Indian artist on a mission to create world’s longest handwritten Quran

M Dileef is an Indian cartoonist and Guinness record holder who is on a mission to create the world's longest handwritten.

The handwritten Quran is projected to be a thousand meters long, of which 300 meters has been completed. The width of the canvas is the same as that of an A3–sized paper. Dileef plans to complete his work within 3 years.

The exhibition was inaugurated yesterday by School of Bhagavad Gita Trust chairman Swami Sandeepananda Giri.

Dileef has said that his effort was to promote the artistic and humane side of the holy book which often goes unexpressed.

"Calligraphy is an art form which was derived from the Quran but is often considered as an underrated art form. Calligraphy arts do not have a market or exposure in Kerala. Through this, I aim to highlight the beauty of calligraphy and at the same time shed light on the humane aspects like science, arts, music to the public. There is a misunderstanding that Quran belongs to one community but if you go through the Quran, you can understand that it actually tells us the importance of unity between humans," he voiced.

Sandeepananda Giri said, "In today's India, a swami being invited to inaugurate an exhibition of an attempt to create the longest Quran can only be witnessed in our state."

Dileef had previously created the world's largest badminton racket in 2017 which measures in at a height of 18ft and a width of 6ft, for which he holds a Guinness record.

Apart from this, he has a few more records for fashioning a 3,333ft tall caricature of Mahatma Gandhi.

He is also the creator of the world's largest ridable bicycle which measures at 8 metres in length and 5 metres in height, and the longest pen ever made in Kerala in 2018 that is 5 metres long.

Dileef's longest handwritten Quran will be exhibited in Sharjah, UK and Istabul in 2022.