When large portions of the Guruvayoor Temple went up in flames in 1970, ancient murals on the walls were damaged too. It took the efforts of the few remaining mural artists such as Mammiyur Krishnankutty Nair, Pattambi Krishna Varier, MK Sreenivasan and KK Varier to bring them back to life. Later, Mammiyur Krishnankutty Nair became the first principal of The Guruvayur Devaswom’s Institute of Mural Paintings set up primarily to revive the tradition.
It was he who inspired and taught Prince Thonnakkal to learn the art and take it out into the world. Prince Thonnakkal is now in Coimbatore on the invitation of the Crafts Council of Tamil Nadu (CCTN) to introduce mural art to the people through paintings of the Mahabharata made by 35 of his pupils, all women.
When I visit, the Kasturi Sreenivasan Art Gallery echoes with the voices of women. Prince Thonnakkal is the only male in sight, slightly built and barely heard. He smiles tentatively and says he has been painting murals for a quarter of a century. The first painting he made for himself was Saraswathi and his first mural was at the Kumaranalloor Devi temple in Kottayam.
They were renovating the ancient temple (said to be more than 2,000 years old) and he painted Krishna, Shanthi Durga and Dakshinamurthy. Lord Krishna is his favourite, smiles the 48-year-old artist.
Prince Thonnakkal’s students who created the Mahabharata murals
“He is our guru,” says G Vijayanirmala, one of the 35 artists who is also here for the exhibition along with fellow artist R Priyadarshini. Vijayanirmala lived for many years in Kerala and her attempts to learn the Kerala mural art form were thwarted as she was told it was an art form that was predominantly practised by men and not women.
Things changed when she came to know about Thonnakkal. The circle of people wanting to learn the art grew organically, says Vijayanirmala, and soon 35 of them began to paint in an organised manner for an exhibition that would tell the story of the Mahabharata pictorially.
The project was executed in a precise way, says Priyadarshini. “Each of us was given three episodes to work on. It was impossible to depict each and every incident from the Mahabharata so, after consultation with scholars, shlokas were picked and assigned to us.” Topics were assigned through drawing lots. There were 112 episodes in all.
One of the paintings from the exhibition
The women’s ages range from 35 to 75 years. Some work in offices, some at home but all have a passion for this art. While traditional mural art done on temple walls uses a different technique, Thonnakkal has encouraged them to replicate it with acrylic. “There are well-documented dos and don’ts about mural painting. The colours to be used, the angles to be projected and the motifs and so on,” explains Vijayanirmala. “Traditional shades are used. While in wall art, natural colours extracted from stone, roots, and lamp soot are used, modern acrylic paints give the same effect when done on canvas,” she says.
The artists have to stick to the prescribed colour palette with only minor variations allowed. Bheeshma is always in austere shades of white, while reds, golds, oranges and greens depict royalty or divinity. Thonnakkal makes the sketches, discusses them with his shishyas and leaves precise instructions to carry on by themselves. “While women have not been traditionally into this art, I find them so much more invested, patient and dedicated,” he says.
The artists say they wait for an auspicious sign before “opening the eyes” of the gods in their paintings. “It could be the sound of temple bells, a call from a dear friend, a snatch of a prayer overheard... anything,” says Priyadarshini.
One hundred and thirteen paintings will grace the walls of the Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery. The first will depict the beginning with Veda Vyasa recounting the Mahabharata to Ganesha who writes down the epic as the sage speaks. Then in sequence, the major episodes and significant teachings are shown with the grand conclusion being a painting of the Vishwaroopam. While the women have done the rest of the paintings, the 113th has been executed entirely by Thonnakkal himself.
Prince Thonnakkal’s mural paintings are seen on the walls of many temples and palaces including the Anantapadmanabha Swamy Temple and the Mattancheri Palace. “I paint to the Malyalam ghazals of Umbai,” he smiles.
The travelling exhibition of the Mahabharata done in Kerala Mural Art will travel some more and the hope is that it will find a home somewhere in its entirety. In the meanwhile, the artists are happy to commission any of the paintings if anyone wants to own them.
Info you can use
CCTN invites students and teachers of Class 8 and upwards from Coimbatore schools to visit. Time slots will be allotted to each school. Students and teachers are advised to keep aside at least an hour to study the paintings, discuss the stories and interact with the artists.
Educational institutions may call 9443266908/9842210090 to book their time slots.
The exhibition is on at the Kasthuri Sreenivasan Art Gallery, Avanashi Road, from October 3-6 between 9.30 am to 6.30 pm.
