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Thousands of local people as well as tourists from both inside the country and outside had gathered on the beach to have a look at the colourful structure which is expected to figure in the coming edition of the Limca Book of Records.Talking to Deccan Herald, Patnaik said it took him nearly 30 hours to create the 25 feet high sand Santa Claus. He was assisted by 15 of his students including seven girls from his Puri-based Golden Sand Art Institute. Six hundred tonnes of sand was used to create the structure.
The well known sand artist who had already won more than 35 international sand art championships including world titles said he had decided to dedicate his latest creation for world peace in this troubled time. “Peace is the only battle worth waging. We must give peace a chance”, he said.
Patnaik said, the sand Santa Claus created by him on the Puri beach was likely to be included in the Limca Book of Records as the record book authorities had given him their consent to create the sculpture. The Puri-based sand artist has already registered his name in the record book for creating the longest (100 feet) sand Santa Claus which was also created on the Puri beach during Christmas in 2006.Meanwhile, security arrangments have been beefed up across the state in view of the Christmas celebrations on Thursday. Security has been tightened particularly in tribal dominated Kandhamal district in view of the recent Hindu-Chirstian communal riots in the district.
Security has been provided to major Churches across the state including those in Kandhamal and Bhubaneswar.
Union home minister P Chidambaram had two rounds of discussions with the chief minister Naveen Patnaik over telephone on Wednesday on secueity arrangements in the entire state particularly in Kandhamal.
