About Kerala:
Kerala, known as “God’s own country”, is situated on the south-western coast of the Indian subcontinent. Kerala has a rich assortment of religious influence in the crafts which is continued and secured for traditional and cultural retention. It holds the second place in having the largest collection of archaeologically significant mural sites after Rajasthan.
Kerala Murals - Introduction
The word ‘mural’ is derived from the Latin word ‘murus’, meaning ‘wall’. Murals refer to paintings embellished on visual components like the wall, ceiling, or other huge lasting surfaces. The murals of Kerala unfathomably stand out for their prominence in beauty, clarity and symmetry with unmatchable linear accuracy. The peculiarity of Kerala murals is their simple and thematic presentation of idealistic reproduction of humans, animals and trees with technical excellence, illustrated with rich and delicate strokes, hued with bright colours which epitomize Kerala Murals. The murals palette consists of five colours or Panchvarna namely, yellow, red, green, black and white, prepared from mineral pigments and vegetables. These paintings belong to a distinguished lineage with its tradition carries influences from Ajanta.The themes are depicted using common iconographic symbols from the Puranas like Ramayana and Mahabharata from the Hindu mythology, which is illustrated highly with brilliance stylistically. The expressions are depicted with artistic mastery.
Tools and Raw Materials:
Kerala Murals are aesthetic in appearance and also eco-friendly due to the materials used in the various stages of painting. The five fundamental colours used for painting of murals are prepared from the mineral pigments and vegetables like leaves, fruits, stones and ores. The colours are blended in a wooden bowl along with tender coconut water and extracts of the Neem tree. The wall is prepared by application of various coatings for a durable, robust and clear layout, set for painting the mural. The tools and raw materials used for painting of Kerala murals require the following:
• Plaster consisting of lime and sand
• Water
• Extracts (Juice) of Kadukka (Mussels)
• Burnt husk
• Tender coconut water
• Extracts of Neem tree
• Turmeric powder
• Soot
• Acrylic Paints (contemporary painting)
• Five colours or Panchvarna used are yellow, red, green, black and white
• Wooden bowl for mixing of colours
The Types of Brushes Used Originally were:
• Flat brush – Made from the hair taken from the back of the ears of the calves
• Medium brush – Made from the hair found under the goat’s belly
• Fine brush – Made from the delicate blades of grass or tails of muskrats.
• Eyyam Pullu , a local leaf is treated and tied to the bamboo sticks
• Currently, Staple hair brushes are used
Important Steps in Colour Making:
1. Colour pallet and containers used to mix colours.
2. One half of the coconut shell used to mix and store colours.
3. For contemporary art, the canvas is used as the primary tool for drawing.
4. The traditional painting brush is made of elephant grass (Kuntalipullu).
5. The colours used for Kerala Murals are indigenously made using the traditional grinding tool.
6. Black is obtained from the soot collected in earthen pot.
Painting Process:
The traditional methodology of drawing mythical figures on the floor was called Dhuleechitramor powder drawing, using natural pigments, which is called Kalam (Kalamezhuthu). This ritual art is practiced in temples and sacred grove of Kerala with symbolizing the idols like Kali, Lord Ayyappa, etc which are made on the floorings, commonly using five colours. There are about six stages to Kerala Mural paintings, they are as follows:
First Stage: Lekhya Karma – Stage of sketching using a pencil or crayon.
Second Stage: Rekha Karma – Outlines made on the sketches
Third Stage: Varna Karma - Painting with colours of the human figures depending on the characters and common qualities. Green is used to represent divine and noble characters (Saatvik); shades of red represents power and wealth (Raajasik), lowly mean characters (tamasik) are depicted in white and demons in black. Spice and Paddy grains are also used for colouring.
Fourth Stage: Vartana Karma - Shading is done.
Fifth Stage: Lekha Karma -Final outlines of the painting, usually painted in black.
Sixth Stage or the Final Stage: Dvika Karma - The final and the finishing touches are done to the painting.
On completion, the mural is offered Pooja and worshipped with ritual songs, which is handed from one generation to another through vocal traditions only.
Traditional Painting Methodology:
• The wall is ready for painting and the image is sketched out.
• The sketching is done using cow dung ash mixed with coconut water or water.
• Outlines were originally done with cow dung pencils.
• The pencil is made from cow dung called Kittalekhini.
• Bamboo sticks are used for outlining and grass blades and tree roots is commonly used as a brush.
• The size of the brush varies as per requirement
• The shading is adeptly colourized by symbolizing the characteristics separately for each god. • The colours are indigenously obtained from the extracts of the leaves, roots, earth and stones.
• The colours are generally painted beginning with the lighter colours.
• The order of colouring is firstly yellow, red, green, blue and brown (mixed red and yellow)
• White is by no means used, except for the prevailing white spaces which are retained during the initial coating.
• On shading, black is used to delineate and bring life to the portrayal.
• The painting is over-coated with pine resin and oil for sheen and protection.
Contemporary Painting Methodology:
In due course of time,this art has transformed with easily available brushes purchased from the commercial market and the shading of the original colours can be distinctively noticed. The use of blue colour is also noticed over the passage of time. A shift from the walls to asbestos, plywood, cloth, paper and other frames can be noticed for aesthetics and effortless rationale. The contemporary mural painting consists as follows:
• Availability of ready-made canvas
• The drawing is traced out
• The outlines are drawn with red (on the canvas)
• Ready-made acrylic colours are used Water
• Extracts (Juice) of Kadukka (Mussels)
• Burnt husk
• Tender coconut water
• Extracts of Neem tree
• Turmeric powder
• Soot
• Acrylic Paints (contemporary painting)
• Five colours or Panchvarna used are yellow, red, green, black and white
• Wooden bowl for mixing of colours
The types of brushes used originally were:
• Flat brush – Made from the hair taken from the back of the ears of the calves
• Medium brush – Made from the hair found under the goat’s belly
• Fine brush – Made from the delicate blades of grass or tails of muskrats.
• Eyyam Pullu , a local leaf is treated and tied to the bamboo sticks
• Currently, Staple hair brushes are used
Important steps in colour making:
1. Colour pallet and containers used to mix colours.
2. One half of the coconut shell used to mix and store colours.
3. For contemporary art, the canvas is used as the primary tool for drawing.
4. The traditional painting brush is made of elephant grass (Kuntalipullu).
5. The colours used for Kerala Murals are indigenously made using the traditional grinding tool.
6. Black is obtained from the soot collected in earthen pot.
Kerala Murals – Painting Process
The traditional methodology of drawing mythical figures on the floor was called Dhuleechitramor powder drawing, using natural pigments, which is called Kalam (Kalamezhuthu). This ritual art is practiced in temples and sacred grove of Kerala with symbolizing the idols like Kali, Lord Ayyappa, etc which are made on the floorings, commonly using five colours. There are about six stages to Kerala Mural paintings, they are as follows:
First Stage: Lekhya Karma – Stage of sketching using a pencil or crayon.
Second Stage: Rekha Karma – Outlines made on the sketches
Third Stage: Varna Karma - Painting with colours of the human figures depending on the characters and common qualities. Green is used to represent divine and noble characters (Saatvik); shades of red represents power and wealth (Raajasik), lowly mean characters (tamasik) are depicted in white and demons in black. Spice and Paddy grains are also used for colouring.
Fourth Stage: Vartana Karma - Shading is done.
Fifth Stage: Lekha Karma -Final outlines of the painting, usually painted in black.
Sixth Stage or the Final Stage: Dvika Karma - The final and the finishing touches are done to the painting.
On completion, the mural is offered Pooja and worshipped with ritual songs, which is handed from one generation to another through vocal traditions only.
Traditional Painting Methodology
• The wall is ready for painting and the image is sketched out.
• The sketching is done using cow dung ash mixed with coconut water or water.
• Outlines were originally done with cow dung pencils.
• The pencil is made from cow dung called Kittalekhini.
• Bamboo sticks are used for outlining and grass blades and tree roots is commonly used as a brush.
• The size of the brush varies as per requirement.
• The shading is adeptly colourized by symbolizing the characteristics separately for each god.
• The colours are indigenously obtained from the extracts of the leaves, roots, earth and stones.
• The colours are generally painted beginning with the lighter colours.
• The order of colouring is firstly yellow, red, green, blue and brown (mixed red and yellow).
• White is by no means used, except for the prevailing white spaces which are retained during the initial coating.
• On shading, black is used to delineate and bring life to the portrayal.
• The painting is over-coated with pine resin and oil for sheen and protection.
Contemporary Painting Methodology
In due course of time,this art has transformed with easily available brushes purchased from the commercial market and the shading of the original colours can be distinctively noticed. The use of blue colour is also noticed over the passage of time. A shift from the walls to asbestos, plywood, cloth, paper and other frames can be noticed for aesthetics and effortless rationale. The contemporary mural painting consists as follows:
• Availability of ready-made canvas.
• The drawing is traced out.
• The outlines are drawn with red (on the canvas).
• Ready-made acrylic colours are used.
