Sheikh Mohammed Accession Day: World's largest greeting card dedicated to Dubai Ruler

This is Ramkumar’s 19th world record, and he also holds the most number of records in India.

The pop-up greeting card is 100 times bigger than a regular one and features a collage of Sheikh Mohammed’s paintings created by celebrated Dubai-based artist Akbar Saheb over the last 25 years.

With a closed surface area of 8.20 square metres, the card broke the previous record of 6.729 square metres set in Hong Kong. At 4 metres long and 2.05 metres wide, the card’s outer cover is the winning bid of Expo 2020 painting created by Saheb in 2013.

“I had been working on this for the last six months and was waiting for the most opportune time to break this record to make it very special for the nation. And there couldn’t have been a more auspicious occasion than the 15th Accession Day of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid ... I also dedicate this to the 50th anniversary year of UAE’s formation,” Sarangapani said.

Sarangapani, who has lived in Dubai for 17 years, said: “The visionary Ruler of Dubai is an inspiration and motivation for many across the world and I am proud to be living in a place like Dubai which is considered among the best cities in the world. I salute the spirit of the nation which is always determined to achieve newer milestones, thus encouraging its people to think big and strive for the best”.

Sarangapani said he connected with Akbar Saheb and requested to use his paintings for designing the record-breaking pop-up greeting card.

“The city and the Ruler of Dubai are a force to reckon with. His Highness holds a special place in our hearts while the world looks up to him for his visionary leadership, innovation and unique outlook. Hence, I always felt the need to show my gratitude, perhaps this is the way I can honour both the city and our Ruler in my own small way. If one day, I do get the opportunity, I would like to gift this card to His Highness personally,” added Sarangapani.

The card will be exhibited at the Numisbing Art Gallery, Doha Centre, Al Maktoum Road, Dubai, from January 4-18.

The entry is free, but restricted to seven people at any given time to ensure Covid-19 precautionary measures.

saman@khaleejtimes.com