More than a 100 Santas are spreading awareness on climate change on the beach here. The 105 Santas of different sizes and seen in different postures have been made of sand by artist Sudarshan Pattnaik and his students.

Santas, spreading messages about "global warming", are coloured red while Christmas trees are green.

Two little girls from West Bengal inaugurated the exhibition here at the beach on eve of Christmas last evening.

"The girls were chosen to inaugurate the event because children love Santas," Pattnaik said.

Pattnaik said, "It took nearly 48 hours to create 105 Santas and Christmas trees. About 1,000 tons of sand was used in creating the statues," he told PTI.

Puri is the place where sand art started in the 14th century. "Besides, the tourist flow into Puri is another reason why I chose to build awareness about global warming through Santas here this time," he said.