Sudarsan Pattnaik to attend sand sculpting world cup

Bhubaneswar: Noted sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik Sunday said he has been invited to participate in the sand sculpting world cup to be held later this month in the United States. Pattnaik, 37, is the lone participant from India at the competition which would be attended by 19 other artists. Besides host country US, artists from Russia, Belgium, Canada, Singapore, the Netherlands, Ireland and Italy will take part in the event. Patttnaik told IANS that the competition would be held at Atlantic city June 15-29. Pattaik, who is a native of Odisha`s Puri town, said: "I am very happy to get this invitation. Each sculptor has been told to do their sculpture by using 10 tonnes of sand." Pattnaik, a recipient of the Padma Shri, has participated in over 50 international sand sculpture championships and festivals across the world and has won many prizes.