Building tangible castles in sand

One of the main attractions of a sandy beach, especially for children, is playing with the sand, with more possibilities than a sandbox. They make mountains, pits, canals, tunnels, bridges, sculptures, statues, building models etc to spend their time. 

A sand castle is a type of sand sculpture which resembles a miniature building, often (but not always) a castle. The two basic building ingredients, sand and water are available in abundance on a sandy beach, so most sand play occurs there or in a sandpit. A variant on the sand castle is the drip castle, made by mixing extra water in with the sand, and dripping this wet sand from a fist held above. When the slurry of sand and water lands on existing sand structures, the water is rapidly wicked away, leaving the blob of sand in place. The effect is Gaudi-esque. Sand castles are typically made by children, simply for the fun of making them. However, adults sometimes engage in contests making sand sculptures, in which the goal is to create structures which don't appear to be constructed just from sand; they can become large and complex.

Almost as much fun as building beach dams is deliberately breaking them to cause a flood. If the beach is at an ocean, or at a sea connected to an ocean then there can be tides. These tides add attractive dynamics: on flood-tides the rising water enters previously dry ditches and pits, and one can try to keep areas dry by dikes, etc; on ebb-tides one can try to keep water in a canal by deepening it and lengthening it, keeping it connected to the retracting sea. If one returns the next day much erosion is apparent--in fact only large excavations at all survive one excursion of the tide, and beach dynamics soon enough smooth out the surface, erasing everything.

The sand must be fine, or the wetted grains will not stick together. Dry sand is loose, wet sand adherent, except when it is too wet. Sand used in the construction may dry or get wetter, changing the integrity of the structure; "landslides" are common.

The main tools for construction are a shovel (although using the hands only is also common) and a bucket or other container to bring water from the sea to the "construction site". Also pieces of wood etc. can be used to reinforce structures.

Although not historically proved, there is an interesting story in the Orissan myths regarding the origin of sand sculpture. Poet Balaram Das, the author of Dandi Ramayana was a great devotee of Lord Jagannath .Once during Ratha Yatra (Car Festival), he tried to climb the chariot of Lord Jagannath to offer his prayer. However he wasn't allowed by the priests of the chariot to climb it and was insulted by them. With a great frustration and humiliation he came to the beach (Mahodadhi) and carved the statues of Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra on the Golden sand. Then there he started praying and worshipping these statues. His devotion was so strong and deep that the original statues vanished from the chariot and appeared at that place where Balaram Das was worshipped.

Although the above stanza has no solid historical support, it is evident that from the period of Balaram Das, the people of Puri are acquainted with the carving of sculpture on sand. The period of Balaram Das as mentioned in history was 14th century AD.

Sand sculpting has been around for many decades and has become very popular more recently with hundreds of competitions held all over the world every year. It has become quite sophisticated and can be found in the book of world records as well as in many commercial and promotional applications. Some advocates are purists using no artificial materials, no forms or colouring, no adhesive or heavy machinery.

Renowned sand sculptor Sudarsan Pattnaik, who shot to fame by winning the third Berlin International Sand Sculpture Competition at Germany last year, made a giant size sand art depicting a mother with a child and a drop of polio vaccine on the Pondicherry beach in commemoration with the National Immunization Day on May 21.

The sand art measures 20 feet and 20 feet. It took more than 36 hours to create the piece with sand and water, said the artist who hit headlines in the national and international media when he created a replica of the Taj Mahal in black sand just in front of the Taj Mahal at Agra.

Hailing from coastal town of Puri in Orissa, Sudarsan grew up on the shores playing on the sand. "As every little kid I too had the natural instinct of playing with the sand and sculpting miniature forms. But the real interest came when I started carving the faces of gods and goddesses in sand with my imagination and creativity when I was around 14 years," he said.

Sudarsan said he focused more on social themes like HIV/AIDS and polio immunisation. Armed with the artistic ability of making sand arts ranging from 50 feet and a few inches tall, Sudarsan aspired to popularise the art as a professional art form.

"I wish to involve more and more young people in sand art. I travel to various countries and host workshops to give demonstrations on this art form," he said. The artist has travelled more than 27 countries in his earnest effort to popularise the art.

The artist has now set his eyes on the ensuing Berlin International Sand Sculpture Competition at Germany. "I wish to retain title in the forthcoming international competition," he said.

It can be a very relaxing experience to create something out of sand and water, on the beach. Spending time shaping and carving the sand, slowly the sculpture appears, and for a moment seems to come alive. Sand sculptors only create half of the experience; the other half is created by the viewer.

Be it an hour or a day, alone or in a group of friends or family, sand castle play is increasingly seen as a leisure time activity for beach vacationers.