Sudarsan Pattnaik is a world-renowned Indian sand artist from Odisha. He was awarded the Padma Shri by Government of India in 2014. He was born on 15 April 1977 in Puri, Odisha, India. In 1991, he started India’s first sand art institute in Puri where he taught children to learn this art form. Now he represents India in various international competitions and has had a chance to showcase his art in every part of the world. Various historical scriptures show that Puri beach was once considered as one of the main places where sand art existed in ancient times. Mr. Patnaik is just taking the legacy forward. So much so that he is also credited as the pioneer of sand art in India. Many students are getting trained and work with him. Despite of all this he didn’t got much support from the state or the central government. He has designed hundreds of sand sculptures. In the recent years people have started focusing on this art form. He has won many national and international awards for his creative designs and has recorded his name in the World records for sculpting the tallest Santa Claus and most Santa Claus image built on sand at Odisha ,  India.