Sudarsan Patnaik of Orissa thought of a novel way to greet fellow artists and spread the message of Christmas.

On Thursday, Patnaik crafted a image of Jesus Christ in sand.

"The image, build on the sands of Puri beach, is about 15-foot-high and it took us 20 hours to complete," Patnaik, who hails from Puri in Orissa, told rediff.com.

The sculpture will remain till the New Year.

"The world is facing tumultous times and we want peace. Under such circumstances, we must remember Jesus' messages," he said.

Patnaik, who has already represented India in 23 international sand sculpture festivals, recently won public appreciation prize at Berlin for his sculpture Hanuman.

Text and picture: Giridhar Gopal

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What do you think about the story? Read what others have to say: Number of User Comments: 8 Sub: amazing This is amazing, it is simply superb, we will thank god for giving a nice sand artist for our nation, it really make india proud ... Posted by Rudalf Sub: Art, at his best This is amazing. How beautiful this is. Unbelievable. Tremendous effort. And really make India Proud. Posted by Sibabrata Sub: nice thing by god to us nice thing Posted by ganesh pol Sub: Word of Appreciation Congratulations of the great art work with the sand. Jesus still streched his arms with love and calling every one to him to find security ... Posted by Joseph Sub: simply superb This is simply superb. I have one question in my mind, how the sand structure will stay intact for so long? I blieve some other ... Posted by Mohd Azad