In a chocolaty tribute to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on his 76th birthday on Saturday, pastry chef Rakesh Kumar Sahu from Begunia of Khordha created a spectacular chocolate sculpture of Patnaik weighing around 72 kg. Sahu, who runs an institute of baking and pastry art at Tankapani Road here, took 15 days to complete the sculpture with the help of six of his students. An avid sports enthusiast, Sahu said he came up with idea to create  sculpture as a tribute to Patnaik keeping in view his steadfast support to Indian Hockey over  last few years, which resulted in a spectacular performance by the Men’s and Women’s National Teams in the recently-concluded Tokyo Olympics-2020. “The idea of doing something special for the man who stood by the national hockey teams like a rock during its lowest phase, struck me on the day when I was celebrating India’s bronze medal win just like rest of country,” he quipped. When he pitched the idea of making the chocolate sculpture to his students, they readily agreed to assist him. He later shared his preliminary designs with officials of Sports Department, who immediately showed interest in it. The artist said he and his team spent sleepless nights in the course of creating the sculpture due to temperature variation in their workshop. But their hard work ultimately paid off when the final sculpture turned out to be just as they had envisioned. Sahu and his team were overjoyed to see the sculpture finally unveiled by Sports Minister Tusharkanti Behera at the Kalinga Hockey Stadium here on the CM’s birthday. The concerned department decided to distribute the chocolate used to prepare the sculpture among disadvantaged children in adjoining areas after completion of its exhibition period.