Artist extraordinaire

Everything about the little village of Kallur in Thrissur is serene – the chirping birds, smiling people, small and cozy houses, ancient temples... A villager gladly directs to the destination, saying, ‘Go straight; you won’t miss the house’. A bumpy ride along the untarred road leads to a greener ambience but no one would miss the house – the brick red hexagon structure with tiled roof and a semicircular sit-out, a brass bell hanging at the entrance – exactly like a temple.

The man of the house, Parameswaran Kallur, stands there greeting with a smile.
“I built this home all by myself, 22 years ago,” he says, inviting the guests in. Inside, the temperature magically goes down as if it’s an air-conditioned space. The walls adorned by mural relief works, the red oxide flooring and the peculiar roof – with a hexagonal grilled ventilator window in the centre of the roof together offer a unique setting. “That is my idea. The window lets in the wind from all sides keeping the whole house cool always,” Parameswaran says, adding that except for the cast iron support of the roof, everything else including the handcrafted viswavyaleemugham at the entrance, the cement-gravel wall art, the relief murals of Lord Siva, the hollow walls, the grilled doors and windows, wooden, bamboo, reed mat furniture and the smokeless traditional oven made using mud and plantain shoot are his innovations. Even the well in the backyard was dug all by himself.

For this artist extraordinaire, everything is art – a banana flower, a piece of carrot, a garlic pod, a coconut shell, a bamboo piece, a palm leaf or even a little stone. He can make excellent art pieces out of them. Bearing a signboard titled ‘Kera Craft’, his work area in the little courtyard is full of craft works – a huge shivalinga made out of coconut wood, a three-feet-tall coconut tree using coconut shell , pens, camera, utensils, cookware, birds, mural replicas, epic characters – all made using coconut shells, wood, bamboo, mud, banana flower and palm leaves.

Even the frame of the spectacle he wears is his creation – the frame is made out of coconut shell and it has a curve, intentionally made to adjust his vision!
“I haven’t been formally trained in any of these. I started making these out of sheer interest and am inspired by artists around. There’s no such thing called waste material. Everything can be made into an artwork,” he says, pointing at his wall – the relief works are made using the ‘waste’ gravel from sieved sand.

Born to a family of nine, Parameswaran had an impoverished childhood. He wanted to join College of Fine Arts after school but couldn’t secure an admission there. “There’s no job I haven’t done: I have worked as a farm labourer, well-digger, salesman, cook, theatre person and even a manual scavenger!” But he never left his craftsmanship. He actively took part in every cultural activity in and around Thrissur, be it temple festival or theatre performance. Having associated with Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad for more than a decade, Parameswaran could hang out with many a big names such as legendary architect Laurie Baker, poets Kunjunni mash and Mullanezhi and writer Madambu Kunjukuttan.

His own house built on the five-cent ancestral land was his first experiment inspired from Laurie Baker’s Nirmiti model of architecture. The house where he lives with his wife Latha and children Vyshakh, Vivek and Vineeth was an instant hit and people invited him to provide ideas for their under-construction houses.

“I have built around 350 similar low-cost ovens for others and even after so many years, those are still in perfect condition, ensuring faster heating and complete utilisation of firewood,” he says. Not just that: Parameswaran has made relief art works and sculptures mainly for temples – like Ananthashayanam relief works, including his masterpiece, a 70-sq-ft work of the iconic posture. The temple near his house sports a beautiful tower with sculptures – a work he completed in five days! Back in 1988, he had coordinated the week-long National Children’s Fest which saw 4,600 students from all over the country in attendance.

Since 2002, he has been holding craft classes for children, college students, art students, teachers and differently-abled persons. Parameswaran’s interactive classes are quite addictive, too. They invite him every year once they attend his classes. “I’d rather call them personality development classes. Every person is an artist; what prevents them is introversion. Through my craft classes, people identify the artists in them and come out of their shell,” he says.

It’s obvious that he can easily manage a crowd with his interesting conversations laden with stories, anecdotes, poetry, animated actions and mimicry using leaves. One could even notice a faint resemblance with the most-loved children’s poet Kunjunni mash. Laughing about the reference, he says, “Everyone tells me this. I was once selected to play Kunjunni mash in a short film but I lost the offer for I am taller than him.” But he did bag a role in another short film – Ajinapathran earlier released this month.

Parameswaran, however, hasn’t been able to monetise his artistic talents. He never carries a price tag; takes money only if offered for his work. “These all are knowledge which I am happy to share and learn. There are no material benefits from knowledge. Everything works according to His proposition,” he says.