KalingaTimes Correspondent
Bhubaneswar, July 8: Internationally acclaimed sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik is likely to become the brand ambassador of Union Ministry of Tourism.

The artist was promised the position by Union Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni when he met her in New Delhi on Monday.

Sudarsan met Soni after she invited him to New Delhi following his winning the USF world sand art championship held in Berlin.

The Minister congratulated the artist and promised to declare him as a brand ambassador of his department.

Once a formal announcement is made declaring him as brand ambassador, Sudarsan will promote tourism through his sand art by creating different monuments and heritage of India at different places in the country and abroad.

Earlier, the artist had also created many monuments of India at different places in the country and outside.

During his meeting with the Minister, the artist also discussed about his dream to establish a sand art park in Puri.

The Minister said that she will request the state government to provide five acres of land for creating a sand art park, according to Pattnaik.

Sudarsan has so far participated in more than 37 international sand sculpture championships across the world and won many awards for the country.

He has also got the National Tourism award for most innovative tourism project-sand art for the year 2005-06.