PETALING JAYA, Sept 17 ― A sand artist from India has received praises online after designing a sand sculpture of India’s prime minister Narendra Modi for his birthday using 2,035 shells.

Sudarsan Pattnaik, a renowned sand artist created the art piece for Modi’s 71'st birthday today at Odisha’s Puri beach.

"May God bless him with a long and healthy life to serve mother India.

"Happy Birthday Modi Ji,” Pattnaik wrote on his Twitter account earlier this morning.

The post on Twitter has received over 7,000 likes and has been retweeted over 1,000 times.

Twitter user @SatChitAnand_ wrote, "This is so amazing. Love the shells used as decorations.”

Another user Bijoy Kumar Mishra wrote how Pattnaik’s sand art presentation is praiseworthy.

"Amazing sand art and you are a gem of the world,” he wrote.

Pattnaik, a self-taught sand artist often creates sand sculptures to raise awareness on social issues and has appeared in numerous newspapers and websites.

The government of India has also honoured him with the Padma Shri which is India"s fourth-highest civilian award in 2014 for his sea shore sand sculptures.