May 2 marks the 97th birth anniversary of Indian filmmaker Satyajit Ray. In order to mark the special day of one of the greatest filmmakers of the 20th century, Orissa sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik sculpted an exquisite creation at the Puri Beach. Satyajit Ray was born in Calcutta on May 2, 1921, in an affluent family full of writers who left a mark in the field of literature. His father, Sukumar Ray was a renowned Bengali writer in children’s literature while his grandfather, Upendrakishore Ray was a multi-faceted personality who excelled as a writer, philosopher and a Brahmo Samaj leader. The genes indeed passed on to Satyajit Ray, fondly called Manik Da who for his immense contribution in the field of literature and cinema was given the nickname ‘God’!

Satyajit Ray was just three when he lost his father. Their family was run on a paltry income of his mother Suprabha Ray’s. The legendary Bengali personality showed keen interest towards fine arts from an early age. On his mother’s insistence, Ray attended Visva-Bharati University at Santiniketan, founded by Rabindranath Tagore, wherein he learned about Oriental Art. A young Satyajit also gained knowledge about the Indian art courtesy the visits to Ajanta, Ellora and Elephanta Caves. That was about his early life and education. But what about his career as a filmmaker, we got to take a look at it.

The Indian writer-directed helmed 36 movies, which including feature films, documentaries and short motion pictures. His first film, Pather Panchali in 1955 won as many as 11 international awards including the maiden Best Human Document award at the 1956 Cannes Film Festival. Satyajit Ray gave the cinema world, the famous The Apu Trilogy, often cited as the most significant films ever made in Indian cinema. Satyajit Ray was also the creator of popular characters of Feluda, the fictional private detective and Professor Shonku, a scientist, which is still an integral part of Indian popular culture.

The master of Indian cinema had a record number of awards to his name. He had won 32 Indian National Film Awards, most prominent award in Indian cinema. He earned a Golden Lion, the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. Ray bagged a Golden Bear, which is the most top prize awarded for the best film at the Berlin International Film Festival and two Silver Bears, which is given to the Best Director is the Berlin International Film Festival.

Tribute to the legend who gave all new confidence, glamour and meaning to the world of Indian Cinema #SatyajitRay #BirthAnniversary #legend. I am sharing one of my SandArt. pic.twitter.com/guAqsKT3Em

— Sudarsan Pattnaik (@sudarsansand) May 2, 2018

To pay tribute to such an eminent personality, Sudarsan Pattnaik chose the best way possible – a well-crafted sculpture. The famous sand artist shared the image of his creation along with an equally respectful message, which reads: “Tribute to the legend who gave all new confidence, glamour and meaning to the world of Indian Cinema #SatyajitRay #BirthAnniversary #legend. I am sharing one of my SandArt.” We share the same emotion that Sudarsan has presented with his heart-touching words on Manik Da’s 97th birthday.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 02, 2018 09:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).