♦ Indian sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik won the Golden Sand Master award at the International Sand Sculpture Championship held in St. Petersburg, Russia. At Championship Pattnaik created a sand sculpture of Mahaprabhu Jagannath and his great devotee Balaram Das. 

♦ A total of 21 master sand sculptors from across the world participated in this championship, with Pattnaik being the sole participant from India.

♦ Pattnaik is also a Padma Shri awardee, India's 4th highest civilian award. He runs a sand art school at Puri Beach in Odisha.