Odisha artist to carve snow Ganesh in Japan

Bhubaneswar: Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik Sunday said he would create a sculpture of Lord Ganesh on snow in Japan next month.

"I am the only artist from India to have been selected to participate in the 40th International Snow Sculpture Contest that will start from Feb 3-8 at Sopporo, one of the largest cities in Japan," Pattnaik told IANS Sunday. Artists from 12 other countries including Indonesia, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, Taiwan, Daejeon (Korea), New Zealand, Hawaii, Portland (US), Malaysia, Finland and Chile are expected to participate, he said. Lord Ganesh is widely revered as the lord of learning, wisdom and success and remover of obstacles. I am going to create his image bearing a message on world peace, Pattnaik said. The height of sculpture will be three meters and it will take four days to complete it. Two of my students Badal Tarai and Bulu Mohanty will assist me, he said. Pattnaik, 35, a native of the beach town of Puri, about 56 km from here, last participated in the Sopporo snow festival in Japan three times in the year 2002 and 2007, 2012. In 2012, his sculpture on climate change had received wide appreciation. The artist has participated in more than 50 international sand sculpture championships across the world and has won many medals for his art works. IANS