Eminent sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik created a sand sculpture on Wednesday to salute the Indian armed forces with a message ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jay, Justice Served’, at Puri beach in Odisha.
Indian armed forces executed ‘Operation Sindoor’ in the wee hours of today, carrying out precision strikes on nine ‘terrorist infrastructure’ sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in response to the April 22 Pahalgam attack that left 26 civilians dead.
Sindoor turns into ‘strength’ and destroys the enemy
Pattnaik created a six-foot-high sand art where he showed how Sindoor turns into ‘strength’ and destroys the enemy. He has used about five tonnes of sand to create it. Students of his sand art institution joined their hands with him to complete the gigantic sculpture.
“We salute the Indian Army and Airforce through our sand art,” said Pattnaik.
Earlier in the day, Odisha carried out a civil defence mock drill across 12 strategic locations as part of a nationwide exercise prompted by the escalating tensions with Pakistan following the April 22, 2025, Pahalgam terror attack, which killed 26 civilians.
The extensive exercise, coordinated by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), aimed to enhance emergency preparedness, test civilian response mechanisms, and strengthen coordination at administrative levels, starting from district headquarters to village panchayats.
