Kerala Mural Paintings

Origin of the Murals

Taking into account several murals which are dated: Two painted verses dated 1691 A.D in Pallimanna Siva Temple at Kumbalanad, Trichur, Murals in Sankaranarayana shrine of the Vadakkunatha temple complex at Trichur dated 1731 A.D, the Kerala Murals may be traced back to the seventeenth century and was at its artistic peak till the nineteenth century. The revival of the Bhakti Movement by great literary geniuses like Melapattur Narayanan Bhattatiri (1560-1646) and Putanam Nambudiri (1547-1640) saw the rise of temple arts through their devotional literature. Thus a number of temples sprang up with murals and woodcarvings in various temples on themes like the Puranas, Ramayana and the Mahabharata. This evidence also dates the murals to the mid seventeenth century. Though the evidence of murals is traced back to the post Ajanta period and a number of cave engravings found, there is no doubt that the Kerala Murals flourished between the seventeenth and the nineteenth centuries. Simplicity of subjects, technical excellence, thematic presentation, bold but delicate strokes, bright and beautiful colours, idealistic reproduction of humans, animals and trees are what characterize Kerala Murals. Subjects taken out straight from the Puranas or Ramayana or Mahabharata are illustrated highly stylistically and brilliantly. It brings out a certain depth of human feelings of passion and spiritual endeavor. In conception and composition, the murals have attained its highest artistic excellence. The dignified poise of the figures with expression of the faces that is so graceful yet dynamic is an important feature in a Kerala Mural. Every character appears to have their own charm from the beautiful and graceful figures of Gods to the devouring demon. Even a demon in an act of destruction spells out charm and whose activity is appreciated and admired thus displaying an artistic skill and brilliance. .The great and distinctive art displayed in these paintings reveal a wonderful vitality and intensity of feeling, meditative charm, divine majesty, decorative delicacy, unique verisimilitude, subtle charm of colour, fine texture and marvelous draughtsmanship. (K.P. Padmanabhan Tampy in Mural paintings in Travancore) Hoysala Art is far from the Kerala murals in terms of technique and style but with regards to ornamentation of the figures, it follows more or less a similar style. Over ornamentation of figures is what brings Kerala Murals and Hoysala Art together. Both male and female figures are heavily jeweled and beaded. The colours are bright and vibrant.

Themes of Kerala Mural Paintings

The subjects and themes in the murals are centered on the Hindu pantheon of Gods and Goddesses drawn from the description in the invocatory verses or Dhyana Slokas. More common representations are of Vishnu in different incarnations, Ganesha, and manifestations of Siva. We see murals in the Pallimanna Siva Temple devoted to Siva-Parvati.s marriage, the Ramayana Story being narrated on the walls of the Mattancheri Palace and in the Sankara Narayana, the Mahabharata is retold. Padmanabhapuram Palace houses murals depicting puranic themes from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and Krishnapuram Palace at Kayamkulam has a large panel of Gajendramoksham from the first half of the eighteenth century.

Panayannarkkavu Murals are based on Hindu mythology painted on the walls of Sapta Matha temple of Panayannarkkavu and Ettumanoor Murals has scenes from the epics along with an imaginative scene of a music concert by Gods and Goddesses. Pundareekapuram Murals are various scenes from the Hindu epics and also the frolics of Lord Krishna. It would be interesting to bring into account the influence of the mural paintings on Christianity. On various churches like the St. George.s Orthodox Church has Christian murals bringing out biblical characters and narrating stories from the scriptures. Mar Sabore and Afroth Church at Akapparambu in the outskirts of Ernakulam also have murals of scenes from the bible. Interestingly St. Mary.s Church at Kanjoor has on both sides of its entrance a battle scene between the armies of Tipu Sultan and of the English East India Company. It is also apparent that the history of Kerala Murals has its origin in the temple walls and thus a study of Kerala Murals is not complete without pondering on the architecture of Kerala and its association with the murals.

Colours and techniques used in Kerala Mural Paintings

Panchvarna or the five colours yellow, red, green, black and white make up the colour scheme of Kerala Murals. They are prepared from mineral pigments and vegetables. The yellow and red colours are from minerals, green from juice of a plant locally called Eravikkara, black from the soot of oil lamps and white remains the base, which is prepared with lime. The blending of the colours is done in a wooden bowl with tender coconut water and exudes from neem tree. There are at least six stages before a Kerala Mural Painting is complete. Lekhya Karma is the first stage where sketching by pencil or crayon is done. The second stage is the Rekha Karma which enhances the outlines of the sketching done. The third stage called Varna Karma breathes life into the painting with its colours. Here all colours are approriately filled in. The colouring of the human figures is done according to the characters and their common virtues. The divine and noble characters (Saatvik) are painted in green, those inclined towards power and wealth (Raajasik) is painted in shades of red, lowly mean characters (tamasik) in white and demons in black. In the fourth stage or the Vartana Karma, shading is done. Fifth stage called the Lekha Karma brings us to the final outline of the painting which is usually in black. The final and the finishing touches stage is called Dvika Karma. The walls are first plastered with lime and sand mixed with water and juice of Kadukka to a thickness of about half an inch that forms the base of the painting. After allowing this to dry another coating is plastered on the coated surface to a thickness of about 2mm. Finally a mixture of lime with tender coconut water is applied for the white colour. Originally, three types of brushes were made and used: flat, medium and fine. Flat brushes were made from the hairs behind calves. ear, the medium from the bottom of goat.s belly and the fine brush from delicate blades of grass. However in due course of time and change, use of easily available brushes from commercial market and shading of the original colours can be distinctively noticed. The use of blue colour is also noticed over the passage of time. The paintings have been brought down from the walls to plywood, cloth, paper and other frames for easy to make and use purposes.

Kerala Murals now

A fire broke out in Guruvayur Temple in 1970, which burnt down the walls and the murals. When the temple authorities wanted to renovate the temple walls and paint them again they found that there were very few artists who could take on the responsibility.

If not for few artists like Mammiyur Krishnankutty Nair, M.K Sreenivasan and K.K. Varier who took up the task of recreating the murals we would not have been able to enjoy the wonderful works of art in the temple now. But this incident made them realize the need for preserving and continuing the tradition.

As a result, the Institute of Mural Painting, Guruvayur Devaswom was established in 1989. The Institution is situated inside the temple premises and offers a five-year course taught in a traditional pattern.