Sand eye on Rotary Day at Berhampur
Following the record for the ‘Largest human image of a foot’ on World Polio Day, Rotary Club of Berhampur, D 3262, entered the India Book of Records for the second time by creating the ‘Largest sand art of an eye’ as part of Rotary Day celebrations on Feb 23 which marks the 113th birth anniversary of the organisation.
“We always try to brighten the image of Rotary in many different ways with grand backdrops. This time, the idea was to see how the Rotary ‘eye’ sees the world, and we decided to make the biggest sand art of an eye,” said Rtn Bijay Bagaria, Project Coordinator.
Preparatory work
But to create such a giant structure, the club had to collect a huge quantity of sand weighing 120–150 tonnes for an image 90–100 ft long. The club then chose sand artist Subol Moharana who, along with his three-member team, agreed to create a giant human eye.
The entire process of stocking the sand and other material began on Feb 20 with trucks doing the rounds at the venue. Following this, the process of watering the sand was taken up to make it completely wet for moulding. “We hired labourers to pile up and water the sand. On Feb 22, Subol and his team started the art work. It took a whole night to finish the sand art,” said Bagaria.
The sand art is 100 x 20 ft, weighs around 100 tonnes, and the human eye created has the Rotary logo as its pupil, and has the message: See the world through Rotary.
Adjacent to the sand art promoting world peace, two other sand creations on tree plantations and blood donation completed the magnificent structure erected to mark the World Rotary Day. Berhampur legislator Ramesh Chandra Choupatnaik, PDG Narayan Mishra, club members and the media fraternity made the event a grand occasion to cherish. A large turnout of people witnessed the sand carving and the project was a big PR success for the club.
Speaking on the occasion, Club President Tapas Panigrahi dwelt on Rotary’s contributions to create a peaceful world and detailed various activities of his club. With the giant eye being illuminated, people at far off places could see the striking piece of art, with the Rotary logo at the centre, during the night, thus giving the club an image boost.
