Creative expressions on paddy field

Praseedkumar Thayyil of Wayanad in Kerala has turned his farm to be a canvas of paddy art

Praseedkumar Thayyil, a progressive farmer in Wayanad district in northern Kerala, is making news with creative expressions on his paddy field. His farm has become a huge canvas for paddy art which involves planting different varieties of rice in an intricate design.

This year, tourists are making a beeline for his farm to view a huge image of Jesus Christ, 30X40 metres in size that has emerged when the spikelets started ripening in varying hues.

“I have used six varieties of rice seeds such as Ramlee and Dabarshala, Nazar Bath, Rakthasali, Krishnakaumod and Kalyani violet varieties to create a 3d image following the  Japanese art form called rice paddy art‘ or the Tambo art,” Mr Praseedkumar told The Hindu.

Paddy art is a painstaking process with the saplings planted according to a theme. “While the first two rice varieties created the outline of the image, the other varieties were used to fill it. Kalyani violet rice variety  is used to create the divine halo of the image,”  says Mr. Praseedkumar.

Artist E.D. Reji drew the huge image with the assistance of eight female workers. The young farmer spent ₹15,000 to complete the paddy art work.

“When I created my first paddy artwork, a map of India, seven years back, it attracted nearly 500 visitors but, when I completed the seventh work, an image of Lord Buddha last year,  it attracted more than 5,000 visitors to my farm at Kazhambu Vayal under Nenmeni grama panchayat,” he says.

His other paddy artworks include the images of two fish, Vivekananda, a vulture perching on a tree,  temple elephant Guruvayur Kesavan, and Lord Buddha.