Sasidharan’s sculptures awes public at Responsible Tourism and Textile Art Fest

Retired BSNL employee P.A. Sasidharan displays wood sculptures, lamp shades & more at the Beypore RT & Textile Art Fest.

There is always a crowd in front of P.A. Sasidharan’s stall at the Beypore International Responsible Tourism (RT) and Textile Art Fest held at the E.K. Nayanar Stadium at Nallur, Feroke. The onlookers are never tired of watching him work his magic on all kinds of wood sculpting them into faces, fishes, intricately twisted trees and whatnot. An occasional keen visitor even gets a chance to watch him closely or try a hand in wood carving.

An Ernakulam native, Mr. Sasidharan is a retired BSNL employee who engaged in full-time wood carving post retirement. He bagged the National Award in 2017 besides several awards and honours at the State level.

A chained axe perched on the map of Kerala has been displayed prominently in his stall. While it reminds one of the myth on formation of the State, Mr. Sasidharan has depicted it as a representation of the ‘Break the Chain’ campaign of the State government rolled out during outbreak of COVID-19.

A 360 degree sculpture of a tree with a human face behind is what fetched him a national award. Several sculptures displayed in the stall are inspiring. The sculptor is currently engaged in a work depicting the riot and the sexual attack on women in Manipur .

He often draws a picture on the wood and carves out his designs. But when the wood piece available is of interesting shape, he moulds his imagination to suit the shape of the wood. He has also displayed a few lamp shades made using coconut shells. The RT and Textile Art Fest concludes on Saturday.