Sand art museum in Odisha’s Puri to attract international tourists

The Odisha government will set up a sand art museum at Puri which has been drawing increasing international attention in recent days. The tourists will be allowed to take part and practice the sand art in the museum.

“It’s my dream to set up a museum for which the next generation will remember me. I will also have the satisfaction of working for the cause of the art and artists. The government has allocated an acre in Puri for the purpose. But it it is far from the sea beach. To create sand art, one needs land near the sea, where tourists flock. For a sand art park, one needs to build a small gallery and pathway. Keeping this in mind, I have already requested the government to swap the land for a place near the beach,” said renowned sand sculptor Sudarsan Pattnaik.

“The government has agreed to the idea. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik is an art aficionado and has assured me that he will look into it. I hope that this matter is sorted out soon. Once I get the land, I will start my work. There are huge sand museums in Japan and the US. But here, we will start in a small way. I am reminded of the rock garden in Chandigarh, which began small but is now a major tourist spot,” he added.

Padma Shri awardee Sudarsan Pattnaik has represented India at sand festivals all over the world and won 27 prizes. He was recently appointed the president of the Odisha Lalit Kala Akademi.

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