Thread Garden, Ooty

The Thread Garden in Ooty is a popular tourist spot in Ooty that exhibits a collection of some of the most attractive artificial plants and flowers made by experts and skilful artists just by using thread, a unique and distinct art and craft seen only in Ooty.

The Thread Garden in Ooty is not a place where real flowers and plants are grown by means of cultivation but are done so by the use of exceptionally talented hands of specially trained artists. All the creative masterpieces that you get to witness here are the outcome of 50 skillful artists who are working extremely hard and for over 12 years have managed to produce some of the greatest art work ever seen.

The Thread Garden in Ooty aims at showcasing the creativity of these 50 artists who use only thread by means of only hand weaving technique to come up with such distinct elements of art work creation. This is a personification of true craftsmanship that one can witness in Ooty.

Therefore, the Thread Garden in Ooty is an altogether distinct art work venue. It is the outcome of a man who had a vision, mission and who believed that you could do more with thread rather than just stitching and embroidery work. This man is Antony Joseph from Trichur in Kerala, who gave up everything and dedicated his entire life to his dream and vision.

Over the years, many artists have joined the Thread Garden in Ooty following the path of Anthony to accomplish a lifelong task of dedicating their lives as well to this distinct ark form and hence have constantly strived to think out of the usual and come up with exceptional ideas and innovative and imaginative concepts of weaving threads into exquisite masterpieces.

The Thread Garden in Ooty believes in using only hands to produce unique illustrations of thread work and without the intervention of any machinery or other stitching methods. The result of the hard work of such expert hands is seen in the exquisite designs and creations that one can only marvel at and would want to grab a few souvenirs to take back home.

Antony Joseph, the founder of The Thread Garden in Ooty, states that all Stems, Leaves and Flower Petals are first fully wrapped with the chosen thread. To shape each Flower Petal and Leaf, a stiff canvas base aptly shaped inside. To further give the right shape to these Flowers and Leaves, tiny pieces of Bukram are tailor-made into the precise sizes on which different colours of threads are hand woven. For the Stem; copper or steel wires are used and for the Buds, the fibers of each Thread is utilized during the hand weaving process.

A visit to this Thread Garden in Ooty gives each visitor a chance to watch how each artist rotate their skillful fingers while holding the thread in a right position and spinning it around each shaped and stiff cardboard base in order to produce the effect of machine-made perfection and. This was named as the ‘Four Dimensional Hand Wound Embroidery Technique’ by Anthony.

In order to produce the life-like effect in the colours of the inner and outer edges of each leaf, the Thread Garden in Ooty artist weaves the required coloured threads on each different piece and then the entire bunch is carefully stitched together. Each leaf constitute of 30 parts in accordance to the natural patterns. All together, over 60 million meters of thread in 400 different colour shades are utilized to produce the effect of the entire spectrum of natural colour combinations.

The Thread Garden in Ooty does not use any printing or painting techniques to create the desired colour effect of each leaf. Each artist takes special care not to use any artificial plant and nurses each creation from moisture and dust in order to preserve its texture and colour.

The Thread Garden in Ooty was founded on December 2001 and since then, it has attracted over thousands of global visitors dropping by to catch a glimpse of the masterpieces in the making and also buy a bunch of these astounding crafts to carry back home as well.

The Thread Garden in Ooty is placed within a large rectangular shed room named as ‘Lake’ that looks like a tent from the exterior. This Shed measures 70 meter long and 10 meter wide. This is a unique floral venue where exquisite pieces of creation comes to life and can be purchased at a very affordable rate. As you enter, the vibrant profusion of colours will completely dazzle you with its stillness taking you into a world of virtual flora habitat.

The Thread Garden in Ooty exhibits about 150 pots of plants and flowers and yes, completely hand woven and artificial though as you enter, the first effect it creates is a natural ambience of a garden with real flora habitat. A closer look will make you realize and appreciate the marvelous hard work and result of the artists who have dexterously and meticulously created this garden of unbelievably life-like models of creepers, limbers, lawns, lotus ponds, plants and flowers, a sure treat for your eyes. Each skillful effect is so elaborate that even a computerized machine cannot produce such concentrated illustrations.

The Thread Garden in Ooty is an ideal place for educating the kids on the various aspects of preserving nature and instead to substitute them with such creations. In order to avoid discolouration of these flowers, avoid exposure to direct sunlight and artificial lights and since they are fixed to the base and placed within a glass enclosure, ensue that you cover them fully and make use of only cotton to clean the outer surface of the glass.

The Thread Garden in Ooty is situated near the scenic Ooty Lake and the entrance fee is only Rs. 10, a small price to pay for an exquisite exhibition. Still cameras are charged Rs. 15 each for usage inside the exhibition.