मंगलवार, 20 अगस्त 2013

Kerala Mural Painting In India

You can’t escape without having esteem towards Kerala mural art. There was a time when this art was meant exclusively for sacred walls and royal palaces. You will certainly be mesmerized by earthly walls where deities transfix silence. Archaeologically, Kerala stands second (Rajasthan being the first one) in containing biggest collection of vital mural sites. The frescos that illustrate legends and mythology are Kerala mural paintings. They adorn the churches’ and temple walls of South India, mainly in Kerala. Ancient churches, temples and palaces of Kerala showcase the traditional affluence of these mural paintings. They were fashioned with vegetable colors and natural pigments. Scrolling down will bring you more info about these mural paintings.

Origin and Development
The colors that rule the Kerala mural paintings include ochre-yellow, bluish-green, ochre-red, pure-green and white. Sources to prepare these colors are natural like chemical and minerals derived from stones, earth, roots etc. and vegetables. For instance, black is prepared from oil-lamps’ soot, yellow from arsenic sulphide (realgar), red from red lead, vermilion and lac, green from Eravikkara (a local mineral), lime is the source for white color and blue is drawn from plants such as Indigo ferra. Colors are mixed only in wooden containers. Binding media is drawn from Neem tree extracts and coconut water. Specific grass type and trees’ roots were used for brush-making. Sharpened pieces of bamboo work to draw the murals’ silhouette.

Style
Kerala murals are distinctively celebrated for emphasized exquisiteness, symmetry and lucidity. Great stylization is visible in human figures. Birds and animals are depicted in natural poses. Elaborate costumes, gestures and facial expressions are stylized and theatrical elements (Kath kali and koodiyattam) mark their source. Typical characteristics of mural artworks include round and wide-open eyes, exaggerated eyebrows, elongated colored lips, dramatic body poses and over embellishment.

Kerala murals’ are unmatched in terms of linear accuracy. Their styles can be traced back to prehistoric Dravidian art- Kalamezhuthu. A better developed art form, this included filling up and sprinkling various color powders in sketched outlines made with powder. It is likely that initial Kerala murals with their architecture were immensely under Pallava art influence.

Contemporary Murals and Muralists
A new genre of artists is actively partaking in the process of reviving the mural art in its traditional flavor. They are dedicated to research and teaching of mural art in Kalady at the Sree Sankara Sanskrit College. Also, their efforts are in full fervor at a mural art school which is connected to the Guruvayoor temple.

Contemporary ones and artists who came up during later years refer to Silparatna- a Sanskrit text of 16th C which describes painting and associated subjects. Sri Kumara is the author of this work. The dissertation has enjoyed acclamation of being an uncommon work on Indian art techniques. Such work never came up either before or after this one. Eminent names among today’s Kerala muralists are Suresh Muthukulam and Chitra Ramanathan. Both are highly celebrated for their works of this art.

Masterpieces
Kerala mural art masterpieces include the the Ramayana murals of Vadakkumnatha kshetram and Mattancherry Palace, Padmanabha temple sanctum’s mural works of Thiruvananthapuram and the Shiva Temple at Ettumanoor. In case of church frescos, more attention is paid to realistic depiction of human anatomy, whether more or less. The churches of Akapparambu, Ankamali and Cheppad hold great significance for old wall-paintings they have. A number of mural paintings’ classics have not passed the test of time. Only outlines in sketchy form remain today.


Art and culture of the state can be understood by scrutinizing Kerala mural paintings closely. The creativity included the best from varied aesthetic and cultural influences to which it was open. Still, it has managed to retain as well as maintain its individuality. Overall, Kerala mural paintings are instrumental for distinguishing school of painting for which pictorial form’s masters have worked to develop it. They can create conflict vitalities with grandeur again as well as the fury and grace of gods and goddesses respectively, delight of love, pain of separation and the ecstasy of reunion that is embedded in wall painting tradition of India.

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