BHUBANESWAR: Ahead of the Rath Yatra, a Puri-based artist Saswat Ranjan Sahoo has created three miniature chariots of the Holy Trinity with matchsticks.Using 4,830 matchsticks, Saswat created the sculptures in 18 days. While the height of the chariot for Lord Balabhadra is 11.4 inch, that of Devi Subhadra is 11 inch and the chariot of Lord Jagannath is 11.5 inch. The chariots have been decorated with ‘sarathi’, parrots, horses and other sculptures that are integral to the Trinity’s chariots.
Hailing from Puri, 19-year-old Saswat has been creating sculptures with matchsticks since the pandemic. While his first sculpture was that of Lord Jagannath where he used 7,780 matchsticks, his works include a miniature version of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir.