Renowned sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik builds the world’s largest hockey stick

This time, not only the visitors traveling for the highly anticipated FIH Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar-Rourkela will be treated to sand sculptures at the airport, but one can also witness the world’s largest hockey sculpture erected on the banks of the Mahanadi river at Cuttack, where the ‘party’ event is scheduled for January 11 to mark the opening of the mega hockey event which begins January 13.

Sudarshan Pattnaik, known for his worldwide popular sand art, chose this time to make a 35 meter long hockey stick with 5000 hockey balls. The sand artist used more than five tons of sand for the sculpture that also shows the newly built Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela.

After taking two days to complete this incredible art installation, Sudarshan Pattnaik has once again displayed the passion Odisha has for the national sport.

“There is a festive atmosphere in every village you travel to in Odisha because of the World Cup. It is a very special event for the people of Odisha and there are celebrations everywhere. To welcome everyone to this beautiful state, we wanted to create something unique this time, that’s why we thought to use hockey balls and make this installation,” Pattnaik said in a Hockey India press release.

It took Sudarshan and his team of 15 students two full days to complete the installation and it will be on display throughout January 11 when thousands will throng Barabati Stadium to catch a glimpse of Bollywood stars who will perform at the opening ceremony.

“During the previous World Cup, we had installed sand art at Kalinga Hockey Stadium and the art piece depicted the main monuments of Odisha such as Konark. This time, we used the installation to welcome all 16 participating teams to Odisha and we made 16 national flags in the installation,” added a delighted Pattnaik about this unique creation.

Notably, Pattnaik was awarded Padma Shri in 2014 for his participation in a world-renowned sand art competition. To date, he has participated in more than 60 international sand art championships and festivals.

The sand artist not only represented India in such competitions but also won several awards for the country. It is worth noting that the artist uses his creative expression to spread a social message every time. He also holds the Guinness Record (2017) for building the tallest sand castle at 48 feet.

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