Art of Kerala has a long history. Situated in the South-Western part of India, Kerala is a place of scenic and sylvan beauty, resplendent with greeneries, backwaters and coconut trees. The murals of Kerala dates back to 8th century AD and the style and content have gone through a constant phase of change and improvement over a period of time. Like any other traditional South Indian art forms like the Tanjore School or the Mysore School or the Kalamkari School, the Kerala murals are essentially iconic and had the genesis in the temple precincts. Wonderful pieces of visual art forms were created on the temple walls depicting scenes of Hindu mythology including the puranas and itihasas. The subjects for murals were derived from religious texts. Palace and temple murals were filled with highly stylised pictures of gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon, representing imageries drawn from the descriptions in the invocatory verses or 'dhyana slokas'. Flora and fauna and other aspects of nature were also pictured as backdrops in highly stylised forms. Created by environmentally friendly art materials these art works normally done in the earlier periods on the walls of the sanctum sanctorum and the multi tiered front elevation (Gopuram) of the temples were a visual treat to the eyes, reflecting the richness of our traditional culture.

Genesis:

Record evidences that the mural school of painting on walls (Suvar) began in Kerala with the rock paintings found in the Anjanad valley of Idukki district. These paintings appear to have had its genesis in the rock engravings discovered in two regions of Kerala, at Edakkal in Wayanad and at Perumkadavila in Tiruvananthapuram district. The Kerala mural styles seem to be related to the more ancient Dravidian art of "kalamezhuthu" and also significantly influenced by the Sittanavasal style. The mural tradition of Kerala could be traced as far back as the 7th and 8th century AD. It probably did come under the influence of Pallava art. The Nayak and Vijayanagar idioms of the South got amalgamated with local factors in Kerala, later.

Some of the oldest murals are found in the Thirunandikkara Cave temple, now a part of Kanyakumari district of Tamilnadu. Though only sketchy outlines seems to have survived the ravages of time, it is presumed that the cave must have once been richly decorated with paintings executed in the 9th or 10th century AD. Barring these murals the only other rendering belonging to this period (900 AD to 1300 AD) is in the Nedumpuram Tali temple in Trissoor. Interestingly it also has some information about the money paid to the mural painters for the work they have done.

Growth & Development:

There are evidences that from the mid-sixteenth century onwards the mural art of Kerala has got a major fillip. Artists of later age should have extensively used Silparatna, a sixteenth century Sanskrit text on painting and related subjects written by Srikumara. This work is rated as unique and apparently covers all the finer nuances of the painting encompassing the style, content and techniques. One can find several information on this subject in texts like Shilpa ratnam, Saraswatha chithrakarma sasthram, Vishnu Dharmotharam, Aparajitha Prijha, Samarangana Soothradharam and Abhilashitatma chinthamani.

The Krishnapuram Palace near Kayamkulam in Alappuzha district houses one of the largest mural panels depicting Gajendra Moksha. The Mattancherry Palace in Ernakulam district is famous for housing paintings based on the popular itihasa, Ramayana and the purana, Bhagavatha. We can understand more about these murals
at the Shiva temple in Ettumanoor. The murals of Kanthaloor temple in Trivandrum district (13th century) and those of Pardhivapuram (Kanyakumari district) and Trivikramapuram in Tiruvananthapuram (14th century), Pisharikavu and Kaliampalli in Kozhikode district are the oldest temple murals of Kerala. The period between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries AD saw an upsurge in the execution of the murals - the Ramayana murals of Mattancherry Palace and the paintings in the temples like Trissoor Vadakkumnatha temple, Chemmanthitta Siva temple and those at Kudamaloor and Thodeekkalam in Kannur district and Padmanabhapuram palace, Guruvayur. Murals can also been seen in various temples that dot Kerala and also churches like the St. George Orthodox Church near Alappuzha, St. Mary's Church near Ernakulam and Thiruvalla, Kanjoor and Ollur Churches in Kerala. The main chamber of the triple storied houses of kings called as "Uppirikka Malika" has its inner walls painted with exotic Murals of gods and goddesses, where in Lord Ananthapadmanabha occupies the centre stage.


Style & Content:

Kerala Mural is a stylised art form. The human and divine forms are rendered in a stylized form. With elongated eyes, painted lips and finely exaggerated eyebrows the rendering is typically stylised reflecting a particular school. The body features, hand gestures rendered with running curves and over ornamentation are other features. The figures of animals and birds are more naturalistic.

While the traditional paintings were made on walls in the olden days, today any surface like paper, canvas, cardboard, plywood and terracotta can find space for a mural. These kind of departure is required in order to sustain the interest in the art form. Murals are also done on pots, which are either made of clay or fibre. Even walls of houses, hotels, business centers and workplaces can be filled with mural painting. Traditionally, Kerala mural painting is done in five colours - yellow, red, green, black and white. The wall preparation for the mural painting is a laborious and time-consuming process. The line drawing is made initially on the prepared wall and subsequently the five colours are filled.

The process of getting a mural done is rather extensive involving minute technical detailing. Adherence to fine aspects is necessary to create murals, which are brilliant and exquisite. Compliance to the well-developed traditional practices and methods enhances the life of the mural.

Preparation of Wall:

Preparation of the surface on which the painting is to be done takes immense importance in executing a mural painting. Lime and dry sand are mixed, crushed and kept aside for four days. A solution of molasses prepared by mixing appropriate quantity of sugar with water is poured into the lime mortar solution and mixed well. This mix is spread evenly on the wall surface leaving the surface rough. In order to smoothen the rough surface, some more mortar mixture is finely prepared by grinding it well and this paste is applied on the rough surface to the thickness of two tamarind leaves and left to dry. Lime mixed with tender coconut water is filtered with a fine piece of cotton cloth and applied on the wall as the next coat. This process is normally repeated 21 times in the conventional method with the help of brush made out of beaten tree bark.

There is another method for preparing the wall for murals. Lime, with powdered Pisum sativum is mixed with jaggery in water and then boiled with soil and raw banana juice to make a paste. The paste is kept in a container made of wood and stirred daily, for nearly 60 days. Then it is mixed with Kadukka water or juice extracted out of a plant called Chunnambu Valli. The paste thus formed is coated on the wall and polished for final finish.

Colours:

Five colours (Panchavarna) namely yellow ochre, Indian red, Indigo, Sabgreen and lampblack are generally used. Blue, the one among the primary colours is given less importance in mural paintings. Yellow pigments are obtained from soft laterite. The soft laterite can be obtained from the ground covered with red soil. This laterite is ground well in manual stone mortar and put in water and the impurities removed by decantation. Then it is dried and preserved for further use. Decantation can be done multiple times in order to obtain a high quality clear pigment which is subsequently dried and kept for later use. For this purpose the Yellow and Red stones are separately processed. The quality of the colour essentially depends on the selection of the stone and proper cleaning. Blue pigment is made from the juice extracted out of indigo leaves. The liquid is purified by filtration and then dried. Leaves of plant called as Neelamari or Neelachetti is squeezed and the extract is used after drying up to be mixed with Eruvikkara for obtaining the green pigment. Alternatively Green colour is obtained by mixing and grinding blue colour with the sap (gum) of the 'eravi' plant. The black smoke deposited on the surface of a mud pot kept over a cloth soaked and dried in indigo extract and lit after moistening it with gingely oil is scratched and used as black. Cow dung mixed with its urine and filtered is used as brown colour. Some of the pigments are mixed with 'neem gum'. Some water is added and stirred well until a thick fluid is formed and subsequently decanted. All colours are prepared in the same way. In preparing black colour, the sediment is not removed as in the other cases. The colours thus prepared are used by adding appropriate quantity of water and neem glue before the painting is done.

Painting & Colouring

In the traditional method, a pencil called as Kittalekhini is prepared by grinding a black stone and mixing it with cow dung. Nowadays artists use different methods including the commercially available pencils, mostly in yellow colour.

An outline is first sketched using charcoal or dung crayons, which is then painted in with appropriate colours. Light yellow colour is also mostly used for sketching as pencil may spoil the purity of colours. Colouring of the characters goes by their virtue or characteristics - as defined in the Bhagavad Gita. The spiritual, divine and dharmic characters (Satva Guna) are depicted in shades of green. Those influenced towards power & materialistic wealth (Rajo Guna) are painted in shades of red to golden yellow. The evil, wicked and mean characters (Tamo Guna) are generally painted in white or black. Green and blue colours are to be painted only after applying two or three coatings of copper sulphate solution on the place where they are to be applied. In order to deepen colour, additional coatings are applied. Yellow, red, green, blue, black colours are to be used in that order and must be clearly demarcated by black lines. Care should be taken to ensure that other colours do not spill over the white area, as the mural does not allow using any special white colour.

Brushes:

The grass locally called 'Eyyam Pullu' in Kerala in the shape of arrow is used for making brushes. These grow abundantly in the riverbanks. Fully matured grass is boiled with paddy. Then the chaff or the weaker part is removed and fastened together. This is the brush. This brush is tied to a small bamboo stick. The thickness of the brush is adjusted according to needs.

Conclusion:

Every piece of the traditional murals of Kerala skillfully executed by master artists takes hours of breath taking appreciation. A perfect pristine art from. Resplendent with bold colours like red, yellow, green, blue, apart from black and white, these stylised renderings reflect a rich heritage of our past. Renderings which not only captures the beauty of a fine art but also the ethical values of human life.