Chapter4

K¤À¸a Episodes in Mural Tradition

Mural paintings originated from Ka½amezhuttu, a ritual art in which pictures were drawn on the floor with colour powder for worship. Kerala has a peculiar place with a host of ancient Indian mythological episodes. The stories of the mythology are extensively used in Kerala mural walls. There is a treasure of historically important murals in the temples, palaces, churches as the centres in mural paintings of Kerala. The pictures in Chera cave temples belonging to 8th C.E.to 10th C.E. Thirunandikkara in are considered as the primitive examples from the Kerala murals. Most of the murals found in Kerala belong to 15th to 19th C.E. It has been observed that there are 150 to 200 conventions to the traditional ancient mural centres are in Kerala. The narrative style visualisation and colour sense makes Kerala murals, different and varied from other paintings.

The painting of K¤À¸a is a much discussed topic by many scholars. Still it seems that there is something left behind undisguised. Even though it seems like there remains something yet to be explored. K¤À¸a is one of the important characters seen in Kerala murals. It is easy to find out K¤À¸a among other mural characters due to the technique of singleness and simplicity with which it is drawn. The K¤À¸a episodes can be seen in the epics and Pur¡¸as. The concept of K¤À¸a had a great influence on the poets and painters even centuries before. Not only in Kerala but also at some other states of , K¤À¸a’s influence is much high. Epics and Pur¡¸as are the radiant reflection of human life itself. The way it goes through the

psychological and social life of a man knowingly or unknowingly remains a wonder to modern writers. K¤À¸a one of the characters has a great influence on human mind. The range of Indian mythology is vast, K¤À¸a as an incarnation of ViÀ¸u is associated with birth and death. K¤À¸a stands as an idol of Indian consciousness. The Madhubani painting is found as illustrating the dark K¤À¸a with fair R¡dha. In order to portray his happiness artists fills the space with beautiful foliage and flowers. The dramatic incidents happened in K¤À¸a’s life inspires the artist a lot and is portrayed all over India. The Da¿¡vat¡ra can be found in murals as well as in sculptures in the temples of Kerala. The U¸¸un¢lisande¿a, a stotrak¡vya in is also explains the different incarnations of ViÀ¸u.1 Classical texts like N¡r¡ya¸¢ya (Melpatt£r N¡r¡ya¸a Bha¶¶atiri), G¢tagovinda (Jayadeva), ViÀ¸uke¿¡dip¡dastotram (áa´kar¡c¡rya), ár¢ K¤À¸akar¸¡m¤ta (L¢l¡¿uka), K¤À¸ag¡tha (Ceru¿¿eri), etc. also illustrate the stories of Da¿¡vat¡ra. Specific colours are used for depicting the ten incarnations. (gold), K£rma (dark),Var¡ha (dark blue), (white), V¡mana (gold), Para¿ur¡ma (gold), ár¢r¡ma (green), Balar¡ma (white), ár¢k¤À¸a (greenish blue) and Kalkki (red).

The Tradition of

Generally murals are drawn in the outer walls of the sanctum sanctorum (¿r¢kovil) and also on the gopura of the surrounding wall of the temple. It is also on the Christian churches murals seen in the two places called madbaha2 and the roof called tora.3 In palace, murals are drawn on

1 U¸¸un¢lisande¿a (Mal.) ed., Sooranad Kunjan , Sl.40, P.191. 2 Inside part of the church, only in this place priest has entry.

92 bed rooms, the private apartments on the king and also in the inner parts of the royal chamber. In namb£thiri houses called illom to ancient times the ancient elite adorn to the mural painting. Upto 19th century the lower castes were prohibited from temple entry, and hence only the upper caste got the opportunity to see the painting. Since a large section of people belonging to the lower caste were denied of this temple art of Kerala. Not much is known on the mural tradition of ancient cave temples.

A large section of society was not aware of the existence of such an art which is not allowed to enjoy and appreciate. The result was that an only a minor section of the society had access for the appreciation and evaluation of mural arts. So the influence of this art in Kerala society has been minimal. The Characteristic Feature of Mural Art

Almost 2000 years ago the system of decorating place of worship and palaces with colourful pictures came into existence in India. The special ability of Keralites to express certain emotions collectively can be seen reflected on the face expression and emotions of gods and goddesses of the Puranic literature. The characters in mythology are vividly and pictures were drawn in order to register the emotional expression in an effective manner. Some of the murals are characteristic of certain combination of colours, lines, endowed with subtle combination curved lines constitute of another feature of the Kerala murals. The Kerala murals are unique when compared to the mural art of other Indian states. Another important feature of Kerala mural is the meticulous observation of space management each

3 Appendix I

93 and every inch of space is artistically managed by the artist. There is a depth of unnecessary vacant spaces in Kerala murals.

There are several factors in Kerala murals which make them more attractive than the murals found in other part of the county. Those factors are- 1.Exuberance of ornaments, 2. The depiction of colours, 3. The attractiveness seen in the character’s facial make up, 4. Crown, etc. and the special characteristics is MaÀip£vu and V¢r¡½ipa¶¶u, MaÀip£vu are the flowers drawn in ink in different styles. These flowers are the peculiarity of Kerala mural paintings.V¢r¡½ipa¶¶u decoration is the manifestation through the rudimental illustration is done with the structural trigonometric forms.In the classical visual art forms like Kathaka½i, K£ttu, K£¶iy¡¶¶am and K¤À¸¡¶¶am has played a significant role in the development of the concept of the Kerala style of mural painting. In Kerala murals what the artist does is to prepare a draft and then fill up the necessary forms with colours. One cannot conceive of murals without an excess of adornment. It is like the effect of music without precession when the luxury of ornament is added to the murals. The significance attached to painting to the backdrop of murals is also important. This is also true, which respect to the background painting seen in murals.

The Concept of YakÀi in Mural Painting

The pictures of beautiful YakÀi can be seen in the temples like Pundareekapuram temple (), temple (), (),

94

Kaviyoor temple (Pathanamthitta) and Tali temple () etc. YakÀi like the tender leaf coloured is pictures as the idol of insanely seductive female beauty. Commonly this beauty is almost dressed only below the hip is pictures as standing under a palm tree holding a mirror. With the pictures of different type of birds and squirrels on the palm tree the mural artist creates an effect of forest in the drawing. YakÀi is visualised a companion of goddesses, not as a blood squeezing idol with sexual usage.4 They are portrayed in blue colour like sapphire, golden and white colour as ashes, and whitish colour. YakÀi is portrayed as an example of extra ordinary beauty. They are picturised as the idols of heavenly attraction. If pleased properly YakÀi showers blessing.

The Beauty of Women in Murals

The concept of Keralite model of women’s beauty is reflected in paintings of women in Kerala murals. The painting of women in Kerala murals are categorised in the following 5 divisions.

1. áa´khini

2. Padmini

3. Citri¸i

4. á£lini

5. Hastini

4 Aitihyam¡la (Mal.), Kottarattil Sankunni, P. 307.

95

These 5 categories of woman have called Pa´car¡gi¸i.5 The knowledge of Kerala murals is not common among men especially in the earlier stages of development in temples. If only even to it was gods and goddess, who were seen painted on the walls it was evident that they were drawn in cooperating with human emotion and features. The perfect Keralite structure in women beauty has been evident in Kerala murals.

Long face and firm body is the feature of ladies belonging to áa´khini type. Mostly the pictures of Sakhi or companion are seen with the features of áa´khini type of character. This category of pictures has beautiful lady having a neck which brings the thought of a three lined conch shell.

The female characters that possess elite and graceful emotions like goddesses S¢ta, etc. were seen drawn on the basic of the lady concept in Padmini category. Fat and fleshy body language is found appropriate in this type.

The concept of Citri¸i is used in drawing YakÀi’s. Beautiful body with radiance, modest waist and large and elevated breasts are the body features of Citri¸i.

á£lini a sub category derived from the other four categories of female concept is added in the drawings, just as an element, not in the main characters.

5 Oral Interview, Saju Thuruthil, H.O.D, Dept. of Painting, S.S.U.S. Kalady.

96

Hastini type of characters are used to draw the ladies with a demon like Suras¡, á£rpa¸akh¡, Ma¸·odar¢, etc. is explained for this type. They have fatty and high body language.

The female character in murals the fleshy beauty seen on the body parts is one of the main features. Not only ornaments, hair and dress, but also breasts, tip of the figures, neck, stomach navel portion etc. are also drawn with subtlety. The utmost importance is given to the body while drawing the lady characters. Breasts lying drawn by inside narrow breast cloth are an important characteristic of the portraits of ladies.

Features of Temple Murals

The temples of Kerala had structures in the shape of Gajap¤À¶a6 followed by half circle-shaped sanctum. Then came the circle shaped sanctum, and finally it became rectangular shaped structure for temples. Generally the pictures are found in the middle portion from the top to the bottom of the shrine. The outer wall of the sanctum was divided from the top as bh£tam¡la, pakÀim¡la, m¤gam¡la, vanam¡la7 and the pictures were drawn mostly on the remaining space, which was known as citram¡la. The black and white colour mixed flowers have four or eight petals common in vanam¡la, they are also called as maÀip£kkal. The arrangements with paµcam¡la system (five garlands) will make it beautiful and blissful, a beauty concept that existed as part of V¡stu¿¡stra. The pillars are also

6 Looked like the back portion of an elephant. 7 Picturisation of bh£taga¸a, picturisation of birds, picturisation of animal like elephant, horse, etc., picturisation of forest which includes huge trees and mountains.

97 considered a canvas surface part of citram¡la. Generally characters from R¡m¡ya¸a, M.B. and Pur¡¸a are seen depicted on the temple murals.

The temple murals are drawn on the walls of the pathway made for revolving around the shrine with prayers. The myths related to the of that temple are seen on the pictures. Murals show that the áaiva- VaiÀ¸ava conflict which existed in India doesn’t had a place in Kerala. Pictorization of the stories of ViÀ¸u at áiva temples and those of áiva at ViÀ¸u temples with equal importance can be seen at Kerala. The pictures preach through visual communication language. In ancient period temples were the centre for flourishing of arts and learning arts. More than that it was at the temples where there was space for drawing pictures. It may be because of their reason of murals equipped an important position in temples. The ma¸im¡la style of drawing is yet another feature of Kerala Murals.8 Kerala murals excel in drawing the face with utmost importance to emotions and moods. The artists have succeeded in visualising the rasa’s. The murals drawn on the western gopura of temple is very famous among the world of art. The picture of Na¶ar¡ja at this temple is the one and only example for ancient Dravidian arts. Artists praise that this Na¶ar¡ja picture in like a butterfly which showers its intense radiance around. V¡stu¿¡stra and temple architecture, which developed and flourished during the region of Chera dynasty, paved the way for the growth of mural paintings. Expression of moods, detecting feature of body shapes and movements are chief characteristic of Kerala murals.

8 This design is in the fashion of repeated form of a Malayalam letter ‘ന’ (na.) Also; it was used up as a border design of one panel. The frequently used designs for mural paintings are ma¸im¡la.

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Dhy¡na¿loka (Hymns of Meditation)

Dhy¡na¿loka (D.S.) praises the form of of the Epics and Pur¡¸as. In India, there is a great tradition in invoking deity by chanting and D.S. The stipulation of forms of deity as described in D.S. is followed by the mural art and iconography on t¡ntric style. This D.S. are helpful to the artists by giving the details about the deity like moods, forms, ornaments and weapons. Generally this ¿loka’s are in . According to Indian gurukula system the study of mural painting and iconographical chiselling are done only through the study of D.S. in Sanskrit and the basic text of áilpa¿¡stra. The D.S. are very essential and much familiar to the traditional artists in mural painting. The D.S. characters are being visualized through like áiva, Ga¸apati, ViÀ¸u, K¤À¸a, Guruv¡y£rappa etc. The artist mainly tried to strengthen the peculiarities of the forms described in D.S. for example K¡½iyamarddana (K.M.) as follows;

EòÉʱɪɺªÉ ¡òhÉÉOÉ®úRÂóMÉxÉ]õxÉÆ ´ÉähÉÖÆ nùvÉnùÎIÉhÉä

{ÉÖSUÆô ´Éäι]õiÉ´ÉɨÉ{ÉÉÊhÉEò¨É±Éä ºÉÎiEòÎRÂóEòhÉÒ¶ÉÉäʦÉiɨÉÂ**

ºÉƺiÉÚªÉÉi¨ÉVɪÉÉäʹÉiÉÉÆ MÉhÉ´ÉÞþiÉÆ MÉÉäMÉÉä{ÉMÉÉä{ÉÒ´ÉÞþiÉÆ

´Éxnäù ¤ÉɱɨɨÉÆÖÆ ºÉÖºÉÖxnù®úiÉxÉÖÆ xÉÒ±ÉÉäi{ɱɶªÉɨɱɨÉÂ**9

Admiring and praising child K¤À¸a, who has a beautiful attractive blue-black radiant body dancing on the head of the serpent king K¡½iya holding its tail by the left hand, who is being praised by the whole family of

9 Citr¡bh¡sa, P.V. Ouseph, P.106.

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K¡½iya including his wives, kids, cows, calfs, and gopikas, whose body glitter the radiance of thousands of sun’s rays.10

The Richness and Variety of K¤À¸a Idols for Mural Painting

The K¤À¸a myth has exerted great influence on Indian art. Its impact in mural artistry is all the much important, for it provides great scope and possibility for a mural artist to related to paint intimate richness related to K¤À¸a’s infancy, adolescence and youth. Large number of works are true in Sanskrit literature like the M.B., G¢tagovinda, B.P., N¡r¡ya¸¢ya and a lots of other literary works.

The childhood adventures of K¤À¸a have thrown open for several works of mural painting being one among them. The following forms of the K¤À¸a present a striking variety of forms and colour.

1. The Ëlilaka¸¸a 2. K¤À¸a clad in yellow garments 3. K¤À¸a with the flute placed in his lips, the Ve¸ugop¡la form. 4. The form of K¤À¸a engaged in R¡sakr¢·a. 5. K¤À¸a with R¡dha 6. K¤À¸a in the Govarddhana episode. 7. K¤À¸a with K¡½iya 8. K¤À¸a with the demoness P£tana 9. K¤À¸a in his mischievous form with Ya¿oda

10 Appendix II.

100

K¤À¸a is one of the most popular myth with its infinite connotation and suggestiveness. This image with the gopikas is the symbol of eternal love that surprising factors like temporal and spatial dimensions.11

The K¤À¸a image in Kerala is vastly different from his images and idols seen in elsewhere in India. K¤À¸a in Kerala has a gale face and a benign appearance unlike in other parts of India. Where K¤À¸a images are done with reduced adornments. His blue complexion with peacock feathers tucked in his hair gives a strange but loving appearance to K¤À¸a. K¤À¸a is his only form is the pet forded in the hours of pain and misery.

Features of Church Murals

The mural artists of church generally followed the style of temple artists for preparing the walls and colours for drawing. The t¡lapram¡¸a the style followed in temples cannot be seen in churches. A blue colour component is seen more in their pictures which were known as lapis lazuli known as bluish stone. It may be the priests themselves who would have brought that element for blue colour. The thick decorative line around each figure and topic content is another feature of church murals. The history of church murals of Kerala goes almost four centuries back. The pictures depicted in various scene are related to Bible. George Menachery says that a major part of the Kerala murals from 10th to 18th C.E. seen today exist in the churches.12 Church murals have the history that follows the Greek-Roman art of drawing. The models of Greek-Roman-Iranian paintings and

11 The mural K¤À¸a with gopikas at Changampuzha park, Ernakulam is an artistic perfection. 12 Pa½½ikkalaka½um Mattum (Mal.), George Menachery, P.28.

101 sculptures still remain in the churches. The church murals played the same role as that of temple murals. Churches of Ollur in , in , Piravam in Ernakulam, in Thrissur, Kanjur in Ernakulam, Velur in Thrissur, Paliyekkara in Pathanamthitta, and Akaparambu in Ernakulam etc. are examples for beautiful multi coloured murals. The themes and style show some similarities to those existed in Europe during the post renaissance period. The pictures were mainly based on the themes of old and new testaments, the dissimilarity in the forms, style and techniques from place to place. Like temple murals, church murals also play an important role in the development of Kerala mural art. Later half of the 20th C.E. marks a loss of church murals caused due to the renovations of churches due to the ignorance or the little effort taken for preserving the murals by the authorities. The murals at St. Augustine church Ramapuram, Kottayam, St. Mary’s Jacobite Syrian Church, Angamaly, Ernakulam13 and St. Mary’s Forane church Kanjur, were repainted in the 20th C.E. The old murals of and Vallom churches have vanished completely. Though many old churches in Kerala have mural paintings, the detailed study of this tradition have not been attempted so far whereas, authentic reprographies of rare and even inaccessible temple murals of Kerala has been done.

Stories Depicted in Temple Murals

Temple murals generally painted the stories from R¡m¡ya¸a, M.B. and Pur¡¸as. D.S. can also be seen as the themes of murals. Thirunandikkara cave temple can be considered as the primitive model of

13 Appendix III

102

Kerala frescoes. At the top of the temples the pictures of an elephant, a lady in sitting posture, a man standing and Ga¸apati can be seen. Most commonly the figures of gods and goddesses and Pur¡¸as are selected for drawing pictures.

Ënandat¡¸·ava of áiva has more importance among the áiva pictures. Apart from this the pictures of áiva living with his family at Kail¡sa can also be seen. The emotions of different forms of deity like five headed áiva, P¡rvati Swayamvara, Sad¡¿iva, Ardan¡r¢¿vara, Kir¡ta¿iva, DakÀin¡m£rtti, áivapaµc¡kÀari14 etc. also can be found through áaiva pictures.

The VaiÀ¸ava murals mainly depict the Da¿¡vat¡ra and the aims of each incarnation including of Kalkki can also be found among them. ViÀ¸u in the position ¿ayana with goddess earth, goddess LakÀmi, other gods and goddesses and ÎÀis, Anant¡sana, Santh¡nagop¡la, etc. can be seen among VaiÀ¸ava murals. Pictures of ár¢r¡ma narrate the story from his birth to coronation.

Infant K¤À¸a in banyan leaf, K¤À¸a with butter, Vanabojana15, K¤À¸a with Ya¿oda (Visvadar¿ana), Na½ak£bara-Ma¸igr¢va MokÀa16, K¤À¸a with Balar¡ma, Fighting with Kuvalay¡p¢·a, K¤À¸a and Sudh¡ma (Kucela), G¢topade¿a17, Rukmi¸i Swayamvara, P£tan¡mokÀa, K¡½iyamarddana, K¤À¸a holding Govarddhana (G.D.) as umbrella, stealing the cloths of

14 Appendix IV 15 AppendixV 16 Appendix VI 17 Appendix VII

103 gopikas, R¡sal¢la18, and K¤À¸a playing flute with gopikas etc. are important among K¤À¸a episodes.

The familiar image of á¡sta, which seems on the painting as hunting senses on the elephant and horse.19

The influence of Dev¢m¡h¡tmya, M¡rka¸·eyapur¡¸a etc. can be seen on the drawings of goddesses like Durga, Bhadrak¡½i, etc. Durga fighting with MahiÀ¡sura, Ënantat¡¸·ava of áiva, Durga proceeding on Vet¡½a etc. is seen mostly among the pictures of Durga. Moreover Sarasvati, Annap£r¸e¿vari, etc. can be found in murals and some murals are found to be worshipped in some temples.

Stories Depicted in Church Murals

Church murals are mainly based on old and new testaments. Only the priest and their assistance is allowed to enter here. Hence the sight still remains invisible to common people. Eden park, birth of Jesus, the wonder shows by Jesus, his sufferings, crucifixion of Jesus, resurrection, the last supper, J£das standing with the 30 silver coins that he received for betraying his guru, disciples waiting for Christ at Gestamen garden, Mother Mary crying with the body of Jesus on her lap etc. too are important themes. Apart from these church murals present Jesus wearing saffron coloured cloth and also as a yogi in Indian concepts.

Kottayam district stands first in the number of murals found in Kerala. come next. Some palace murals can also be seen at

18 Appendix VIII 19 Appendix IX

104 some Temples. The GajendramokÀa is credited as the biggest mural painting in Kerala. The same painting can be seen at Sri temple Triprayar, Thrissur, Chuduvalathur temple, Palakkad, and temple, Pathanamthitta etc. An opinion that the Anantha¿ayana at Ettumanoor temple is bigger than that of the mural at still exist,20 Anantha¿ayana is seen in common in almost all temples.

Important Temple Murals in Kerala:

Kasaragod District

Gopala Temple,

Anantha Padmanabha Swamy Temple, Ananthapuram

Kumara Swamy Temple, Kumaramangalam, Bela

Mallikarjuna Temple, Kasaragod

Bhagavati Temple, Adkathabail

Mahavishnu Temple, Udayamangalam

Thrayambakeswara Temple, Palakunu

Kannur District

Bhagavati Temple, Valapattanam

Krishna Temple, Trichambaram

Siva Temple,

20 Kera½attile Cuvarcitrangal (Mal.), Dr.M.G.Sasibhooshan, P.60

105

Puthur Siva Temple, Peralam

Kurumba Bhagavati Temple, Muzhappilangad

Subrahmanya Temple, Pariyaram Mattannur

Siva Temple, Thodeekkalam

Siva Temple, Taliparamba

Vaidyanatha Temple, Kanhirangod

Annapoorneswary Temple,

Wayanad District

Mahavishnu Temple, Thirunelly.

Mahavishnu Temple, Muttil

Kozhikode District

Chennamangalam Temple, Chorode

Vishnu Temple, Vellore, Cheruvatta

Siva Temple, Nittur

Durga Temple, Kunnamkulangara

Lokanarkavu Temple, Vadakara

Siva Temple, Kizhur

Ganapati-Siva Temple, Cheruvannur

Elamaran Kulangara Bhagavati Temple, Perambra

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Pisharikavu Temple,

Vettakkorumakan Temple, Balusssery Kotta

Siva Temple, Tali

Krishna Temple, Thiruvannur

Bala-Durga-Bhagavati Kavu, Mankavu

Mankavu Palace

Siva Temple, Chendamangalam, Vadakara

Bhagavati Temple, Kaliyamvelli

Kottath Paradevatha Temple, Purameri

Krishna Temple, Karad

Krishna Temple, Chathamangalam

Siva Temple, Maniyoor, Vadakara

Malappuram District

Venkitta Thevar Siva Temple,

Subrahmanya Temple,

Siva Temple, Karattuparambu

Siva Temple, Thirurkkad

Thirumandhamkunnu Bhagavati Temple, Angadippuram

Narasimhamoorthi Temple, Vazhenkada

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Vishnu Temple, Chandanakkavu

Pakaravoor SivaTemple, Mookkuthala.

Rama Temple, Alathiyur

Siva Temple, Triprangode

Siva Temple, Viradoor,

Mahadeva Temple, Puramundekkad

Bhagavati Temple, Mangalam

Valakkulam Temple

Nilambur Kovilakam

Palakkad District

Trimoorthi Temple, Trikkadeeri

Anchumoorthi Temple, Thirumittakode

Siva Temple, Mannur

Siva and Vishnu Temple, Adakkaputhur

Siva Temple, Chuduvalathur

Siva Temple, Cherukattupulam

Randu Moorthi Temple, Thrikkangode

Sankaranarayana Temple, Thiruvegappura

Vishnu Temple, Kachamkurissi

108

Siva Temple, Thrippalur

Vishnu Temple, Nellaya

Rama Temple, Karimpuzha

Siva Temple, Puthucode

Thrissur District

Krishna Temple,

Mahadeva Temple, Mammiyur

Mahadeva Temple, Peruvanam

Vadakkunnatha Temple, Thrissur

Mahadeva Temple, Thiruvanchikulam

Rama Temple, Thriprayar

Ayyappa Temple and Narayana Temple,

Vishnu Temple, Thrichakrapuram

Koothambalam (Kerala Kalamandalam), Cheruthuruthy

Harikanyaka Temple, Ariyannur

Mahadeva Temple, Chemmanthitta

Karthiayani Temple,

Siva Temple, Talore

Siva Temple, Pallimanna

109

Peramangalam Temple

Sakthan Thampuran Palace

Ernakulam District

Subrahmanya Temple, Elamkunnapuzha

Siva Narayana Temple, Thiru Nayathode

Bhagavati Temple, Cheranalloor

Mattancherry Palace

Perumthrikkovil, Pazhur

Ramamangalam Temple

Narasimha Temple, Ooramana

Narasimha Temple, Alangad

Hill Palace, Tripunithura

Kadavil Thrikkovil Krishna Swamy Temple, Udayamperoor

Krishna Temple, Ravipuram

Idukki District

Onakkoor Temple

Kottayam District

Subrahmanya Temple, Perunna

Subrahmanya Temple, Udayanapuram

110

Mahadeva Temple,

Mahadeva Temple, Thirunakkara

Mahadeva Temple, Ettumanoor

Sastha Temple, Pandavam

Vishnu Temple, Pundareekapuram

Karthiayani Temple, Kumaranalloor

Subrahmanya Temple, Arpookara

Vishnu Temple, Thrikodithanam

Mahadeva Temple, Thaliyil

Vishnu Temple, Triguthamapuram

Vasudevapuram Temple, Kudamaloor

Subrahmanya Temple, Thiruvanchoor

Narasimha Temple, Manganam

Bhagavati Temple, Anamkulangara

Krishna Temple, Kudavechoor

Lakshmana Temple,

Subrahmanya Temple, Kidangoor

Alappuzha District

Vitoba Devasthan Temple,

111

Subrahmanya Temple,

Krishna Temple,

Krishnapuram Palace

Narayana Temple,

Sastha Temple, Thrikkunnappuzha

Siva Temple,

Dhanwanthari Temple, Maruthorvattom

Mahadeva Temple, Thuravoor

Bhagavati Temple, Thaikkattussery

Mahadeva Temple, Velorvattom

Mahalaksmi Temple, Ottapunna Kadavil

Pathanamthitta District

Panayannarkavu Temple,

Vallabha Temple,

Dharma Sastha Temple,

Munootimangalam Narasimha Temple, Niranam

Parthasarathy Temple,

Subrahmanya Temple,

Bhagavati Temple,

112

Vaikundapuram Temple, .

Kollam District

Siva Temple, Pavumba

Anchumoorthi Temple, Veliyam

Thiruvananthapuram District

Padmanabhaswamy Temple

Vishnu Temple,

Krishna Swamy Temple,

Mahadeva Temple, Kushakkodu, Thirumala

Mahavishnu Temple,

Mahadeva Temple, Kanthaloor

Trimurthi Temple, Mithranandapuram

Padmanabhapuram Palace

Kovilvila Bhagavati Temple

Mahavishnu Temple, Kazhakootam

Kumaranasan Memorial

Mahadeva Temple, , Thonnakkal

Attingal Palace

Thirupalkadal Krishna Temple, Keezhperur

113

Ayyappan Temple, Kilimanoor

Krishna Temple,

Mural Art Gallaries

Sree Chitra Art Gallery, Thiruvananthapuram

Kerala Museum (Museum of Kerala History) Edappally, Ernakulam

Art Gallery and Krishna Menon Museum, Kozhikode

Mural Art Gallery and Public Library, Kottayam

Mural Painting Museum, Thrissur

Mural Paintings in Churches

Kadeesa Syrian Church, Thangassery (Kollam)

St. Mary’s Basilica Church, (Alappuzha)

St. George Syro Malabar Forane Church, (Alappuzha)

St. George Orthodox Syrian Church, Cheppad (Alappuzha)

St. Mary’s Orthodox Church, Niranam (Pathanamthitta)

St. George Orthodox Church, Paliakara Tiruvalla (Pathanamthitta)

St. Mary’s Church, Kanjirapalli (Kottayam)

St. George’s Church, Pala (Kottayam)

St. Augustine’s Forane Church, Ramapuram (Kottayam)

St. Joseph’s Church, Mannanam (Kottayam)

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St. Mary’s Forane Church, Kudamaloor (Kottayam)

Marth Mariam Pilgrim Church, Kuruvilangad (Kottayam)

St. Mary’s Church (Valiyapalli), (Kottayam)

St. Sebastian’s Church, Muttuchira (Kottayam)

St. Mary’s Orthodox Church (Cheriapally), Kottayam

Holy Virgin Mary Church, Thazhathangadi (Kottayam)

St. Mary’s Metropolitan Church, (Kottayam)

Holy Ghost Forane Church, Muttuchira (Kottayam)

St. Thomas Syro Malabar Catholic Shrine, Malayattoor (Ernakulam)

St. Mary’s Forane Church, Kanjoor (Ernakulam)

St. Mary’s Jacobite Syrian Church, Angamaly (Ernakulam)

Mar Sabor and Mar Proth Jacobite Church, Akaparambu (Ernakulam)

All Saint’s Church, Udayamperoor (Ernakulam)

Rajadhiraja St. Mary’s Jacobite Syrian Church, Piravam (Ernakulam)

Marthoma Jacobite Syrian Cheriapally, Kothamangalam (Ernakulam)

St. Mary’s (Martha Mariam) Church, Pallikkara (Ernakulam)

St. George Jacobite Syrian Church, Kadamattam (Ernakulam)

St. Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Cathedral, Pazhanji (Thrissur)

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St. Mary’s Forane Church, Koratty (Thrissur)

St. Mary’s Forane Church, (Thrissur)

St. Thomas Cathedral, (Thrissur)

St. Francis Xavier’s Forane Church (Old church), Velur (Thrissur)

St. Antony’s Forane Church, Ollur (Thrissur)

St. John’s Forane Church, Parapukkara (Thrissur)

St. Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral, Arthatt, (Thrissur)

The Palace

Murals of the otherwise known as mural pagoda are a typical example of the drawing of 18th C.E. In the palace which includes the murals are Anant¡sanaviÀ¸u, MahiÀ¡suramarddini, Bhairava, Ananta¿ayana, ár¢r¡mapa¶¶¡bhiÀeka, Subrahma¸ya with va½½i and Devay¡ni, ViÀ¸u and LakÀmi, áiva and P¡rvati, áivali´ga, Ve¸ugop¡la, Annap£r¸eswari and GajalakÀmi. The mural depicts the plot from R¡m¡ya¸a, M.B., and scenes from other genres. The artist used the technique of light colours against dark background in their drawing. An added grace was there in the pictures due to the contours drawn. The pictures exhibit the continuity of the mural tradition. Sth¡¸um¡laya áivali´ga21 is a unique representation of áivali´ga that exists in this palace. The attractive among this palace mural is the picture of Ve¸ugop¡la.22 In this picture, R¡dha the external love is portrayed in white colour in all of the

21 Appendix X 22 Appendix XI

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K¤À¸al¢la murals, which may be due to her prominence among gopikas. The goddesses are portrayed in the palace belongs to áa´khini type. The style of Padmanabhapuram palace murals has strongly influenced the murals of southern Kerala. This style should have also influenced the paintings of Padmanabhaswamy temple, Pandavam Sastha temple, Krishnapuram palace and Panayannarkavu temple.

Mattanchery Palace

The Dutch rulers have themselves built the Dutch- style of the Mattanchery palace for the king of Kochi in 1555.23 The murals were drawn it thrice. The first one was in the R¡m¡ya¸aroom where coronation ceremony was conducted, the second at side of staircase and the third in the room at the top of the floor. The famous R¡m¡ya¸a based murals of Kerala can be seen here. The eternal pictures based on the R¡m¡ya¸a were the main thing which attracted the world towards the Mattanchery murals. The important murals were the battle of R¡va¸a with R¡ma, S¢ta at A¿okavana, Hanum¡n, Sugr¢va, Vibh¢Àa¸a, LakÀma¸a, burning of Lanka, Kumbhakar¸a, delivery scenes of Kousalya, Kaikeyi and Sumitra etc. These murals have won a unique space in the heart of art lovers. The pictures depicting the wives of king Da¿aratha giving birth to their sons is considered as the most important work. The picture is drawn with all authenticity or hiding anything. The picture which is completed without leaving any space empty is called as colourful drawings trapped inside a glass. It is doubtful that there will be any art lovers who were not fascinated by the beauty of the ár¢r¡ma who moves through different emotions

23 South Indian Paintings, C. Sivaramamurti, P.126.

117 rhythmically with the use of different type of lines. Another important murals24 found here is of Ananta¿ayana, Madanagop¡la, G.D, cow and calf with K¤À¸a etc.

Krishnapuram palace

GajendramokÀa is the mural which stands as the biggest among other murals of Kerala that exist in this palace.25 The pitiable expression of an elephant named Gajendra who weeps after shedding out all the egotism from the mind and the radiant figure of loving and caring ViÀ¸u can’t be seen so vividly in any of the murals in Kerala. The mural depicting the GajendramokÀa is powerful like the wings of Garu·a carries ViÀ¸u. Whatever it is the dominating figure among this mural is Garu·a itself. The mural has concentrated the seductive beauty which seems incomplete in light blur green. This picture covers 154 square feet of which 14 feet horizontal and 11 feet vertical. This is a priceless artistic piece in terms of its execution posture and composition.

Mural Artist in Kerala

In olden days the mural artist didn’t write their names on the picture, which makes it difficult to identify them. There is no hint about the artists behind the most classically acclaimed the Ajanta paintings in the world history of arts. After the 19th C.E.onwards slight changes occurred. It has been said that Krishnan a disciple of Azhvancheri Netran¡r¡ya¸a along with his own disciple draw the pictures at outer wall of the Sankaranarayana

24 Appendix XII 25 Appendix XIII

118 shrine of Vadakkunnatha temple Thrissur. Later Ko¶¶akizhakke Acyuta Varrier drew the pictures at the sanctum sanctorum of the same temple.26 The pictures drawn by Ira¶¶aku½angara R¡ma Varrier can also be seen here. Gop¡lan and Mekk¡¶¶u R¡man, whom are said to be students of a from Kollam, drew the mural of Pallimanna temple in Thrissur. The records show that Kaikotta Nambootiri together with Narayanapattar from Ramapuram, Thiruvananthapuram draws the Pandavam temple murals at Kottayam in 1844.27 Poonthanath Krishna Pisharody made a mural at Balusseri Vettakkorumakan temple, his disciple, Elangara Madathil Sankaran himself who drew the murals at Lokanarkavu temple, Tali, Vadakara, Chennamangalam (Kozhikode), Karimbuzha, and Keezhur Siva temple Kozhikode. The artist named Kavassery pattar drew the mural picture at Thripalur in . The mural artist Uloor Subrmanyannannavi and Chalayil Kalahasthi reflect on the murals of Padmanabha swamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram.28

Pulakkattu Raman Nair

Pulakkattu Raman Nair, the proponent of Kerala mural painting and he was born at Pulakkattu house in Mammiyur, Guruvayur. Pulakkattu Raman Nair said that, I was not lucky enough to gain technical aspects of drawing through regular teaching from a guru. No one gave much concern for making pupil understand the nuclear of art. I was able to draw something according to my conscience and exhibit the picture for people.

26 Kera½attile Cuvarcitrangal (Mal.), M.G.Sasibhooshan, P.36. 27 Ibid, P. 47. 28 Kera½iya Kal¡dar¿anam (Mal.), M.G.Sasibhooshan P.53.

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The mystical stories told by my mother during childhood have influenced my drawing deeply.29 He was an artist who acquired fame through self- effort. He drew picture at Pakaravur Siva Temple at Mookuthala, , Kacchamkurissi temple, Kadathanad Palakkad, Thirumandamkunnu temple Malappuram, Peruvanam temple Thrisssur, Sri Krishna temple at Guruvayur, Mangat temple Thrisssur, and Kottakkal temple at Malappuram. He is the inventor of Guruvayur style of mural painting which allow even the common people enjoy it with utmost case. Theyyunni Menon, Srinivasa Iyyer, Thachilath Krishnan Nair, Karumabarath Achuthan Nair, and Ambalapattu Narayanan Nambeesan are the disciple of Pulakkattu Raman Nair.

Karumabarath Achuthan Nair

Karumabarath Achuthan Nair is one of the famous disciples of Pulakkattu Raman Nair. He followed the gurukula system of teaching the art of drawing to his students. Mammiyur Krishnan Kutty Nair, Pattambi Krishna Varier etc. are the students of him. His famous works are that of with his guru in Thirumandamkunnu temple and Pakaravur Siva temple in Malappuram etc.

Mammiyur Krishnan Kutty Nair (1927- 1994)

He was a famous artist who received training in traditional mural painting in Kerala under Karumabarath Achuthan Nair. His drawings are found on the walls of western part of the sanctum sanctorum of . The retouch of the murals at Padmanabha swamy temple,

29 C.L. (Mal.), K.K. Warrier, P.101.

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Thiruvananthapuram was also done by him. Mammiyur Siva temple, Kannambra Viswanatha temple, Palakkad, Kalamandalam Koothambalam Cheruthuruthy, Thrissur, Sree Citra enclave Thiruvanantapuram, Mahalingapuram Kovil Chennai etc. reflect his artistic skill. Mural painting got a place on the walls of the buildings, other than temples, due to him. He started the Guruvayur devaswom institute of mural painting in 1989, which was a fresh beginning in mural painting. He won the award from Guruvayur devaswom in 1991, Samskarika Paitrka Samraksana award and fellowship of central cultural department in 1981.

Krishna Varrier of Pattambi

Pattambi Krishna Varrier was the contemporary artist of Mammiyur Krishnankutty Nair. His guru also was the same Karumabarath Achuthan Nair. He was attracted towards Ravivarma’s style. His famous works are Bh¢Àma’s áara¿ayana, S¢t¡svayamvara, G.D., Para¿ur¡ma, Dhanvantari, Vettakkorumakan and Annap£r¸e¿vari. These pictures were drawn by him after the fire caught the Guruvayur temple.

Mural Institutions in Kerala

So many institutions are there in Kerala, the existence with an aim of learning centres for preserving and protecting the murals. Among these some institutions work with Government’s under some provides courses of diploma of six months duration. After a fire mishap in early 1970’s, the murals of Guruvayur temple were ruined then renovated under the guidance of Mammiyur Krishnankutty Nair as demanded by Guruvayur devaswom.

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The re-touching of murals was done by three groups headed by K.K.Warrier, M.K. Sreenivasan and Krishnankutty Nair along with Krishna Varrier in 1986. The technique developed by K.K.Warrier for removing and preserving old murals in special frames is still used extensively.

Institute of Mural Painting in Guruvayur

This was the first institution for learning mural art as a National diploma course. It can argue that the institution at Guruvayur is the first learning centre in Kerala and in India. This centre was founded on 1989 by Guruvayur dewasom under the leadership of Mammiyur Krishnan Kutty Nair, who was the first principal at this institution. It provide 5 year diploma in mural painting following the gurukula system with residential faculties for the students. It offers many courses for art loving students. This institute arranges mural exhibitions and training related to the art and culture of Kerala. This institute prescribed syllabus art history including Indian and Western, aesthetics, Sanskrit and áilpa texts and the natural colour preparations are here. The authorities also accepted commissioned work keeping the rules and regulations of Guruvayur dewasom. The institute played an active role in retouching many murals in the temples and as a part of ongoing renovation and restoration work, and the treasure of teachers like K. U. Krishna Kumar (Principal) and Nalinbabu one of the eminent teachers and talented students.

Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady

It was in 1995 a department of painting providing four-year BFA course was started. Citramatil or cement mural equipped a place in the

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Limca Book of Records. 27 X 4 feet copper colour covered cement mural painting based on M.B. based murals decorating the entrance of this university welcomes everyone with its complete grace by Suresh the famous mural artist. Now Saju Thuruthil, the Head of the Department of painting, and Ajithan Puthumana a well-known mural artist as the teachers of this university. The mural department follows a traditional style of mural painting. Making of the wall for mural painting and colour preparation are being taught here.

Vastu Vidya Gurukula Aranmula, Pathanamthitta

The centre has a mural painting gallery with a well- supported library. In this institution there are lots of mural paintings. The students can learn mural painting along with preparation of colours, a technique for preserving it. Here teaching is based on the ancient text on mural painting. The department activity works for preserving the old murals as well as for making new murals. Renovation and conservation of traditional building and the murals are the main aim of this institution.

The Malayala Kalagramam, Mahe

A centre for arts and ideas started functioning in 1994 at district. They conduct courses on painting, sculpture, music and pottery, as a part time or full time courses. Being one of the well-known arts and crafts academies in Northern Kerala, this centre provides an excellent platform for creative art lovers. This institution gives importance to fine arts, applies arts as well as performing arts. Commemorating the silver jubilee of this institution, the students showcased the largest mural in Kerala, which is

123 based the theme P¡l¡zhimathana, with a length of 12 meters and width of 3.5 meters, it took two years to paint the mural in their classroom.

The Indian School of Arts, Kochi

The Indian school of arts, established as a centre for both commercial and fine arts in1990, undertakes many professional assignments in making portraits, oil painting, music, Kerala traditional mural painting, Thanjavur painting, are being taught here.

The Kerala School of Arts,

This institution was started by C. V. Balan Nair, an expert in painting in 1993. It was a cornerstone of the contemporary artistic tradition of Northern Kerala. This institution helped artist to sharpen their skills and works in India and abroad.

R.L.V College of Music and Fine Arts, Ernakulam

Established in 1936 and still remains important as the learning centre of painting, music, performing arts, visual arts etc.

The Periods of Mural Painting

On the basis of the feature of mural paintings of Kerala, they can be divided as primary period, post-primary period, medieval period, post- medieval period. The murals of Thirunandikkara cave temple Kanyakumari, Kanthalloor Mahadeva temple Thiruvananthapuram, Parthasarathy temple Parthivapuram Kanyakumari, Ananthapuram temple Kasaragode, Chitaral cave temple Kanyakumari represented the primary period of mural paints in Kerala. The R¡m¡ya¸a oriented murals at Dutch palace in Mattancherry,

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Vadakkunnatha temple at Thrissur, Thiruvanchikulam temple at Thrissur, Subrahmanya temple Elamkunnapuzha at Ernakulam, temple Mulakkulam Kottayam, Mahavishnu temple Thrikodithanam Kottayam belongs to the post primary period in Kerala mural painting. Murals at churches like Akaparambu church Angamaly Ernakulam, Kanjur church, Paliyekkara church in Thiruvalla Pathanamthitta, Kottaym Cheriyapalli, Cheppad church Alappuzha and the temples like Kottakkal, Pundarikapuram, Triprayar, Panayannarkavu, Lokanarkavu, Arpookkara, and Padmanabha swamy temple, and Padmanabhapuram palace, and some pictures of staircase part in Dutch palace of Mattancherry are the murals of medieval stage. The fourth stage is represented by murals of , Kizhur, Chennamangalam and Tali in Kozhikode, Karimbuzha at Palakkad, Mookuthla in Malappuram. Even though art of drawing declines in Kerala during later 18th C.E., it got a revival in the first half of the 19th C.E.

Picturization of Nature, Environment in Mural Painting

Plants and animals were given much significance in Indian paintings. The relationship between human being and nature was very deep. The gods, human being, birds, animals, plants and flowers constituted unity in diversity. Specific colours were used to bring out the specific idea. A major role for nature and environment in almost prevalent in every murals, the influence of nature also is visible in Kerala murals especially in K¤À¸a murals. The nature of Kerala with its deep extensive greenery and with this mountains, creepers, oceans and the trees like palm tree, banyan tree, pea and the pea plant, plantain tree, lotus and other flowers, great importance is

125 also given to different kinds of birds like parrot, peacock, the animals like elephant, horse, lion, tiger, swan are also included in some murals. With its long coast land and vast number of rivers visit with the variety of flora and fauna has excreted its deep impact on Kerala murals. All murals show the environment and nature with its great importance.

The artist had clear idea about the way of drawing forest, mountain, town, village, forts, day and night. In C.S. it is recorded that the artist of that period said that mountains are to be drawn only after completing the picture of snake, huge trees and waterfalls.30 Mountains should be drawn in their natural form with the clusters of large builders, peaks, mineral deposits, torrents, huge trees, waterfalls and pythons.

It also says that forest is to be pictured after drawing different types of trees, animals, birds and streams committing of different kinds of animals.31 The forest is to be pictured by the diverse tree with unfettered growth, birds and wild animals.32 Water is drawn in a peculiar way as normally blue colour is used for drawing water. When it is observed closely we realise that water is pictures in the form of the Malayalam alphabet ‘Ra’

(റ) Fish, tortoise, swan, etc. are used to indicate the water. In order to picturise a city, temple, palace, mansions, markets, well-laid out highway and roads are used. The village is indicated through humbler dwelling and

30 {É´ÉÇiÉÆ iÉÖ Ê¶É±ÉÉVÉɱÉè& ʶÉJÉ®èúvÉÉÇiÉÖʦÉpÇÖù¨Éè&* ÊxɦÉÇEiÉ®èú¦ÉÖÇVÉMÉè¶SÉè´É nù¶ÉǪÉäzÉÞ{ɺÉkɨÉ* C.S., C.Sivarama Murti, Ch.42, Sl.59, P.160. 31 ´ÉxÉÆ xÉÉxÉÉÊ´ÉvÉè´ÉÞÇùIÉèÊ´ÉǽþRÂóMÉè&·ÉÉ{ÉnèùºiÉlÉÉ* iÉÉäªÉÆ SÉ nù¶ÉǪÉä ÊuùùuùÉxÉxÉxiÉè¨ÉÇiºªÉEòSÉUÂô{Éè&, C.S., Ch.42, Sl. 60, P.160. 32 {ÉnÂù¨ÉÉIÉè¶SÉ ¨É½þÉ®úÉVÉ iÉlÉÉxªÉèVÉDZÉVÉèMÉÇÖhÉè&* näù´ÉiÉÉ´É䶨ÉʦÉζSÉjÉè& |ÉɺÉÉnùÉ{ÉhÉ´É䶨ÉʦÉ&** Ibid., Ch.42, Sl.61, P.160.

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cottages decorated by garden.33 Night is generally depicted by drawing a moon. Pictures of the birds which can be seen at night were also used e.g. Owl. Black colours are not used to draw night. Generally black colour is used to draw hair and eyes of pupil only. Stars are also used to display night.34

As each and every important element for making a figure complete or a whole are from nature, it can be said that the origin of murals was from the nature itself. A good picture touches the mind of the person who looks at the picture due to the clarity attractiveness and pictorization of the element around the main form. Due to its basic connection with human forms, Kerala mural gave lesser space to nature and was treated in a more symbolic and graphic manner. In its earlier phase the picture subordinated the nature to the decorative elements of ornamentation. The sun god at Panayannarkavu temple and GajendramokÀa at Triprayar are evidence for this. On the contrary á¡sta panel at Pundareekapuram and Mattacherry palace murals depicts different elements of nature at its supreme beauty.

There were many temples with rich murals that went into decline because they were overlooked. These murals were painted by the artists lost in time. Nonetheless the murals in the are something that has sought the attention of the world. There is a convention that when the complementary characters are not sufficient enough to portray on, the pictures of birds, animals and trees were portrayed in the background. This

33 xÉMÉ®Æú nù¶ÉǪÉäÊuuÉx®úVɨÉÉMÉèæ¶SÉ ¶ÉÉä¦ÉxÉè&* ´ÉºÉiªÉÉ nù¶ÉǪÉänÂùOÉɨÉÆ ÊEòÎ\SÉnÖùtÉxɦÉÚʹÉiɨÉÂ, C. S, C. Sivarama Murti, Ch.42, Sl.62, P.160. 34 ºÉ SÉxpùOɽþxÉIÉjÉÉÆ iÉlÉÉ nù̶ÉiɱÉÉèÊEòEòɨÉÂ, Ibid, Ch.42, Sl.68, P.160.

127 is depicted in a way where the one part of nature is plucked up. So the illustration of sea, sky, trees and plants will be real.

Animals

In mural paintings animals are given great importance by the artists like during the illustration of elephant it is given its own embellishment.35 Along with this, horse is such an animal highly represented for its excellent masculine structure and motility. Those mural paintings in Kerala also provided importance to horses in their drawings. One popular painting belongs to this category is the mural design of lord Ayyappa fighting in a battle while sitting on a horse.

Cow is usually visualized in those paintings telling stories of lord K¤À¸a. Several examples regarding the representation of cows in mural paintings are K¤À¸a feeding from mother cow pushing back the calf, K¤À¸a and Balar¡ma feeding from cow when the little calf is not thereby crawling on the ground, K¤À¸a playing flute supporting on cow’s back, K¤À¸a surrounded by cow when he plays on his flute and afraid cows standing beneath the mountain of Govarddhana.

The ox or Nandi is mostly seen in relation to mural paintings of lord áiva. Monkeys also possessed a definite place in mural drawings of Kerala which is clearly illustrated in R¡ma-R¡va¸a battle scenes. The renowned ones among them are Hanum¡n, B¡li, Sugr¢va and A´gada who were always in front of the battle fields. Monkeys were the soldiers in R¡ma-

35 Battle scenes, GajalakÀmi are illustrated giving more adornments. For example; the GajalakÀmi in Padmanabhapuram palace and the elephant in which wakes up Kumbhakar¸a.

128

R¡va¸a battle which offers a distinct place in the mural paintings. Common colours used for depicting monkeys are blue, yellow and colours of rising sun.

Among all wild animals, deer shows its own characteristic calmness in the pictorial narration of á¡kunta½a. The picture of Madanagop¡la in Mattancherry palace represents numerous deer running and mating each other. Other animals such as lions, tigers, mouse, cattle, snakes, fish, squirrels, chameleons, cats are also illustrated in mural paintings. Lion is represented along with Durga, tiger with Ayyappa, mouse with Ga¸apati and buffalo with Yama. Besides all when a tree is illustrated squirrels and snakes are also depicted in it as their inhabitation on tree whereas fish is seen in drawings of water and cat is shown as watching lord K¤À¸a while he is stealing butter from pots.

Mural paintings also illustrate characters with body of human beings and a head of an animal. Ga¸apati, Hayagr¢va, MahiÀ¡sura and the ViÀ¸u’s incarnation like Matsya, K£rma, Var¡ha and Narasimha are instances of those types.

Birds

Generally mural paintings always provide a notable position for the bird’s family. They are mentioned as vehicles of gods or characters in plays or birds in Pur¡¸as. The vehicle of ViÀ¸u as garu·a, Subrahma¸ya as peacock. Peacock is a popular for its beauty and attraction which usually seen in paintings reflecting the natural elegance. Other birds such as crow,

129 parrot, swan, wood-pecker, cuckoo and Ja¶¡yu are also represented in drawings.

Mural paintings are drawn by completing an empty platform or surface with filling of birds, animals both big and small along with this, imaginary characters are developed by mural designers named as celestial birds [birds of Pur¡¸as] which are seen in Chemmantitta Siva temple Thrissur and Trikkadiri temple Malappuram.

Trees

Most of the pictures are drawn by giving significance to trees. Despite the presence of trees, paintings also include Kalpav¤kÀa, the tree that satisfies all wishes and having miraculous abilities, whose leaves are given white colour for easy distinction from other common trees with green leaves. It is a well-known mystery among artists that they usually tend to know at least one tree in their paintings. Leaves are pictures in yellow and green colours, with forward, backward or diagonal orientations.

The sky and the sea are phenomena depicted as symbols as white tinged blue colour clouds illustrated sky and lotus flower and fish are added while drawing water sources.

B. Murals of K¤À¸a Episodes in Kerala

The pictures of K¤À¸a have occupied its place in almost all temple walls of Kerala. K¤À¸a is a character who has a great influence on the minds of every people lived in India. The variety K¤À¸a murals in temples as follows:

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Gopala Krishna Temple, Kumbala, Kasaragod

The murals here portray extracts from Pur¡¸as. The main K¤À¸a episodes are, infant K¤À¸a, K¤À¸a with butter catching, Gop¡lak¤À¸a, K¤À¸a with R¡dha and K¤À¸a reaching Madhura. The pictures like GajendramokÀa, Ga¸apati, MahiÀ¡suramarddini, can also be seen here.

Mahavishnu Temple, Udayamangalam, Kasaragod

Pur¡¸as and Itih¡sa based pictures are depicted on the inner and outer walls of the shrine and surrounding wall of the temple. The main K¤À¸a murals are K.M. and G¢topade¿a Ananta¿ayana, á¡sta, árir¡mapa¶¶¡bhiseka are also portrayed here.

Siva Temple, Thodeekkalam, Kannur

This temple stands special due to the rare murals drawn here during the 18th C.E.36 Rukmi¸i Swayamvara a different theme in Kerala murals portrayed here deserves special mention. These pictures expose Kerala’s own grandeur. The singleness of the lines and the speciality of colours should be pointed out specifically. The pictures gave importance to mural art and sculpture equally. The excellent use of greenish blue, a mixture of green and blue is a specific feature of these pictures which should be highly appreciated. The minutes and most beautiful depiction of the design of V¢r¡½ipa¶¶tu is a huge collection of this temple. There are around 150 pictures existing here among which the narrative panel of Rukmi¸i swayamvara stands with more brilliancy. These pictures are drawn and arranged in a unique style. In this series of Rukmi¸i swayamvara, one can

36Kera½atile Cuvarcitrangal (Mal.), M.G. Sasibhooshan, P.121

131 see a messenger telling Rukmi¸i’s proposal of love to K¤À¸a, trying to take Rukmi¸i to his own palace with her permission when she went to K¡rty¡yini temple, Balar¡ma who came to help them, facture of Rukmi, Rukmi¸i swayamvara, Rukmi¸i and K¤À¸a sitting on the throne after the swayamvara.37 Among them the Rukmi¸i swayamvara held before the Agni itself is the most important. The Rukmi¸i swayamvara in which, Agni bearing the witness is the most important among them. Many pictures other than these seen here also deserve special mention. Pictures like Aghora¿iva, Mohini, DakÀin¡m£rtti, Ga¸apati worship áa´kar¡c¡rya, R¡ma-R¡va¸a yuddha, Ve¸ugop¡la, coronation of ár¢r¡ma, S¢ta, awakening of Kumbakar¸a from sleep, P¡µc¡li Swayamvara, Ek¡da¿arudra and Durga can also be found here. An influence of the outer lines which resemble chain made of beds around each forms is there on these pictures. V¢ra rasa is given more importance in most of the story series.

Kurumba Bhagavati Temple, Muzhappilangad, Kannur

Almost all of the famous murals of Kerala are seen in temples and Palaces. Generally murals are not found in K¡vu. Hence the murals of this K¡vu are special. The pictures are drawn on the walls plastered with lime, using only a green mixed black colour. Vastr¡pahara¸a of gopis and Kuvalay¡p¢·avadha are the main pictures in K¤À¸a series. MahiÀ¡suramarddini and Ga¸apati, are also there. These pictures belongs to an era in which lower caste were prohibited from entering into K¡vu.

37 Appendix XIV

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Mahavishnu Temple, Thirunelly, Wayanad

K.M. depicted on the wall is a unique feature of this temple murals in the K¤À¸a episodes.

Lokanarkavu Temple, Kozhikode

The pictures mostly based on R¡m¡ya¸a and M.B. seen here belongs to 19th C.E. Even though most of the pictures are faded, they deserve special consideration. Ve¸ugop¡la and K.M. are the main K¤À¸a pictures seen here. At the top borders Ve¶¶akkorumakan, Subrahma¸ya, Ga¸apati, Velmurukan, Sarasvati, Indra, ÎÀis in the meditation posture with Rudr¡kÀa are also depicted here.

Elamaran Kulangara Bhagavati Temple, Perambra, Kozhikode

A vast collection of murals can be seen on both sides of Dv¡rap¡lakas on wall of shrine. K¤À¸a and Rukmi¸i, N¡rada, ÎÀis with folded hands, K¤À¸a enjoying with gopikas and cows are painted on the northern walls. áiva, , K¤À¸a lying on the banyan leaf, R¡sal¢la K¤À¸a with , K¤À¸a in different poses with ÎÀis, plants and flowers decoration the western wall.

Vettakkorumakan Temple, Balusserykotta, Kozhikode

The southern wall is filled with marvellous mural painting. K¤À¸a episodes includes K.M. and Ve¸ugop¡la standing between R¡dha and Rukmi¸i and gopikas listening the music with folded hands. Ananta¿ayana and Ga¸apati with four hands holding conch, rope and tusk on each are another attention on these walls.

133

Krishna Temple, Thiruvannur, Kozhikode

Modern Painting depicting Ananta¿ayana (1985), G¢topade¿a and Guruv¡y£rappa (1993) ornate the surrounding wall of the temple.

Baladurga Bhagavatikavu, Mankavu, Kozhikode

The wall of the sanctum, are decorated with beautiful murals. Dv¡rap¡lakas standing on serpent holding sword and á£la painted on the eastern wall, K¤À¸a with R¡dha and N¡rada are the most important pictures. DakÀin¡m£rtti, R¡ma with LakÀma¸a, Hanum¡n and J¡mbav¡n are also depicted here.

Venkittathevar Siva Temple, Kottakkal, Malappuram

These murals were drawn under the favour of Makiryam Thirunal in 19th C.E.38 All the pictures of this temple were drawn by Sankaran Nair of Elangaramadam and his student Arangot Bharatha Pisharody. Gop¡lak¤À¸a and K¤À¸a standing a midst of gopis are the main pictures seen here. áiva, P¡rvati and Ga¸apati sitting under Kalpav¤kÀa of Kail¡sa, Ardhan¡r¢¿vara, Aghora¿iva, Var¡ham£rtti, Durga, Dhanvanthari, Kir¡t¡rjun¢ya, Sarasvati, Bhadrak¡½i, R¡jar¡je¿vari, á¡st¡ on the elephant, Ananta¿ayana, Annap£r¸e¿vari, MahiÀ¡suramarddini, are painted here are worth saying. Most important picture is Ve¸ugop¡la.39 Almost forty pictures can be observed here which are very informative. These murals well known as Kottakkal murals are worthy of special mention in terms of their fine

38 Temples of Malappuram District, S. Jayasankar, P.37 39 Appendix XV

134 quality. Importance is given to S¤´g¡ra, V¢ra, H¡sya, Karu¸a, Raudra and á¡nta Rasa’s.

Thirumandhamkunnu Temple, Angadippuram, Malappuram

This temple is a treasure house of wood carvings and murals. Ga¸apati in sitting pose is one of the main attractions. K¤À¸a with butter in his hand is the only K¤À¸a mural founded in Kerala presents here in which K¤À¸a is painted in bluish green colour. A complete narration of Kir¡t¡rjun¢ya can be seen here. The pictures of K¡½i and her attenders and child Subrahma¸ya are also there. The picture is drawn by giving great importance to the nature. In the picture of K¡½i with the follower’s importance is given to elephant, trees, hills and rivers. The paintings gave much prominence to ochre red colour. The pictures of Kir¡t¡rjun¢ya also gives due importance to forest.

Vishnu Temple, Chandanakavu, Malappuram

This is the ancestral temple complex of the Sanskrit scholar Melpatt£r N¡r¡ya¸a Bha¶¶atiri. Among this group of temples, murals are depicted on the walls of Visnu temple. It is believed that the painting was done by Melpatt£r himself. K¤À¸a with butter, Ga¸apati and Garu·a are depicted here. These three pictures are drawn without giving much importance to the colours. These pictures resemble the style of pencil drawing.

135

Pakaravoor Siva Temple, Mookkuthala, Malappuram

A collection of variety pictures of K¤À¸al¢la40 is exposed like, K¤À¸a lying on the banyan leaf, the fight between K¤À¸a and MuÀ¶ika, Kuvalay¡p¢·avadha, K¤À¸a and Balar¡ma going to Kamsas palace, Kamsavadha, Ve¸ugop¡la, K.M., Bakavadha, P£tan¡mokÀa are depicted here. The pictures are drawn on the northern wall. It is believed that these pictures were painted in a period between 1865 and 1931.41

Puramundekkad Mahadeva Temple, Vattamkulam, Malappuram

Here all the pictures seen today are re painted ones. Ve¸ugop¡la and K¤À¸a lying on the banyan leaf are the K¤À¸a murals painted here. Over use of colours seen here may be because of the re drawing.

Siva Temple, Triprangode, Malappuram

The murals are not in the main sanctum but in a small shrine of the temple complex. These pictures are also repainted ones.

Rama Temple, Alathiyoor, Malappuram

It is difficult to know how old the early paintings seen here are the pictures were redrawn. Most of the pictures seen here are based on stories of K¤À¸a.

40 Appendix XVI 41 Oral Interview, K.U. Krishna Kumar, Principal, Guruvayur Devaswom Institute of Mural Painting.

136

Subrahmanya Temple, Karikkad, Malappuram

The northern wall of the temple exhibits Ayyappa, Ga¸apati, Mohini holding Am¤takumbha in her hands, and Subrahma¸ya. A beautiful pencil sketch of K¤À¸a is done by the eminent artist K.K. Marar on the northern wall of the sanctum.

Trikkadeeri Trimoorthi Temple, Palakkad

The pictures here are drawn by giving more importance to contours. The marriage of P¡rvati, Ga¸apati and Narasimha as well as K¤À¸al¢la like K.M., Ve¸ugop¡la and G.D. out stand other pictures. All of the pictures follow the traditional mural art style.

Siva and Vishnu Temple, Adakkaputhur, Palakkad

K¤À¸a with butter, P£tan¡mokÀa, Pou¸·rakavadha, Bak¡suravadha, Hira¸ayaka¿ipuvadha, Kamsavadha, Rukmi¸i Swayamvara, and K.M. are the K¤À¸a series can be found here. Matsy¡vat¡ra, K£rm¡vat¡ra, Ananta¿ayana, ár¢r¡ma, LakÀma¸a, Hanum¡n, Vibh¢Àa¸a, A´gada are returned after R¡va¸avadha are also portrayed here. This temple is rich in wall painting. Colour powder is used here instead of traditional mural picture colour scheme.

Siva Temple, Cherukattupulam, Vaniyamkulam, Palakkad The murals are the depiction of Dhy¡na¿loka. G.D. and Ve¸ugop¡la are the important pictures seen here.42 Apart from these hunting sense of á¡sta, DakÀin¡m£rtti, Ga¸apati and Aghoram£rtti can also be seen here.

42 Appendix XVII

137

Anchumoorthi Temple, Thirumittakode, Palakkad

In this temple exhibits the story of K¤À¸a from his birth to death. The birth of K¤À¸a, P£tan¡mokÀa, K.M., Bakavadha, Ve¸ugop¡la, G.D43, Vastr¡pahara¸a, Kamsavadha, Swarg¡roha¸a of K¤À¸a etc. can be done through these pictures. Even though equal importance is given to five colour combination a special importance to ochre red and ochre yellow can be noticed.

Krishna Temple Guruvayur, Thrissur

This temple is the perfect example for the art of sculpture and attractive murals. Most of the murals drawn here are based on D.S. These were drawn during the 18th C.E. by Pulakkatt Raman Nair and his disciples like Karumabarath Achuthan Nair, the famous mural artist in those year.44 The pictures got damaged due to the fire caught up in 1970. The pictures seen today are re-painted by the disciple of Achuthan Nair like Mammiyur Krishnan Kutty Nair and Pattambi Krishna Varrier, K.K. Varrier and M.K. Srinivasan after the fire. The pictures illustrated here are based on B.P. like Kucela and K¤À¸a, K¤À¸a lying on Banyan leaf, K¤À¸a crawling, K¤À¸a and K¡madeva, áakat¡suravadha, K¤À¸a going to meet P£nt¡nam Nambootiri, G.D., P£tan¡mokÀa, Palace of , Vasudeva crossing the river and holding infant K¤À¸a in his head, Na½ak£bara-Ma¸igr¢vamokÀa, Vastr¡pahara¸a, Kamsavadha, Pou¸·rakavadha, G¢topade¿a, Kuvalay¡p¢·avadha, K¤À¸a having milk from cows under, Bak¡suravadha, K.M., K¤À¸a and Para¿ur¡ma, Ya¿oda tied K¤À¸a with a rope.

43 Appendix XVIII 44 C.L. (Mal.), K.K.Warrier, P.103.

138

A beautiful combination of five colours can be seen on these temple murals. More pictures like áivapaµc¡kÀari, Kir¡t¡rjun¢ya, Ga¸apati, Mohini, P¡rvati sitting on Nandike¿a, PradoÀan¤tta, Sarasvati, DakÀin¡m£rtti, Subrahma¸ya, Aghoram£rtti, Hanum¡n have also been portrayed here. These pictures are also called as Guruvayur style of murals, for the less grandeur unlike other temple mural style. The salient feature was the hundred meter long murals along the outer walls of the temple was created by the students of the Guruvayur devaswom institute of mural painting in 2016.

Vadakkunnatha Temple, Thrissur

This temple gains importance with its sculpture and mural art. The period of this temple seems to be 9th C.E.45 the extracts from the story of M.B. is depicted here. Many pictures based on the explanation of M.B. war exist here. The G¢topade¿a picture of Arjuna and K¤À¸a also exhibits the importance persons on P¡¸·avas side S¡tyaki, D¤À¶adhyumna and Abhimanyu. In the picture which portrays K¤À¸a clearing the doubts of Arjuna. Here K¤À¸a is in his Vi¿var£pa with four faces and eight hands. This picture renders not only P¡¸·avas but also N¡rada, Brhma and Arjuna as looking at K¤À¸a’s Vi¿var£pa. Along with these Sant¡nagop¡la, Kucelasatk¡ra (treating Kucela royally with utmost love by K¤À¸a) and Ve¸ugop¡la are the important pictures of this temple. K¤À¸a riding the chariot also is not so common. Many pictures, other than those of K¤À¸a seen here are also relevant. PradoÀan¤tta, Ga¸apati, war between Bh¢Àma and Arjuna, M¡y¡yuddha of Gha¶otkaca, Bh¢Àma’s áara¿ayya, ár¢r¡ma and

45 Kera½atile Cuvarcitrangal (Mal.), Dr. M.G. Sasibhooshan, P104.

139 his followers, áiva and P¡rvati. The pictures drawn for nourishing female characters like , Draupati and Uttara are the other pictures portrayed here. A different rendition of expressions can be seen in each picture. The different emotions like fear, sense of duty, determination, manliness wonder, contempt are clearly expressed by the pictures.

Vishnu Temple, Thrichakrapuram, Thrissur

Pictures are seen at the upper and lower part of the temple árikovil. Picture adorns the temple without hindering V¡stu based construction. It is believed that these pictures were drawn even before 1766.46 But there is no documents showing how old the temple. The main K¤À¸a pictures depicted here are P£tan¡mokÀa, K¤À¸a eating butter, B¡lak¤À¸a, K¤À¸a going to Amb¡¶i with Nandagopa and Ya¿oda to get his father and mother released, Vastr¡pahara¸a, Ve¸ugop¡la, Navan¢tak¤À¸a, K¤À¸a lying on banyan leaf. The other pictures seen here include Sarasvati, ViÀ¸u, áivat¡¸·ava, YakÀi, Bhadrak¡li, Ga¸apati, Annap£r¸e¿vari, P¡rvati, ár¢r¡ma, Balar¡ma and Dv¡rap¡lakas. Even though five colour combinations have given importance, a little more prominence is given to ochre red.

Lakshmi Narayana Temple, Panjal, Thrissur

The main K¤À¸a murals are G.D. and infant K¤À¸a. K¤À¸a is painted in two colours based on t¤igu¸a. G.D. is seen in greenish blue and infant K¤À¸a in white.47 G.D. is the main attraction of these temple murals. Kir¡t¡rjun¢ya, Sarasvati, Balar¡ma, árir¡ma, Anant¡sanaviÀ¸u, Hanum¡n

46 Kera½atile Cuvarcitrangal (Mal.), Dr. M.G. Sasibhooshan, P.94 47 Appendix XIX

140 with the hill Marutv¡, P¡rvati swayamvara, Narasimha and Subrahma¸ya are the other important pictures. Some pictures have become blurred due to the ravages of time age and the soot from the oil lamp inside the sanctum.

Ayyappa Temple, Panjal, Thrissur

This temple is with a small shrine built in Gajap¤À¶a. It is older than the nearest Lakshmi Narayana temple Panjal. Ve¸ugop¡la and K.M. are the main K¤À¸a murals found here.48 K.M. can be said to be the biggest among these temple murals. These temple murals are rendered giving importance to ochre red and ochre yellow. Pictures of PradoÀan¤tta, ár¢r¡mapa¶¶¡bhiÀeka and Ga¸apati can also be seen here.

Mahadeva Temple, Chemmanthitta, Thrissur

This temple is under the protection of central archaeology department. The pictures are drawn between the 14th and 16th C.E. There are about 20 panels of pictures and 15 small paintings depicting Hindu myths and Pur¡¸a stories which are noteworthy for its linear accuracy and excellent combination of colours. Among them Ve¸ugop¡la is the eminent one, which seems to be the bigger than other pictures here. One can see Kir¡t¡rjun¢ya, Mohini playing with a ball, Ananta¿ayana, PradoÀan¤tta, Na¶ar¡ja, DakÀi¸¡m£rtti and M¡rka¸·eya embracing áivali´ga. These pictures are drawn giving utmost importance to the background.

48 Appendix XX

141

Rama Temple, Triprayar, Thrissur

Triprayar murals have a well-developed style with a perfect blend of linear and modelled contours. Ve¸ugop¡la,49 G.D. and K.M. are the main pictures on the walls of the shrine. Some of the images depicted here deserve special mention because it is impossible to found them elsewhere. The sanctum is built in the shape of a circle. As this temple belongs to 16th C.E, these pictures also are as old as it. Most of the pictures are not prepared as long lasting. YakÀi coronation of ár¢r¡ma, the sacrifice of A¿vamedha done by ár¢r¡ma, the stories of Mah¡bali and V¡mana and Aghoram£rtti are the other pictures seen here.

Siva Temple Pallimanna, Thrissur

The painting seen here is based on the stories of R¡m¡ya¸a and M.B. drawn between 17th and 18th C.E.50 Gop¡lak¤À¸a, G.D and K.M. are main K¤À¸a episodes seen here. áiva and Mohini, Kir¡t¡rjun¢ya, Sarasvati, DakÀin¡m£rtti, ár¢r¡mapa¶¶¡bhiÀeka and Indra with 1000 eyes, can also be seen here. Among these panels of pictures, one of them carries the old Malayalam Script.

Subrahmanya Temple, Elamkunnapuzha, Ernakulam

Here M.B. is illustrated as pictures. This ancient temple has given same prominence to sculptures and murals K.M., Ve¸ugop¡la and Kamsavadha are important among them. Other important pictures are

49 Appendix XXI 50 Kera½attile Cuvarcitrangal (Mal.), M.G. Sasibhooshan, P.124.

142

Ga¸apati, áivat¡¸·ava, the hunting of á¡sta, and Ve¶¶akkorumakan. The colour ochre red is reflected more on these pictures.

Kadavil Thrikkovil Krishna Temple, Udayamperoor, Ernakulam

The main K¤À¸a murals are Ve¸ugop¡la, K.M., P£tan¡mokÀa, and AÀ¶abhuja Ve¸ugop¡la, áaktipaµc¡kÀari, áivat¡¸·ava, ViÀ¸u giving the child born from áiva - Mohinisa´gama to P¡rvati, also attracts everyone. The use of five colour combination depiction from Ma¸im¡la ornamentation makes these murals the best example for traditional Kerala murals.

Krishna Temple, Kudavechoor, Kottayam

The pictures exist belonged to 14th C.E. As it was highly damaged, the picture was re-drawn in 2007 by the mural artist Prince Thonnakkal. Pictures of K¤À¸a51 and those of many others can be found here. Infant K¤À¸a lying on banyan leaf, Bakavadha, K¤À¸a stealing butter, G.D., Na½ak£bara-Ma¸igr¢vamokÀa, K.M. are the K¤À¸a murals present here. Da¿¡vat¡ra in which K¤À¸a is depicted as playing flute are also here. PradoÀa¿iva, Subrahma¸ya, Ga¸apati, R¡ma-Sugr¢vasakhya, Setubandhanam, K¡½i sitting on lion’s back along with followers. ár¢r¡mapa¶¶¡bhi¿eka, áivapaµj¡kÀari, and Ananta¿ayana are also illustrated here. The picture depicting á¡sta on a horse back, conducting war a rare picture among Kerala murals can be seen here.

51 Appendix XXII

143

Subrahmanya Temple, Udayanapuram, Kottayam

It has given equal importance to sculpture and murals. The picture of K¤À¸a and gopikas are the important among K¤À¸a murals. Apart from these PradoÀan¤tta, devotees worshipping Ga¸apati, áivapaµc¡kÀari, and Ananta¿ayana can also be seen here.

Vishnu Temple, Pundareekapuram, Kottayam

This temple is situated near Thalayolaparambu in Kottayam District. The construction of this temple took place between C.E. 1300 and C.E. 1800.52 The pictures seen here have a great importance among the traditional Kerala murals, there are around 30 pictures. The stories of K¤À¸a are depicted on the northern wall of the temple of which childhood stories of K¤À¸a53, P£tan¡mokÀa, Bakavadha, Vastr¡pahara¸a, K.M., K¤À¸a and Balar¡ma with butter holding, Ve¸ugop¡la, K¤À¸a and Balar¡ma stealing butter to see gopika.The three gopikas seen behind K¤À¸a depicted in green, ochre red and yellow respectively which R¡dha, the fair figure. Gopikas trying to take the dress hanging on the branch with a stick and gopikas trying hard to climb the tree evokes laughter on the first sight itself. It can be assumed that this picture lies very near to nature because trees, butterflies having nectar from flowers, spider, lizards etc. are seen in this. K¤À¸a is depicted in greenish black colour. The picture on eastern walls starts with K.M. K¡½iya tying itself hardly on K¤À¸a, and the wives of K¡½iya praying and apologizing before K¤À¸a. Rama- K¤À¸a rearing cattle at the banks of river K¡½indi attracts everyone. K¤À¸a lifting the Govarddhana mountain is

52 Architectural Survey of Temples of Kerala, H. Sarkar, P.97 53 Appendix XXIII

144 the most important picture on the walls of southern side. These are the main K¤À¸a murals seen at Pundareekapuram temple.

Many other pictures which are equally important as K¤À¸a’s are present here. áiva and P¡rvati resting under Kalpav¤kÀa, Durga, wearing all weapons and killing MahiÀ¡sura, YakÀi, ár¢r¡mapa¶¶¡bhiÀeka, Brahma, Mohini playing with balls, Arddhan¡r¢¿vara, áa´karan¡r¡ya¸a, hunting of á¡sta and his followers, áivat¡¸·ava. DakÀin¡m£rtti and worshipping Ga¸apati are some other important pictures seen here. Some historians opine that the murals of Pundarikapuram temple pictures were drawn towards the end of 16th C.E. Even though ochre red, ochre yellow, dark green, light green, greenish blue, black, yellow, blue, white and golden colour are used alternately, ochre red is given more importance. Sastha Temple, Pandavam, Kottayam This temple is at Kudayampadi, Kottayam. On the temple wall it is inscribed that the murals were drawn at 1969.54 Ve¸ugop¡la is the important among the K¤À¸a Murals. The Ve¸ugop¡la depicted here has some peculiarities. K¤À¸a playing flute and enjoying with gopis being seen here. He has expressed his skill in depicting the cows lively. The picture of Devendra which is uncommon among Kerala murals. áivat¡¸·ava, worshipping Ga¸apati, á¡sta, ViÀ¸u with Garu·a and marriage ceremony of P¡rvati are some other pictures depicting here.

54 Kera½attile Cuvarcitrangal (Mal.), M.G. Sasibhooshan, P. 45.

145

Vishnu Temple Thrikodithanam Kottayam

According to A. Ramachandran, this temple mural was drawn before 18th C.E. the finest and oldest mural painting in Kerala belongs to Trikkodithanam.55 The wall of sanctum is covered beautifully by 16 panels of murals. The main K¤À¸a murals seen here are Vastr¡pahara¸a, murder of the elephant Kuvalay¡p¢·a, G.D., K.M., Ve¸ugop¡la and Balar¡ma and K¤À¸a in a standing position. These pictures express the devotional love of the peoples mind. The special combination of five colour system is a chief characteristic of murals drawn here.

Vasudevapuram Temple, Kudamaloor, Kottayam

It is the true that murals can be seen at this temple, but the popularity lies on the region Kulasekhara and Dutch itself. These pictures are known as Chembakassery pictures. Ve¸ugop¡la, K¤À¸a sitting on a lotus, K.M., and G.D. are important among K¤À¸a murals, more importance is given to lotus. The pictures of Gods and goddesses including K¤À¸a sitting on lotus are seen more. In the background also lotus has been given much importance. According to some historians lotus was the royal sign of Chembakassery in ancient days hence it gained more importance in pictures. PradoÀan¤tta of áiva, áaivasarasvati, A¿vath¡m¡, T¤ipurasundari sitting on lotus, Ga¸apati, hunting scene of á¡sta, MahiÀ¡suramarddini, S¢ta, Sarasvati sitting on the lotus, Arddhan¡r¢¿vara, LakÀmi sitting on the lotus, Akhoram£rtti and Kir¡t¡rjun¢ya etc. A character look like the minister of Chembakassery and Dv¡rap¡lakas are the other major pictures portrayed

55 Painted abode of Gods mural tradition of Kerala, A.Ramachandran, P. 37.

146 here. White, yellow, ochre red, black are the colours seen generally in the picture drawn here.

Mahadeva Temple, Ettumanoor, Kottayam

The pictures seen here is said as the important among Kerala murals or as the one stands in the prime position. This temple gives equal importance to murals and wood carvings. Vastr¡pahara¸a one among the childhood episode of K¤À¸a exposed here is of great importance. Because unlike in other temple murals it is drawn as it stands first in its size. Gopikas have been given equal importance as that of K¤À¸a. In this picture one can see four Gopis begging for their robes. All of the Gopikas are portrayed as representation of fleshy beauty. K¤À¸a is seen as giving the robes with his left hand holding the flute in the right. Ananta¿ayana is getting other important picture. Akhoram£rtti and á¡sta engaged in hunting and female characters like P¡rvati, LakÀmi, Sarasvati, Bh£m¢devi, have been presented elegantly in terms of body structure and expression also.

Vallabha Temple, Thiruvalla, Pathanamthitta

The incarnations of ViÀ¸u and K.M. are the important murals seen here. K.M. is depicted with its full grace.

Panayannarkavu Temple, Parumala, Pathanamthitta

The Panayannarkavu temple in Parumala has the attractive stories beautifully done by an unknown artist. While discussing about the temple murals of Kerala, Panayannarkavu temple can’t be left aside. It is said that on 1795 the idol was re-erected. The main feature of this temple is that

147 murals can also be seen inside the sanctum sanctorum. Due to no entry to common people and the smoke and ashes it is difficult to find out which picture is drawn inside the sanctum. Most of the pictures seen outside wall of sanctum are K¤À¸al¢las56, K¤À¸a and a parrot, Ya¿oda and K¤À¸a, K¤À¸a taking butter by standing on Balar¡ma’s shoulder, K¤À¸a and a beautiful lady P£tana, P£tanamokÀa, Ve¸ugop¡la, Bakavadha, R¡sal¢la, Vastr¡pahara¸a are the important pictures seen here. Even though the colours like green, yellow, black, greenish blue can be seen here. The extensive use of ochre red is a special feature of Panayannarkavu temple murals.

Dharma Sastha Temple, Pandalam, Pathanamthitta

This temple is belongs to Pandalam palace. PradoÀa¿iva and ár¢k¤À¸al¢la are the important pictures seen here. G.D., K¤À¸a and R¡dha playing flute, Vastr¡pahara¸a, K.M., K¤À¸a and Gopis are the main among ár¢k¤À¸al¢la murals found here. Picture is drawn as a mixture of Paµcavar¸a, with a bit more importance to ochre yellow. áivapaµc¡kÀari, Para¿ur¡ma and ár¢r¡ma- Sugriva agreement are the other pictures of this temple.

Munootimangalam Mahavishnu Temple, Niranam, Pathanamthitta

Picture are seen as washed and cleaned as a part of the rejuvenation of the temple. The picture Ananta¿ayana which covers more than quarter of the wall of sanctum is the largest picture found here. A picture of K¤À¸a and

56 Appendix XXIV

148 gopikas can also be seen here. It’s not possible to explain the remaining pictures.

Krishna Temple, Neyyattinkara, Thiruvananthapuram

The shrine of this temple follows the traditional Kerala architectural style. P£tan¡mokÀa, Ve¸ugop¡la, K.M., Vastr¡pahara¸a, Bak¡suravadha, G¢topade¿a, are the main K¤À¸a murals that decorates the wall of the shrine. The temple which was built under the Maharaja of in 1755 has a great significance in Kerala history.

Padmanabha Swamy Temple, Thiruvananthapuram

Almost all of the murals depict the period of infancy and beyond of K¤À¸a. P¡rthas¡rati is the only picture exposing the adults K¤À¸a. Murals are being found seen on the walls of the small sanctum of Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple K¤À¸a murals include , Vasudeva crossing the river K¡½indi holding K¤À¸a, P£tan¡mokÀa, Vanabhojana, Balar¡ma and gopa boys, áakat¡suravadha, Bak¡suravadha, Na½akubara- Ma¸igr¢vamokÀa, Kuvalay¡p¢·avadha, K.M., K¤À¸a holding the mountain Govarddhana, Ve¸ugop¡la. The main attraction and rare picture of this temple is the ceremony of K¤À¸a’s N¡makara¸a and the culmination of achievement in the pictorial art of Travancore can be seen on the walls of the central shrine of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple. These works on the walls may have been done between 1729 C.E and 1733 C.E. Due to the effect of course of time and weather these murals have been repainted and protected.

149

C. K¤À¸a Episodes in Bh¡gavata Pur¡¸a

The stories of K¤À¸a murals decorate many temples of Kerala. K¤À¸a is one of the beautiful themes of many art and literary works of Kerala. The naughty deeds of child K¤À¸a and his act as a protector, comrade, friend as well as teacher itself is the reason for arousing Bhakti in people’s mind. Harin¡mak¢rtanam, ár¢ K¤À¸akar¸¡mrtam, Jµ¡napp¡na, Tu½½al S¡hityam, ár¢ K¤À¸acaritam, Bh¡gavatamp¡¶¶u (Ka¸¸a¿akavi), Bh¡gavatam Ki½ip¡¶¶u, Ma¸iprav¡½am etc. also placed K¤À¸a in common people’s heart.

India has a great collection of ever green classic literature written in Sanskrit language. Vedic literature like , Pur¡¸as, Br¡hma¸as, and Ëra¸yakas written in Vedic Sanskrit contains rituals, lyrical prayers and religious stories. The epics written in verses, narrate dramatically giving importance to religious and moral discourses, presents an improved and better version in Sanskrit. Story telling emerged as full-fledged form in Pur¡¸as.

Stories dealing with the courageous and naughty deeds of child K¤À¸a at gokula contribute much too Indian literature. The tales of K¤À¸a narrating the encounters with the demons sent by his uncle Kamsa enriches Pur¡¸a. Much folklore are there which praises the child K¤À¸a divine plays B.P. explores the life of young K¤À¸a. K¤À¸a means black also known as Megha¿y¡ma or dark as cloud may be said to be the most favourite gods in India. Irrespective of all disparities, people in every walk of life admire K¤À¸a. His childhood is the most celebrated among K¤À¸a mythology.

150

The early K¤À¸al¢la comprises of three types of plays. K¤À¸a and Balar¡ma together created much mischief and established the supreme powers but remained as lovable children as ever. These can be called as the first part of B¡lal¢la. Kamsa sending demons to kill K¤À¸a such as P£tana, Bak¡sura, Ak¡sura, áaka¶¡sura Denuk¡sura purifying their souls with his divine touch comprises the second part. The third one is K¤À¸a competing with other gods who tests him. Indra showering heavy rain at gokula and hiding all of the cows and cowherds, the companion of K¤À¸a, by Brahma is example for this.

K¤À¸a of the epics and Pur¡¸a has a dual life, firstly life of K¤À¸a as a historical personage and secondly as a spiritual being which transcends all rational interpretations. The B.P. starts with Goddess earth prayers who are trouble with the increasing Asuras. Tenth Skanda of B.P. narrates K¤À¸a stories.

Birth of K¤À¸a

K¤À¸a came to earth as Devaki’s eighth child, and his birth happened in midnight. The child’s divinity was mesmerizing. ViÀ¸u incarnated with lotus eyes, with four hands, armed with conch, disc, mace and lotus, with the diamond Kaustubha, with the mark ár¢vatsa adorning the chest, wearing silk P¢t¡mbara (yellow cloth), with ear ornaments made of

151 diamonds, with the crown made of several emeralds, with bracelets in the lower and upper arms and valuable waist-string.57

P£tan¡mokÀa (Salvation of Demoness P£tana)

Kamsa sent P£tana the demoness, to K¤À¸a’s village and killed the child K¤À¸a. According to B.P., P£tana as a beautiful lady, her hips were full, breast were large and firm which seems an over-burden to her waist which is slim. When she stepped into the house and saw K¤À¸a sleeping in a cradle. She took the child and started feeding him with her breast milk. K¤À¸a with in no time, sucked out her vital air. She fell on earth with a horrific cry which made the whole universe shiver. K¤À¸a playing on P£tana’s body without fear.58

T¤n¡vartavadha (Killing of the demon T¤n¡varta)

T¤n¡varta a demon sent by Kamsa was not able to kill K¤À¸a anymore. He took the form of a whirlwind and picked the baby up on his shoulders and reigned up. Unable to bear the weight, he fell down power less, with a fierce cry and died.59

57 iɨÉnÂù¦ÉÖiÉÆ ¤ÉɱÉEò¨ÉƤÉÖVÉäIÉhÉÆ SÉiÉÖ¦ÉÖÇVÉÆ ¶ÉRÂóEòMÉnùÉ®ªÉÖnùɪÉÖvɨÉÂ* ¸ÉÒ´ÉiºÉ±ÉI¨ÉÆ MɱɶÉÉäʦÉEòÉèºiÉÖ¦ÉÆ {ÉÒiÉɨ¤É®Æú ºÉÉxpù{ɪÉÉänù ºÉÉè¦ÉMɨÉÂ** Srimad Bh¡gavata, A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami, Skanda.10, Ch.3, Sl.9, P.210. 58 iɺªÉÉ& º´ÉxÉäxÉÉÊiÉMɦÉÒ®ú®Æú½þºÉÉ* ºÉÉÊpù¨ÉǽþÒ tÉè¶SÉ SÉSÉÉ±É ºÉÆOɽþÉ** ®úºÉÉ Ênù¶É¶SÉ |ÉÊiÉxÉäÊnù®äú VÉxÉÉ&* {ÉäiÉÖ& ÊIÉiÉÉè ´ÉXÉÊxÉ{ÉÉiɶÉRÂóEòªÉÉ** Ibid, Ch.6, Sl.12, P.360. 59 MɱÉOɽþhÉÊxɶSÉä¹]õÉä nèùiªÉÉä ÊxÉMÉÇiɱÉÉäSÉxÉ&*+´ªÉEiÉ®úÉ´ÉÉä xªÉ{ÉiÉiÉ ºÉ½þ¤ÉɱÉÉä ´ªÉºÉÖµÉÇVÉä**, Ibid, Vol.I, Sl.28, P.417.

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Vi¿wadar¿ana

One day Ya¿oda was suckling K¤À¸a taking him on her lap. And she was pampering her baby and kissing him with utmost affection. At this time K¤À¸a wide-opened his mouth, Ya¿oda was thunder-stroked when she saw the whole universe earth, sky, sun, moon, stars, fire, air, ocean, mountain, river, celestial bodies, like all living and non-living things in the universe. Because of fear, she closed her eyes suddenly.

Na½ak£bara-Ma¸igr¢va MokÀa

Na½ak£bara and Ma¸igr¢va the sons of Kubera, the treasurer of the demigod. During one of the K¤À¸a’s childhood days, mother Ya¿oda bounded him to a wooden mortar as a punishment for his naughtiness. He proceeded towards the trees with a thought of fulfilling the prophecy of N¡rada, his greatest devote. He tried to proceed through the gap between the trees, but was unable to do so because of the wooden mortar bounded to him. He pulled the rope forcefully which caused the two trees fell down. Na½ak£bara and Ma¸igr¢va came out of the trees in the previous stage. K¤À¸a pulled the mortar forcefully which uprooted the two trees. The trees crushed and fell on to the ground. The trunk branches and leaves were crumbled. Two great handsome personalities came out of the two fallen trees.60 The radiance of their beauty spread in all directions. They offered themselves as his devotees.

60 ¤ÉɱÉäxÉ ÊxɹEò¹ÉǪÉiÉÉx´ÉMÉÖ±ÉÚJɱÉÆ iÉnÂù nùɨÉÉänù®äúhÉ iÉ®úºÉÉäiEòʱÉiÉÉRÂóÊQɤÉxvÉÉèùä* Êxɹ{ÉäiÉiÉÖ& {É®ú¨ÉÊ´ÉGòʨÉiÉÉÊiÉ´Éä{ɺEòxvÉ|É´ÉɱÉÊ´É]õ{ÉÉè EÞòiÉSÉhb÷¶É¤nùÉè** Srimad Bh¡gavata, A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami,Vol.I, Sl.27, P.548.

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Vats¡suravadha

Vats¡sura, the demon sent by Kamsa, to kill K¤À¸a and Balar¡ma. They were playing with other cowherd boys along the bank of river Yamuna. K¤À¸a saw the Asura among his calves and informed Balar¡ma. He went near the demon, caught his hind leg and tail and twirled his whole body strongly. When he was dead, he was thrown onto the top of a tree. He fell down in his original shape.

Bak¡suravadha

One day K¤À¸a, Balar¡ma and their friends were drinking water from river Yamuna. They saw a huge figure on the top of the hill. It was Baka, a demon having the shape of crane, the friend of Kamsa. He attacked K¤À¸a and swallowed him all of a sudden. Balar¡ma and the boys stood breathless. K¤À¸a’s radiance feet like a fire in Baka’s throat. He tried to throw away K¤À¸a, but hold his beaks and bifurcated him into two just like a small boy splits the blade of a grass.

Akh¡suravadha

Akh¡sura the younger brother of P£tana and Baka came to kill K¤À¸a under Kamsa’s instigation. Akha assumed the shape of a huge serpent lay on the path mouth wide opened. It appeared like a mountain cave. The boys along with their cows entered the snake’s mouth. He too entered the mouth and within a while started growing himself giving no time to the serpent to smash him and his friends. K¤À¸a grew bigger and bigger which made the snake suffocate and kill the demon.

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Dhenukavadha

One day while K¤À¸a and Balar¡ma were playing with his friends, a demon named Dhenuka, who is in the form of an ass. He tried to kick Balar¡ma. But he caught its hind legs and whirled him suddenly and threw him against a huge tree. The demon fell dead.

K¡½iyamarddana

K¤À¸a and his friends reached the banks of river K¡½indi rearing the cattle’s. The cowherd boys and cattle quench their thirst from the river. As soon as they drank water they fell dead. A big serpent named K¡½iya lived in the river. The whole water and air was contaminated with its poison. K¤À¸a climbed up on the highest branch of the Ka¶amba tree and jumped in to K¡½indi K¤À¸a jumped on his hoods and started dancing. K¤À¸a assumed the weight of the whole universe by his own which was unbearable for K¡½iya. Blood began to flow from all of his thousands heads and he was about to die. K¡½iyas wives prayed before K¤À¸a to shower mercy and blessing on their husband. K¡½iya sought pardon and protection of the lord.61

Vastr¡pahara¸a

The Gopikas went to the bank of Yamuna in the early morning to takes a bath. They kept their cloths under a tree at the river bank. While they were enjoying at the river, K¤À¸a took all the clothes and climbed up on the

61

155 tree. After the bath, Gopikas were perplexed at the sudden disappearance their dress. They understood that it was K¤À¸a’s mischief. They tried to take the cloth but in vain. They pleaded for clothes. At last K¤À¸a returned the cloths and K¤À¸a addressed the girls jokingly. K¤À¸a said my dear you may come here one by one and can take back robs. K¤À¸a was joking made the gopikas immersed in love for K¤À¸a completely.62 When they looked each other they laughed and ridiculed among themselves even in such an embarrassed situation, still they didn’t come out to pick the cloths.

Govarddhanoddh¡ra¸a

K¤À¸a told that the Govarddhana hill is the one who is responsible for the rain. So, instead of worshipping Indra, they have to pay homage to Govarddhana. Taking K¤À¸a’s words Gopis worshipped Govarddhana. Indra became so angry and ordered the clouds to shower heavy rain on V¤nd¡van and affected with flood. The whole gokula was scared off due to the heavy rain with constant lighting and thunder. K¤À¸a picked up the Govarddhana hill and hold it on his little finger as an umbrella. He asked everyone to come under the hill. The whole gopa along with their properties and animals contained there for a week. They didn’t felt hunger, thirst or any other discomforts.63

62 +jÉÉMÉiªÉɤɱÉÉ& EòɨÉÆ º´ÉÆ º´ÉÆ ´ÉɺÉ& |ÉMÉÞÁiÉɨÉÂ* ºÉiªÉÆ ¤ÉÖ´ÉÉÊhÉ xÉÉä xɨÉÇ ªÉnÂù ªÉÚªÉÆ µÉiÉEò̶ÉiÉÉ&** xÉ ¨ÉªÉÉäÊnùiÉ{ÉÚ´ÉÈ ´ÉÉ +xÉÞiÉÆ iÉÊnù¨Éä Ê´ÉnÖù&* BEèòEò¶É& |ÉiÉÒSUôv´ÉÆ ºÉ½èþ´ÉäÊiÉ ºÉÖ¨ÉvªÉ¨ÉÉ&** Srimad Bh¡gavata, A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami,Vol.I, Ch.22, Sl.10-11, P.313. 63

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R¡sal¢la

R¡sal¢la the most important episodes of B.P., describes the divine dance of K¤À¸a and Gopikas. The Gopikas were carried away by the mesmerising notes flew from K¤À¸a’s flute. They heard nothing other than the music. K¤À¸a and the Gopikas, hundreds in number, began to do the circular dance.64 So he suddenly disappeared in between the dance. They began to dance again with his supreme power K¤À¸a stood between every two of the gopikas so that they can feel his immediate presence with each of them. Even the celestials felt envy on seeing this marvellous scene.

AriÀ¶¡suravadha

AriÀ¶a, the bull demon attacked K¤À¸a, He holed his horned and knocked him to the ground with his lotus feet. He then thrashed the demon as thrashing a wet cloth. K¤À¸a pulled out one of its horns and struck him with it till he lay down dead.65

Kuvalay¡p¢·avadha

Kuvalay¡p¢·a a huge elephant whom Kamsa had placed in front of his palace entrance to kill K¤À¸a, due to frustration the loudly elephant Kuvalay¡p¢·a became madly angry. The mighty K¤À¸a jumped on to the elephant like a lion and killed the devil elephant and its guards with the tusk pulled out it. K¤À¸a proceeded to the wrestling ground with the tusk on his

64 ´É±ÉªÉÉxÉÉÆ xÉÚ{ÉÖ®úÉhÉÉÆ ËEòÊEòhÉÒxÉÉÆ SÉ ªÉÉäʹÉiÉɨÉÂ* ºÉÊ|ɪÉÉhÉɨɦÉÚSUô¤nùºiÉÖ¨ÉÖ±ÉÉä ®úɺɨÉhb÷±Éä** Srimad Bh¡gavata, A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami, A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami,Vol.I, Ch.33, Sl.5, P.654. 65 +ºÉÞMÉ ´É¨Éx¨ÉÚjɶÉEÞòiºÉ¨ÉÖiºÉÞVÉxÉ ÊIÉ{ÉƶSÉ {ÉÉnùÉxÉxÉ´ÉùκlÉiÉäIÉhÉ&* VÉMÉÉ¨É EÞòSUÅÆô ÊxÉ®ÞúiÉä®úlÉ IɪÉÆ {ÉÖ¹{Éè& ÊEò®úxiÉÉä ½þÊ®ú¨ÉÒÊb÷®äú ºÉÖ®úÉ&* Ibid, Ch.36, Sl.14, P.738.

157 shoulder leaving the dead elephant aside. The blood dripping from the tusk and his own sweat scattered all over his body. K¤À¸a’s face was full of tiny drops of sweat.66

Kamsavadha

K¤À¸a was at Madura to kill Kamsa. K¤À¸a jumped near Kamsa’s throne, dashed him to the ground by clutching his hair. He mounted upon the chest of Kamsa and hit hardly with his arms holding together. K¤À¸a appeared as ViÀ¸u to Kamsa before his last breath, thus get purified. Kamsa moved like a hawk from side to side, holding his sword. K¤À¸a knocked down the crown of Kamsa and grabbed him by his hair.67Kamsa was thrown on to the wrestling mat from the dais of the palace.

Rukmi¸i Swayamvara

Rukmi¸i the sixth daughter of king BhiÀmaka of Vidarbha, her brother Rukmi hated K¤À¸a, hence didn’t permitted him to marry Rukmi¸i. But K¤À¸a arrived there and took her in his chariot K¤À¸a return and his marriage with Rukmi¸i was a festival to Dw¡raka.68

66 {ÉÊiÉiɺªÉ {ÉnùÉGò¨ªÉ ¨ÉÞMÉäxpù <´É ±ÉұɪÉÉ* nùxiɨÉÖi{ÉÉ]ªÉ iÉäxÉä¦ÉÆ ½þκiÉ{ÉÉƶSÉɽþxÉrùÊ®ú&** ¨ÉÞiÉEÆò Êuù{ɨÉÖiºÉÞVªÉ nùxiÉ{ÉÉÊhÉ& ºÉ¨ÉÉʴɶÉiÉ +ƺÉxªÉºiÉʴɹÉÉhÉÉäfºÉÞRÂó¨ÉnùʤÉxnÖùʦɮúRÂóÊÆMÉiÉ&* ʴɯûnùº´ÉänùEòÊhÉEòÉ´ÉùnùxÉɨ¤ÉÖ¯û½þÉä ¤É¦ÉÉè** Srimad Bh¡gavata, A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami,, Vol.I, Ch.43, Sl.14, P.946. 67 |ÉMÉÞÁ Eäò¶Éä¹ÉÖ SɱÉÎiEò®úÒ]ÆÊxÉ{ÉÉiªÉ ®ÆúMÉÉä{ÉÊ®ú iÉÖÆMɨÉ\SÉÉiÉÂ* iɺªÉÉä{ÉÊ®ú¹]õÉiº´ÉªÉ¨É¤VÉxÉɦÉ& {É{ÉÉiÉ Ê´É¶´ÉÉ¸ÉªÉ +Éi¨ÉiÉxjÉ&** Ibid, Vol.I, Ch.44, Sl.37, P.989. 68 ¨ÉÖÊxɵÉiɨÉlÉ iªÉCi´ÉÉ ÊxɶúSÉGòɨÉÉΨ¤ÉEòÉMÉÞ½þÉiÉÂ* |ÉMÉÞÁ {ÉÉÊhÉxÉÉ ¦ÉÞiªÉÉÆ ®úixɨÉÖpùÉä{ɶÉÉäʦÉxÉÉ** Ibid, Vol.II, Ch.53, Sl.50, P.349.

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Kucelop¡khy¡na

Kucela, otherwise known as Sud¡ma was K¤À¸a’s dearest friend at Gurukula. K¤À¸a’s palace gave him the warmest welcome. K¤À¸a was very much pleased to see him and treated royally. He remembered their childhood days at Gurukula and talked much about the life.69

Madanagop¡la

This embellishes K¤À¸a with gopis according to, B.P. K¤À¸a re- joining with gopikas, sixteen gopikas are seen around and eight handed K¤À¸a.

Ve¸ugop¡la

This is the most depicted theme on temple walls. It shows the K¤À¸a playing flute with his lovers, the gopikas. Even though Bh¡gavata illustrates the presence of K¤À¸a near each gopikas, only one K¤À¸a have seen embellished in murals. The gopikas beside K¤À¸a is handling the music instruments like V¢¸a and Bheri are also pasteurised. K¤À¸a said to gopikas while K¤À¸a and Balar¡ma along with their cowherd friends went to forest for cattle rearing, they took ropes to tie their legs during milking the cows. The melody from K¤À¸a’s flute made the loving entities stand still and the non-moving tress tremble. These are wonderful things for sure.70

69 ºÉJªÉÖ& Ê|ɪɺªÉ Ê´É|ɹÉäÇ®ÆúMɺÉÆMÉÉÊiÉÊxÉ´ÉÞÇiÉ&* |ÉÒiÉÉä ´ªÉ¨ÉÖ\SÉnùʤ¤ÉxnÚzÉäjÉɦªÉÉÆ {ÉÖ¹Eò®äúIÉhÉ&** Srimad Bh¡gavata, A.C.Bhaktivedanta Swami,, Ch.49, Sl.19, P.321. 70 MÉÉ MÉÉä{ÉEèò®úxÉÖ´ÉxÉÆ xɪÉiÉÉä¯ûnùÉ®ú´ÉähÉÖº´ÉxÉè& Eò±É{ÉnèùºiÉxÉÖ¦ÉÞiºÉÖ ºÉJªÉ&*+º{ÉxnùxÉÆ MÉÊiɨÉiÉÉÆ {ÉÖ±ÉEòºiÉ°ühÉÉÆÊxɪÉÉæMÉ{ÉɶÉEÞòiÉ ±ÉIÉhɪÉÉäÌ´ÉÊSÉjɨÉÂ*! Ibid, Vol.II, Ch.22, Sl.19, P.299.

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Santh¡nagop¡la

A Brahmin approaches K¤À¸a and Arjuna, in the sorrow death of his son. Arjuna promises him that he will protect his other son. But fate took his life too. Arjuna, not able to keep his promise try to commit suicide K¤À¸a consoles him and both of them went to Vaiku¸·a. They returned back with the two sons of the Brahmin and entrust them to him. This is the theme of Santh¡nagop¡la mural.

Va¶apatra¿¡yi

This figure depicts K¤À¸a lying on a banyan leaf and sucking his toe. This theme denote the philosophy that whole universe is within oneself. The B.P. is one of the popular scriptures of worshipers of K¤À¸a. Unlike a number of the Pur¡¸as the B.P. is a unified composition and thus has led some scholars to allege that it was a forgery.

Incarnation of ViÀ¸u in Mural Painting

Most of the VaiÀnava pictures have depicted as Da¿¡vat¡ras and purpose of their incarnations. In temples, these pictures are portrayed as the order of incarnations of ViÀ¸u as Matsya, K£rma, Var¡ha, Narasimha, V¡mana, Para¿ur¡ma, ár¢r¡ma, Balar¡ma, ár¢k¤À¸a, Kalkki and in that ViÀ¸u’s Ananta¿ayana and Anant¡sana are also picturised.71

Matsya: The aim of their incarnations to escape people from the flood. The shape of matsya is upperparts of the body as man and lower part of the body as matsya.

71 Appendix XXV

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K£rma: The incarnation of K£rma is usually portrayed at the time of P¡l¡zhimathana and it gets a great emphasis also. Its appearance is also as half man and half K£rma. Var¡ha: It is visualized as half human and half Var¡ha. Our earth is stacked to harms of Var¡ha can also be seen in pictures. Narasimha: Its shape seems to be as lions head and human body. Usually it depicted as the asura, Hira¸yaka¿ipu is killed by him with his chest was split open and the intestines pulled out. Prahl¡das worship awful condition of Hira¸yaka¿ipu and furious face of ViÀ¸u and beautifully rendered in the pictures. V¡mana: Everywhere, V¡mana is visualised as a young Brahmin boy. He is usually depicted with holding an umbrella in one hand Kama¸·alu in other hand. Para¿ur¡ma: A man with a bow in left hand and axe in right hand, it’s the common portrayal of him. He is also picturised as a beardless man. ár¢r¡ma: The aim of the incarnation of ár¢r¡ma is to kill R¡va¸a. Usually pictures are presented at the birth at him to till the coronation. R¡mas pictures are drawn in mural painting also rather than other characters. Balar¡ma: Depicting Balar¡ma with a bow in one hand and plow or Kalappa (Malayalam) other hand. ár¢k¤À¸a: One of the main important incarnations of ViÀ¸u is ár¢k¤À¸a, who has been considered as the important figure in mural paintings. His birth to till his ascension as the significant concerns of mural painters. In every temple, at least one picture of K¤À¸a can be seen. He is

161 one of the popular figures among other incarnations. There are two pictures are alternatively seen in temples that are K.M., G.D. and Vastr¡pahara¸a are seen. There are some rare pictures also be seen as Rukmi¸i Swayamvara, Naming ceremony of K¤À¸a and G¢topade¿a etc. Kalkki: Kalkki is considered as the last incarnation of the lord ViÀ¸u it is picturised as upcoming figure or a man.

B.P. presents K¤À¸a as PuruÀottama, the sportive form of the supreme and also as a maker of history. B.P. is the most popular of all Pur¡¸as consisting eighteen thousand verses three hundred and thirty two chapters and twelve skandas. This speaks about the glory of ViÀ¸u hence his name. It can be considered as a practical guide. All the essence of Pur¡¸a is there in Bh¡gavata.

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