A.P. sand artist to depict story of Lord Ganesh through 15 sculptures

When an artist masters one form of art, they gradually become experts at others too, said Akunuru Balaji Varaprasad, a skilled sand artist and art teacher from Vijayawada.

It is this belief that took him from sketching and painting in childhood to sand sculpting in his Intermediate days and later on to ice and wood carving as well. All of these skills came to him naturally, and he practised continuously for 13 years to hone them.

At present, Mr. Balaji Varaprasad, along with his team of six members, is working on depicting the story of Lord Ganesh through 15 sand sculptures. The sculptures will be placed in a pandal near Sitara Centre in Vijayawada. Instead of having a regular Ganesh idol, Mr. Balaji Varaprasad is giving the festival an eco-friendly and a novel touch.

While such sculptures are made using sand sourced from beach, the organisers have used river sand. “We required 35 tonnes of river sand for the sculptures,” he said.

Explaining the process, he said that first they make a sketch of the idea on paper, and then sculpt images on sand, using water. Once the desired output has come, they give a glue coating to put it all together and finally paint it. The sculptures thus made do not fall apart and can be preserved for two years, he said.

“Sand sculpting is not as difficult and time-consuming process as wood or rock sculpting. However, while making it can break sometimes,” he said, adding that he would be participating in an ice sculpting contest in Europe later this year.

Hailing from a agriculture family in a village of Kaikuluru mandal in Eluru district, Mr. Varaprasad started sketching and painting when he was in Class V. Once during his Intermediate days, he went to the Perupalem Beach and sculpted ‘Samudra Sundari’ without any tools on the beach sand, which found a place in a leading Telugu newspaper and drew widespread appreciation.

“It was a defining moment for me. It inspired me to do more,” said Mr. Balaji Varaprasad, taking time off the sculpting work. From 2006 onwards he has made more than 700 sand sculptures, most of them in the Perupalem, Manginapudi and Bapatla beaches.

After finishing MBA, he went for Bachelor of Fine Arts programme. “I was never satisfied with other professions. I always used to quit jobs in four to six months. I found myself coming back to what I have always been passionate about,” said Mr. Balaji Varaprasad.

He finally got recognition for his work in 2011, when he took part in the Konark International Sand Art Festival, organised by the Odisha government. In 2018, 2022 and 2023, he received the first prize in the competition and participated in international competitions in Qatar and Europe. He has also found a place in Wonder Book of Records, India Book of Records and Telugu Book of Records.

While the present Ganesh sand sculpture near Sitara Centre is a temporary one made for the pandal, his dream project is to set up a sand art museum in the State and has submitted a proposal to Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu. “While the Chief Minister responded positively, I am waiting for the moment it becomes a reality,” he said.