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The Kedah Paddy Museum has nothing to do with Irishmen. It is dedicated to the rice plant, paddy, the world’s most important crop.
The word “paddy” is derived from the Malay word “padi” meaning rice plant so it is appropriate that one of the world’s few rice museums should be in Malaysia.
The other rice museums are the Gohan Museum in Yurakucho, Japan and IRRI’s RiceWorld in Los Baños, Philippines.
The Paddy Museum is big, with an area of 12,000 square metres spread over three floors.
The architecture of the building is designed to symbolise bushels of harvested rice stalks.
Rice motifs decorate the external facade and are used on railings in the interior.
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The museum explains the rice cultivation process, displays different varieties of rice, as well as showcases the equipment and tools used in rice cultivation through the ages and in various countries.
On entering the museum you will be directed to a spiral staircase decorated to resemble the interior of a cave, possibly inspired by the cave in Gunung Keriang, located a short distance away.
The stairs lead to the top floor of the museum and you will emerge onto a revolving platform equipped with 40 cinema seats from which visitors can admire a 360-degree diorama and mural painted on the entire inside wall of the upper level.
Apparently the mural was painted by a team of 60 North Korean artists, who from the looks of it, did an excellent job in creating a realistic panorama of the paddy fields and scenery found in this part of Kedah.
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Elsewhere in the museum, the exhibits are spread around thinly and there is quite a lot of under-utilised space. With rice grains being so small it is difficult to fill a 12,000 square metre museum but it is still well worth visiting if only to see the murals.
Opening hours
Open daily from 9am-5pm (Closed from 12.30pm-2.30pm on Friday).
Closed on Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Hari Raya Aidiladha.
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Muzium Padi
Lot 798 Jalan Gunung Keriang, Mukim Gunung Keriang
06570 Alor Setar, Kedah Darul Aman
Tel: 04 735 1315
This article first appeared in malaysia-traveller.com
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