From Waste to Wow: Malappuram Creates Asia’s Largest Waste-to-Art Pookalam

As Kerala prepares to celebrate Onam, Malappuram is giving the traditional pookalam a striking environmental twist by creating a massive floral-carpet-style artwork entirely from discarded household materials.

The installation at Kottakkunnu, billed as Asia’s largest waste-to-art pookalam, will be inaugurated by Industries and IT Minister P K Kunhalikutty on Friday evening. It has been jointly created by the Malappuram District Suchitwa Mission and Eco World Waste Management LLP as part of this year’s Onam celebrations.

Spread across 1,560 square feet, the artwork demonstrates how materials normally treated as waste can be transformed into a visually striking cultural installation. The project also carries a wider message about the importance of responsible waste management and keeping public spaces clean.

The materials used in the pookalam were collected from households in different parts of the district by Haritha Karma Sena members. After being collected and sorted, the discarded items were handed over for use in the artwork.

The scale of the installation is reflected in the materials that went into it. It includes 20,736 plastic bottles, 485 CDs, 138 food containers, along with sacks, aluminium foil and plastic covers. Nine artists worked for five days to complete the creation.

Designed around the theme of “green Onam”, the pookalam combines environmental awareness with Kerala’s traditional cultural identity. Its design features motifs of Kathakali and a chundan vallam, or snake boat, linking the recycled artwork to the state’s artistic and cultural heritage.

The initiative carries the message “Our waste, our responsibility”, urging people to segregate waste and place it in designated bins rather than allowing it to accumulate in public spaces.

The installation will remain open to visitors until August 31, offering the public an opportunity to see how recycling, art and festival traditions can come together in one large-scale creation.