TNI Bureau: Odia sand artist Sudarshan Patnaik made the state and country proud once again by winning an international sand sculpture championship held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Friday.

Patnaik’s 2.5-metre high sand sculpture of a mermaid appeals human to save the oceans, which are going polluted day by day. The sculpture, which delivers strong topical and social messages, impressed the juries and he was declared the winner of the championship.

Talking about the sculpture, Patnaik said that he wanted to draw an awareness sculpture, which depicted the burning issue of climate change that is a threat to human lives.

The strong message on the climate change fetched the first prize for him. Similarly, artists from Ireland and Russia bagged the second and third prizes respectively.

The eight-day event Copenhagen International sand sculpture championship had drawn the attraction of many artists from several countries to participate in the competition.

However, Patnaik was once again was applauded and appreciated for his work in the event. This is not for the first time the artist won an international event. Earlier, he has won many awards participating in more than 50 sand sculpture championships across the world.

Recently, he received a honorary doctorate degree from Berhampur University for his contribution in sand art and sculpture.