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Watch: For Odisha hockey World Cup, 5-ton sand sculpture, 'world's biggest' hockey stick
The sculpture also showcases the new Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela - one of the venues for the event that starts Friday. The other venue is Bhubaneswar.
Amid the fervour of Odisha hosting the men's Hockey World Cup, famous sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik built a unique sculpture - a 105-feet-long hockey stick he claims is the world's biggest. The sculpture has been made on the banks of the Mahanadi River in Cuttack, where the curtain-raiser event for the mega event will be held later today.
A video of Pattnaik's creation has been shared online, revealing the sculpture embedded with fine details and also including around 5,000 hockey balls.
The sculpture was made with over five tonnes of sand and also showcases the new Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium in Rourkela - one of the venues for the event that starts Friday. The other venue is Bhubaneswar.
Pattnaik - assisted by a team of 15 students - completed the sculpture in just in two days.
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Speaking to ANI he said, "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 of using hockey balls and creating this installation."
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The sculpture provides an enthralling view for those heading toward Barabati Stadium where the opening ceremony is scheduled to take place today.
Explaining the significance of the sculpture, Pattnaik said, "During the previous World Cup, we had installed sand art at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium and the artwork depicted the major monuments of Odisha like Konark. This time we have used the installation to welcome all the 16 participating teams to Odisha and we have created 16 national flags in the installation."
