sand measuring 15 to 17 inches height on the embankment of Bijipur pond just ahead of rath yatra in 2010. "Eight years later, I am able to construct the smallest chariot (one instead of three) at the same place," he said.

His three India Book of Records include three roadworthy wooden chariots of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Goddess Subhadra with 14 inches, 13 inches and 12.5 inches height, one Ganesh image consisting of 207 crafted soaps and the Shiv idol in chalk with 1 inch height.