HungHanks23355 at 20:44, 6 November 2024

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{{Short description|Hindu mythology frescos in Kerala, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=December 2019}}
[[File:Kris mural7.jpg|thumb|right|Gajendra moksham]]
'''Kerala mural paintings''' are the [[fresco]]s depicting [[Hindu mythology]] in [[Kerala]]. Ancient temples and palaces in [[Kerala]], [[India]], display an abounding tradition of [[mural]] paintings mostly dating back between the 9th to 12th centuries CE when this form of art enjoyed royal patronage.

The scriptural basis of these paintings can be found in the Sanskrit texts, ''Chithrasoothram'' - (Chitrasutra is a part of the Vishnu Dharmottara Purana, a book written in Sanskrit about 1500 years ago. It contains 287 short verses in nine chapters and a few prose in the second chapter. There is no other book on painting as detailed as the Chitrasutra. This book answers hundreds of questions about what a painting is, why, its purpose, role, relationship with the painter, connoisseurs, and other arts. Chitrasutra will be useful to understand the true Indian painting.)''Tantrasamuchaya,'' the fifteenth century text authored by Narayanan, ''[[Abhilashitartha Chintamani]]'' of the twelfth century and [[Shilparatna|''Silparatna'']] by Sreekumaran of the sixteenth century.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Nayar |first=T. S.|last2=Binu |first2=S. |last3=Pushpangadan |first3=P. |date=1999-01-01|title=Uses of Plants and Plant Products in Traditional Indian Mural Paintings |journal=Economic Botany |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=41–50 |doi=10.1007/BF02860791}}</ref> Iconography of the mythological character in murals are based on the Dhyanaslokas.<ref name=":1" />
[[File:Vaikom Temple Sreekovil Murals.jpg|thumb|Mural paintings in the [[Vaikom Temple]]]]

The murals of [[Thirunadhikkara Cave Temple]] (now ceded to [[Tamil Nadu]]) and Tiruvanchikulam are considered the oldest relics of Kerala's own style of murals. The masterpieces of Kerala mural art include: the [[Shiva]] Temple in [[Ettumanoor]], the [[Ramayana]] murals of [[Mattancherry Palace]] and [[Vadakkumnatha temple|Vadakkumnatha]] [[kshetram]].
[[File:Thodeekalam mural paintings2.jpg|thumb|upright|Thodeekkalam (Thodikkalam) Shiva Temple, Kannur district]]

Other fine mural paintings are depicted in temples at Trikodithanam, [[Vaikom Temple]], Pundarikapuram, Udayanapuram, Triprangode, [[Guruvayoor]], [[Kumaranalloor]], [[Aymanam]], the [[Vadakkunathan]] temple in Trichur, the Thodeekkalam temple in Kannur and the [[Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple]] at [[Thiruvananthapuram]]. Other mural sites are in the churches at [[Ollur]], [[Chalakkudy]], [[Kanjoor]], [[Edappally]], [[Vechur]], and [[Mulanthuruthy]],<ref>Menachery, ''St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia'', II, Trichur, 1973; ''Indian Church History Classics'', Saras, Ollur, 1998</ref> and at palaces such as the [[Krishnapuram Palace]] near [[Kayamkulam]] and the [[Padmanabhapuram Palace]].

== Revival ==
Although the traditional mural artisans were under the patronage of various rulers in Kerala, under British administration the art form suffered enormously, even at the danger of extinction. After India's independence in 1947, a revival of mural tradition in Kerala took place as major temples in Kerala. The Centre for Study of Mural Paintings, a school established by [[Guruvayur Devaswom Board|Guruvayur Dewaswom Board]] in the Thrissur district of Kerala under the chief instructorship of Mammiyoor Krishnan Kutty Nair, represents this revival phase,<ref name=":0" /> as does the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit in [[Kalady]] under the instructorship of [[Dr.Saju Thuruthil]].

== Technique ==
Traditionally the painting involves four different processes,

# Preparation of the [[Ground (art)|ground]] ([[granite]] and [[laterite]] walls)
# Sketching of the outline
# Application of colours and
# Addition of decorative details

Sanskrit texts discuss in detail the style, effectiveness of different colours, desirable combinations that could be brought out by mixing various pigments and methodology of preparing the base for application of colors and for preparation of colors from different natural sources in general terms.<ref name=":0" />

=== Wall preparation ===
Preparing a wall involves three stages of plastering the wall with different substances.

# Plaster of a mixture of lime and clean sand in the ratio 1:2.
# Plaster of a mixture of lime and sand in the ratio 1:2, and cotton (''[[Gossypium herbaceum]]''). Cotton is used to give a gleaming white texture to the wall.
# 25-30 washes of a mixture of [[quick lime]] and the juice of very tender [[coconut]].<ref name=":1" />

=== Colour preparation ===
Traditional murals used ''panchavarana'' ({{Langx|sa|five colours}}) exclusively i.e. red, yellow, green, black and white,<ref name=":1">{{Cite journal|last=Mini|first=P. V.|date=2010|title=Preparation techniques of pigments for traditional mural paintings of Kerala|url=http://nopr.niscair.res.in/handle/123456789/10308|journal=Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge|volume=9 |issue=4 |language=en-US|issn=0975-1068}}</ref> white being the colour of the wall itself. Colours are prepared from vegetable and mineral pigments. Red is derived from red [[laterite]], yellow is derived from yellow laterite, white from [[Limestone|lime]], and black from oil-lamp [[soot]]. Leaves of ''Neelamari'' (Indian Indigo; ''[[Indigofera tinctoria]]'' ) plant are squeezed and the extract is used after drying up to be mixed with ''Eravikkara ([[Garcinia morella]])'' for obtaining the green pigment. Wooden utensils are used for mixing the colours and the binding media used is derived from tender coconut water and extracts from the Neem tree (''[[Azadirachta indica]]'').<ref name=":1" />

The characters in the murals are coloured according to their [[Guṇa|characteristics]] as illustrated in the relevant Hindu mythological scriptures. Spiritual, divine and dharmic characters ([[Sattva|satwika]]) are depicted in shades of green. Those influenced towards power & materialistic wealth ([[rajas]]ic) are painted in shades of red to golden yellow. Evil, wicked and mean characters ([[Tamas (philosophy)|tamasic]]) are generally painted in white or black.<ref name=":1" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book |author=Kossak, Steven | title= ''Indian court painting, 16th-19th century.'' | location=New York | publisher=The Metropolitan Museum of Art | year=1997| isbn=978-0870997839 | url= http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/12335/rec/74}} (see index: p. 148-152)
*Sandhya Ravi (2015), [https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sandhya_Ravi4/publication/288854646_COLOUR_CULTURE_AND_IDENTITY_INFLUENCE_OF_COLOURS_ON_KERALA_MURAL_ART/links/56b060ef08ae9ea7c3ae31a3/COLOUR-CULTURE-AND-IDENTITY-INFLUENCE-OF-COLOURS-ON-KERALA-MURAL-ART.pdf Color Culture and Identity: Influence of Colors on Kerala Mural Art.] IJASOS- International E-Journal of Advances in Social Sciences, Vol. I, Issue 3, December 2015
*Poyil, M. (2011). [http://www.jstor.org/stable/44145735 THODIKALAM MURAL PAINTINGS: FEATURES, MEANINGS AND TECHNIQUES]. ''Proceedings of the Indian History Congress,'' ''72'', 1239-1246.
*{{Cite book|title=Temple Arts of Kerala: A South Indian Tradition|last=Bernier|first=R. M.|publisher=S. Chand|year=1982|isbn=978-8121901109|location=New Delhi}}

==External links==
* {{commons category-inline}}
{{Culture of Kerala}}

[[Category:Murals in India]]
[[Category:Schools of Indian painting]]
[[Category:Arts of Kerala]]

Kerala mural painting - Revision history

HungHanks23355 at 20:44, 6 November 2024