Sand art tribute to APJ Abdul Kalam

Bhubaneswar: Noted sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik Tuesday created a sand sculpture of APJ Abdul Kalam at Puri beach to pay tribute to the former President.

"Tribute to common man, Missile Man, Bharat Ratna, People's President," read the messsge on the four feet high sand sculpture.

Pattnaik recalled that Kalam had invited him for the first time to Rastrapati Bhawan in 2005 when sand art was not well-known in the country and encouraged him a lot.

"It was a great honour for me when Kalam gave me a cheque of Rs 3,000 from his personal account. Today, we have lost the nation's Missile Man, People's President with a simple heart and beautiful mind and soul who was an inspiration to the nation's youth," he said.