A medley of brilliant colors, swirling brush strokes, large expressive eyes and reality-defying intricate artwork…these are only some of the amazing characteristics of the famous mural art of Kerala.
The origin of Kerala mural art is believed to go way back to pre-historic times, as historians have found samples of this art on rocks from the Paleolithic era. However, the Kerala murals we see today seem to have begun between the 7th and 8th century AD, when it was influenced immensely by Pallava art form. Since then, the common subject of these murals has been religion, gods and deities, and visual depiction of ancient scripts. In fact, in Kerala you are likely to see several churches decorated with Christian themes painted in this art form!Until the 20th century, Kerala murals were primarily used to decorate the walls and ceilings of temples, ancient palaces, community halls and even homes of the affluent.
What began as wall and rock paintings (the world ‘mural’ comes from the Latin ‘murus’ which means wall), today adorn canvases, papers, fabric and even textiles. There also emerged a larger variety in the subjects painted, for example, from painting only Hindu gods and deities (like the omnipotent Lord Ganesha), there appeared Kerala murals also depicting Christ’s last supper. Interestingly, even in the last supper the figures have dark, expressive eyes indicating a distinct local touch to a ‘foreign’ subject.
How would you know if you’re looking at Kerala mural art?
Remember how we started this blog? Keep those in mind and look for vibrant colors like a reddish-orange and blue dominating the artwork. The lines and drawing seem to flow from one image or figure to another, and the focus is on delicate, detailed patterns rather than symmetrical lines. There is a lot of emphasis on showing emotions (almost always pleasant ones) through the facial expressions of the figures, and there is an attempt to build a bond between the characters displayed through these expressions.
Traditionally, Kerala murals were created using just five colors (or Panchavarna) namely red, green, yellow, white and black. It was this technique that made this art even more unique and distinctive. The colors were also used to depict the characteristic of the images, for instance red conveyed power and wealth, white was for the ‘villains’ and black for demons, while divine being were painted in hues of green.
What were the techniques used to create Kerala mural art?
Like in all ancient Indian art, the materials used to paint were entirely natural. Brushes were made with bamboo sticks for outlines and from certain kinds of grass for filling in colors, while paints were made from minerals, colored stones and plants. The most frequently used pigments were saffron-red, saffron-yellow, green, red, white, blue, black, yellow and golden-yellow. Stones like laterite were used for red and yellow, while the leaves of Indigofera were used for blue. All these pigments were mixed in various combinations to get a larger variety of colors.
Black was an important color in Kerala mural art because it was used as a relief between images, for outlines and as borders between different scenes. The color was obtained from the soot collected inside an earthen lamp by burning wicks in sesame oil.
Kerala mural artists begin by sketching the image in shades of red and yellow. The colors were filled in next, ensuring that each brush stroke gave it dimension. And finally, black was used to outline the large images and to accentuate the painting with a black edging or border. Once the colors dried, the painting was coated with pine resin to protect and waterproof the artwork, giving it a glossy finish.
How were the walls prepared for the murals?
Kerala mural paintings were originally frescos, i.e. paintings on walls, depicting mythology and legends. The walls were first prepared by scraping them to smoothen them, followed by plastering them with a mixture of lime, sand and the juice of kadukkai (a local vegetable of Kerala). A second layer of plaster containing an additional ingredient (cotton) was applied and this one was very smooth.
But was the wall ready for painting? Not yet! It would take around 10 days for the plaster to dry, after which several coats of a mix of coconut water (abundantly available in Kerala even today) and quicklime was applied to the wall.
Modern times have introduced many changes to the classical art, bringing the art into our homes, offices, hotels and even jewelry. Murals today are painted on asbestos, cloth, plywood, paper as well as on canvas. However, even today the process of a Kerala mural painting involved careful balancing of several components to ensure the finest finished product.
This centuries old mural art work would have been lost had it not been for the dedication and commitment of art lovers like K K Warrier. These art lovers have been working hard to restore art in highly dilapidated temples across Kerala, and we hope to see this art form gain more popularity and recognition across the world.
About the author: Sushmita Vobbilisetty is the concept creator at Chitrapata. She has a deep understanding of old masters, modern, and contemporary artworks. Sushmita is an expert in evaluating the market value and fair value of art based on heritage, availability, sell-through rate, market performance over time, secondary sales track record, and other key factors. Sushmita frequently predicts the bidding prices for day sales and evening auctions hosted by leading art houses.
About us: Chitrapata is a digital atelier with an in-house generative art technology platform enhanced with machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities. Our vision is to spark thoughts, conversations, and debates among different groups. Visit “About us” section to know more about our philosophy, vision, bio, artist statement, story and technology process.
Image credit: DreamStudio AI, StableDiffusion.
