History, Style, Colour system and techniques of Traditional Mural Paintings of Kerala
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| Lord Ganapathy |
Kerala, the southernmost state in India, is blessed with the glory of an architectural lineage and
cultural heritage.Among the state of India, Kerala has a pride of her own in fostering the art of paintings of old and has to her credit excellent murals and frescos. quantitatively Kerala has the second largest number of important Mural sites.
cultural heritage.Among the state of India, Kerala has a pride of her own in fostering the art of paintings of old and has to her credit excellent murals and frescos. quantitatively Kerala has the second largest number of important Mural sites.
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| Lord Krishna |
Evolution
Mural paintings reflect the feelings of Indian spirituality prismed through the age-old mythologies and spirituality. The Kerala mural painting is interlinked with the other art forms such as traditional wooden sculpture, Kalamezhuthu(Floor Paintings), Tholppavakkoothu(leather Puppetry) Theyyam, Koodiyattom and Mohiniyattom.
The splendour of Murals painted on the outer walls of the Sanctum Sanctorum of our temples makes the enthusiasts spellbound.Warmth and grandeur of colour combination, the sumptuousness of the outline, a crowding of space by divine or heroic figures often with invigerous movement are the characteristics of murals.
Kerala is considered to be very rich in Mural Painting, perhaps second only to Rajasthan in India and most of the Kerala Murals are dated between the 16th/17th century A.D.Temples Palaces, Churches are decorated with Mural Paintings.Though very few documentary evidence is there to date accurately the architecture of Kerala, stylistically many scholars have divided into three phases.The temple architecture has been divided early(800-1000)A.D.Middle(1000-1300) A.D. and late(1300-1800)A.D.
In the last phase with the incorporation of other forms of Visual Arts like Wood Carvings, Sculptures, and Paintings of temple walls. A balance has been forged between Kerala architecture and decorative arts. It was mainly a period of Wooden Architecture and Wood Sculptures. Forms in Murals, Stones and Metal Sculptures were indeed virtual imitations of their Wooden Prototype. It was a period of the great literary movement born out of the new Bhakti cult and there is enough material (Archeological and literary) to reconstruct the picture of the late phase of the art activities in Mural Painting.
The walls of the Sreekovil (Sanctum Sanctorum) and Gopuram are the prominent places where paintings are generally seen in temples.Apart from Hindu temples a few churches also have Mural Paintings with Christian iconographic features.Among the Hindu pantheon of Gods Vishnu, Siva, Goddess, Ganesha, Sastha, and a number of combinations of figures were depicted.The different incarnations of Vishnu and manifestations of Siva and Goddess were some of the favourite themes for Mural Paintings.
Gods and Goddess do not have any mortal world of background or environment but totally are enraptured in an ethereal ecstasy of delight.The artist would not behold any celestial or mythical being in common circumstances nor the devotees would have accepted it.
Kerala Mural painting tradition strictly follows the 'Panchavarna Principle' (Five Colour) in colour rendering which can be seen in other art forms of Kerala also.White, Yellow, Red, Green and Black are the five clours.
An ideal and perfect Sreekovil architecture has 'Panchamala'(Five Garlands).They are 'Bhoothamala' (garlands of Demons and Dwarfs) 'Mrugamala'(Garlands of Animals)'pakshimala'(Garlands of Birds)'Vanamala'(Garland of Flowers) and 'Chithramala'(Garland of Paintings).
Bhoothamala and Mrugamala are reliefs coloured traditionally with the Panchavarna Pigments.Mrugamala consists of animals such as Elephants, Lions, Cows and Deers engaged in combat and in lovemaking.Bhoothamala shows all the activities of the spirituality of the human beings. Without any reservation, even wild and erotic scenes also overtly shown. from birth to death human life is an enigma and the philosophical involvement with spiritual dimensions can create a holistic attitude towards the human excellence.
'Pakshimala' shows rows of Parrot like birds doing all the natural activities at their existence.Pakshimala can either be a relief or be a painting.
'Vanamala' denotes the forest. The flora and fauna are systematically encoded in floral motifs.
Below the four 'Malas' in between the decorative pillars, the significant 'Chithramala' is the pictorial space for Mural Painting of Kerala.
The 'Thriguna' of the characters are encoded in the colour system such as Yellow and Red for 'Rajas', Green for'Satwika' and White for 'Tamas'
The Preparation of wall for the traditional mural painting of Kerala is an elaborate process.It is done in three years.
the cleaned sand and lime are mixed and kept wet for about two weeks. At the time of plastering the wall, this mixture is ground and applied on the wall as the first stage of the process. The water used for mixing the lime and sand contain Jaggery, the juice of Myrabolen and the extract of 'Cissus Glauca' called as Unjalvally in Malayalam.
When the first layer of plastering is dry the second stage is done. the first plastering is a little rough on which another layer is added to make it smooth. For this cotton is used along with sand-lime mixture.It is ground well to make it very smooth. Cotton is used because it absorbs the pigment when it is applied.It also keeps the quality of colour. Moreover, it prevents the plastering from peeling off. The thickness of the second stage of plastering is 1/2 the mm. Then the wall is allowed to dry.
The third stage is a kind of a wash. On the smooth drywall, the mixture of lime water and tender Coconut is applied. The brush is moved horizontally and vertically a number of times to make the surface smooth. The thickness of this wash is that of a Tamarind Leaf.
Once the wall is ready the painting can be done. First, the sketch is drawn.
There are only five colours in traditional Mural Painting of Kerala. Of the five colours, four pigments are prepared from nature itself.Yellow, Red, Green and black are prepared from nature while White is on the surface of the wall itself. The colour is applied in the painting in the sequence of Yellow, Red, Green and Black.
Yellow: Soft Yellow stones are collected and washed well. The stone is ground well then it is made into a soft smooth paste. This is collected and decanted a number of times to remove impurities. The pure pigment is extracted and dried in shade. This is stored as small pellets.
Red: Red is prepared in the same manner as the Yellow. The stone is ground well and made into the paste.
Green: The leaves of 'Indigo Fera'locally known as 'Neelayamari' is collected and ground. This has a greenish blue colour.It is decanted many times and dried in shade. It is stored as small pellets. The gum resin'Gamboge', locally known as 'Eravikkara', is mixed with the Indigofera extract to make it perfect green. Gamboge is mixed at the time of painting. Instead of Indigofera, there is another formula for pigment green. Chinese blue is mixed with Gamboge and green can be prepared.
IYYAM PULLU or KUNDALAN PULLU (Arrow Grass or Elephant Grass) is used for making fine brushes for painting. Small bundles of this grass are bunched out and softened by dipping for some time in milk and water. The small bunch is dropped on the floor to fall on its base so that the base of the pinched out bunch is at the same level. The healthy and the soft one are selected. The base is cut to the required length and the bundle is tied up with a thread. Then the bunch is inserted into a pointed hollow part of a handle made of bamboo stick. Bamboo stick is selected to suit the function of a handle of the brush. Then it is tied tightly. The number of grass ends denotes the size of the brush. different sizes of brushes can be made for different end use.
Another material the tender hair from the ear of calves were also used for making brush previously. But the practice is not popular now.
A particular black stone is ground and mixed with cow dung and the mixture is rolled up into the shape of Charcol pencil. This is dried in the sunshine and used for the first drawing on the wall. This pencil is called 'Kittalekhini'.The advantage of this pencil is that the lines drawn with this can easily be removed by rubbing with a cloth and so any correction is quite easy. but nowadays artist is not using this but straight away begin to do the outline in Yellow colour.
Direct sketching of the outline is done in Yellow pigment.Yellow wash is done wherever it is needed to get the satisfactory colour. Then the outline sketch alone(done in yellow) is repeated in red. Wherever yellow is to be shaded it is done with red. The shades are dotted, not done by wash method. Wash method always leaves brush stroke which traditional Kerala Murals do not appreciate at all. To avoid brush strokes dotted method is used.
Wherever red is needed, it is done in the same way. If the figures are in red for which shading is needed it is done with the red pigment in the dotted method.
As a base Copper Sulphate wash is given first wherever Green is expected, and to adjust the tone of the Green, Yellow wash also done. To get the Green colour 'Neelayamari' (Indigofera) powder already kept prepared is mixed with 'Eruvikkara'(Gamboge).For deep green Neelayamari content should be more than the Eruvikkara in the mixture.
All the outlines done in Yellow and Red are again drawn in Black pigment, and wherever Black colour is needed it is done according to the methods suitable (dotted or wash) for getting the required intensity. The spaces where black is anticipated would be having red there already, on which the black pigment is used to intensify the black colour.
White is on the blank wall itself and its shading is done in suitable colour according to the compositional colour balance of the picture. Whatever may be the colour, the shading is done from outside inwards by the dotting method.
The themes in temples are either iconic single figures of Gods and Goddess or some episodes narrated in Puranas. For most of the figures, there are Dhyana slokas (Verses for Meditation) in Sanskrit. If the artist is a scholar and intelligent person his ideas can be made into Sanskrit verse which can be cited as a source for the generations to come. The traditional artists working on temple walls would do all kind of rituals prescribed for it. According to the sequence, 'UNMEELANAM'(The ritual-opening of the eye of the iconic picture) is the last item after which the picture is no more a space of line and colour but a space sanctified by the presence of god or goddess.
(Courtesy: K.U Krishnakumar Guruvayoor Devaswom Institute of Mural Painting, Thrissur, Kerala)
In the last phase with the incorporation of other forms of Visual Arts like Wood Carvings, Sculptures, and Paintings of temple walls. A balance has been forged between Kerala architecture and decorative arts. It was mainly a period of Wooden Architecture and Wood Sculptures. Forms in Murals, Stones and Metal Sculptures were indeed virtual imitations of their Wooden Prototype. It was a period of the great literary movement born out of the new Bhakti cult and there is enough material (Archeological and literary) to reconstruct the picture of the late phase of the art activities in Mural Painting.
The walls of the Sreekovil (Sanctum Sanctorum) and Gopuram are the prominent places where paintings are generally seen in temples.Apart from Hindu temples a few churches also have Mural Paintings with Christian iconographic features.Among the Hindu pantheon of Gods Vishnu, Siva, Goddess, Ganesha, Sastha, and a number of combinations of figures were depicted.The different incarnations of Vishnu and manifestations of Siva and Goddess were some of the favourite themes for Mural Paintings.
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| Anantha Sayanam |
Style
Gods and Goddess do not have any mortal world of background or environment but totally are enraptured in an ethereal ecstasy of delight.The artist would not behold any celestial or mythical being in common circumstances nor the devotees would have accepted it.
 |
| Devi (Goddess) |
An ideal and perfect Sreekovil architecture has 'Panchamala'(Five Garlands).They are 'Bhoothamala' (garlands of Demons and Dwarfs) 'Mrugamala'(Garlands of Animals)'pakshimala'(Garlands of Birds)'Vanamala'(Garland of Flowers) and 'Chithramala'(Garland of Paintings).
Bhoothamala and Mrugamala are reliefs coloured traditionally with the Panchavarna Pigments.Mrugamala consists of animals such as Elephants, Lions, Cows and Deers engaged in combat and in lovemaking.Bhoothamala shows all the activities of the spirituality of the human beings. Without any reservation, even wild and erotic scenes also overtly shown. from birth to death human life is an enigma and the philosophical involvement with spiritual dimensions can create a holistic attitude towards the human excellence.
'Pakshimala' shows rows of Parrot like birds doing all the natural activities at their existence.Pakshimala can either be a relief or be a painting.
'Vanamala' denotes the forest. The flora and fauna are systematically encoded in floral motifs.
Below the four 'Malas' in between the decorative pillars, the significant 'Chithramala' is the pictorial space for Mural Painting of Kerala.
The 'Thriguna' of the characters are encoded in the colour system such as Yellow and Red for 'Rajas', Green for'Satwika' and White for 'Tamas'
Preparation of wall
The Preparation of wall for the traditional mural painting of Kerala is an elaborate process.It is done in three years.
the cleaned sand and lime are mixed and kept wet for about two weeks. At the time of plastering the wall, this mixture is ground and applied on the wall as the first stage of the process. The water used for mixing the lime and sand contain Jaggery, the juice of Myrabolen and the extract of 'Cissus Glauca' called as Unjalvally in Malayalam.
When the first layer of plastering is dry the second stage is done. the first plastering is a little rough on which another layer is added to make it smooth. For this cotton is used along with sand-lime mixture.It is ground well to make it very smooth. Cotton is used because it absorbs the pigment when it is applied.It also keeps the quality of colour. Moreover, it prevents the plastering from peeling off. The thickness of the second stage of plastering is 1/2 the mm. Then the wall is allowed to dry.
The third stage is a kind of a wash. On the smooth drywall, the mixture of lime water and tender Coconut is applied. The brush is moved horizontally and vertically a number of times to make the surface smooth. The thickness of this wash is that of a Tamarind Leaf.
Once the wall is ready the painting can be done. First, the sketch is drawn.
Preparation Of Pigments
There are only five colours in traditional Mural Painting of Kerala. Of the five colours, four pigments are prepared from nature itself.Yellow, Red, Green and black are prepared from nature while White is on the surface of the wall itself. The colour is applied in the painting in the sequence of Yellow, Red, Green and Black.
Yellow: Soft Yellow stones are collected and washed well. The stone is ground well then it is made into a soft smooth paste. This is collected and decanted a number of times to remove impurities. The pure pigment is extracted and dried in shade. This is stored as small pellets.
Red: Red is prepared in the same manner as the Yellow. The stone is ground well and made into the paste.
Green: The leaves of 'Indigo Fera'locally known as 'Neelayamari' is collected and ground. This has a greenish blue colour.It is decanted many times and dried in shade. It is stored as small pellets. The gum resin'Gamboge', locally known as 'Eravikkara', is mixed with the Indigofera extract to make it perfect green. Gamboge is mixed at the time of painting. Instead of Indigofera, there is another formula for pigment green. Chinese blue is mixed with Gamboge and green can be prepared.
Black: Black is made by collecting the Carbon Soot from Gingely Oil Lamp flame inside a terracotta vessel. The Carbon Soot deposited inside the vessel is scratched out and stored. It can be used by mixing with water.
Preparation Of Brush
IYYAM PULLU or KUNDALAN PULLU (Arrow Grass or Elephant Grass) is used for making fine brushes for painting. Small bundles of this grass are bunched out and softened by dipping for some time in milk and water. The small bunch is dropped on the floor to fall on its base so that the base of the pinched out bunch is at the same level. The healthy and the soft one are selected. The base is cut to the required length and the bundle is tied up with a thread. Then the bunch is inserted into a pointed hollow part of a handle made of bamboo stick. Bamboo stick is selected to suit the function of a handle of the brush. Then it is tied tightly. The number of grass ends denotes the size of the brush. different sizes of brushes can be made for different end use.
Another material the tender hair from the ear of calves were also used for making brush previously. But the practice is not popular now.
Kittalekhini
A particular black stone is ground and mixed with cow dung and the mixture is rolled up into the shape of Charcol pencil. This is dried in the sunshine and used for the first drawing on the wall. This pencil is called 'Kittalekhini'.The advantage of this pencil is that the lines drawn with this can easily be removed by rubbing with a cloth and so any correction is quite easy. but nowadays artist is not using this but straight away begin to do the outline in Yellow colour.
Drawing And Painting
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| Sketching |
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| Sketching |
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| Sketching |
Wherever red is needed, it is done in the same way. If the figures are in red for which shading is needed it is done with the red pigment in the dotted method.
All the outlines done in Yellow and Red are again drawn in Black pigment, and wherever Black colour is needed it is done according to the methods suitable (dotted or wash) for getting the required intensity. The spaces where black is anticipated would be having red there already, on which the black pigment is used to intensify the black colour.
White is on the blank wall itself and its shading is done in suitable colour according to the compositional colour balance of the picture. Whatever may be the colour, the shading is done from outside inwards by the dotting method.
(Courtesy: K.U Krishnakumar Guruvayoor Devaswom Institute of Mural Painting, Thrissur, Kerala)
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