Public spaces rarely evoke joy in India. The dust, traffic, motorcycles, cyclists, cars, autos, pedestrians, nonhuman animals wandering around, narrow streets and non-existent footpaths make street life a hodge-podge of frustration and impatience most of the time. Sometimes though, a piece of street art will stop you in your tracks as its beauty allows you to appreciate particular elements of life anew.

　　That is what has happened in the Ukkadam locality of Coimbatore. A mural depicting Tamil cuisine is attracting sightseers after it went viral on social media, and its artist has been flooded with praise and gratitude for bringing lightness to the streets.

　　Singaporean artist Yip Yew Chong painted an approximately 15m x 14m artwork on a four-storey building showing a tea seller pouring chai and a woman making a rice lentil pancake called a thosai. A huge banana leaf shows dishes like idli, medu vadai, dosai and uttapam with chutney, and a goat and cat peeking from its edges. At the bottom of the mural is a pani puri seller who served the snack in the evenings and who Chong decided to include in the artwork.

　　The painting is part of the Ukkadam Mural Festival by the St+art India Foundation whose goal is to make Indian streets more interactive through the medium of urban art festivals. Chong left a career in accountancy once his children were grown to pursue a career as a visual artist but this is not his first visit to India. It was the setting for his honeymoon and back in 2019 he had painted murals in the Lodhi Art District of New Delhi, again on the invitation of the St+art India Foundation. So far, the artist has painted around 60 murals in Singapore and close to 20 overseas.

　　It took nine days from start to finish for the mural to be completed. At the bottom, Chong added the Tamil phrase 'வாங்க சாப்பிடலாம்' which means 'Come, let’s eat', and is reminiscent of the typography used for wall advertisements in the city. He communicated with locals using simple English or through a translator. Visitors would let him know how much they loved his work by gesturing with 'supera' hand signals.

　　The Information

　　Where: Visit the Ukkadam Art District to see Chong's mural.

　　Reaching Coimbatore: Book a flight to Coimbatore International Airport and take a taxi to Ukkadam 12km away. Coimbatore Junction is the city's railway station but you can also drive there on national highways or state roads from your point of origin.