Rice is a living heritage and art
Being so intrinsically bound to the cultures of Asia, rice has inspired artistes of all genres to glorify it through various art forms. So we have paintings, photographs, songs, poems, stories, sculptures, carvings, and a myriad of handicrafts on rice.

Love Rice: Breakfast – Lunch
Painting by Eric Quah, Malaysia

Other paintings by Eric Quah

Food
Rice is intrinsically bound to the diet and eating habits of the majority of Asians. It is consumed in many ways - steamed, parboiled, fried, as rice cakes, sushi, briyani, and pilaf, not to mention in the form of hundreds of snacks made from rice flour, powdered rice, puffed rice, and flattened rice. The list is endless and each region has its own variations. Rice flour is also used to decorate houses, while rice straw is used to thatch roofs and as fodder for cattle.

Customs and Rituals
Rice is revered in most Asian countries. In many communities, there is a goddess or mother figure associated with rice. In Bali, it is Dewi Sri or Bhatari Sri. In India, she is Annapoorna and she promises those who come to her what a mother gives naturally and freely—food. The Hindu goddess Lakshmi is usually associated with wealth and prosperity, but such prosperity is based on rice. In Thailand, the Thai call rice Mother Rice.