By creating a 1.3cm-high miniature replica of Nandighosh chariot of Rathyatra in Puri, Satyanarayan Maharana of Odisha’s Berhampur has made an attempt to break his own past record of building the ‘smallest chariot’, which was mentioned in the India Book of Records 2020.
The previous chariot was 3.556cm X 3.302cm in dimensions, and weighed 3 grams.
The recent model weighs only 600 milligrams and has been made from small pieces of teak wood, coloured clothes and paint. “I will send its details to authorities of record books for recognition”, said Mr. Maharana, adding that it took him over four hours to make the chariot.
Despite being a miniature model, the 1.3cm-high replica has all the details of the original chariot of Puri Rathyatra, which is over 13 metres in height. It has an extremely small idol of Sri Jagannath on the chariot along with the ‘sarathi’ or the charioteer, 16 minuscule wheels, and even a tiny flag on its top.
Constructing miniatures is a passion for Mr. Maharana. In July 2019, he had constructed a 6.35cm-high and 7.62cm-wide replica of the same chariot that weighed 8 grams. In 2018, the 11.43cm high Nandighosh chariot made by him was mentioned in ‘India Book of Records’.
Mr. Maharana, 35, hails from a family of amateur sculptors and artists. His elder brother, Sanjay Maharana as well as his father, Subash Chandra Moharana make clay idols as a hobby. His younger brother Laxminarayan Maharana makes miniature sculptures from chalk pieces.