From correspondents in Orissa, India, 08:31 PM IST

Sand artist Sudarsan Patnaik Monday created an image of a rifle out of sand in Bangalore to congratulate shooter Abhinav Bindra who made history by winning the country's first individual Olympic gold medal in Beijing.

"I and seven of my students created an image of a rifle using about five tones of sand," Patnaik who is a resident of Orissa's Puri city told IANS from Bangalore.

"The image is ten feet long and we will send a photograph of the image to Bindra. The image also has a message congratulating him." he said.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)