The Kerala murals have a charm that has made them popular internationally and almost no one is immune to it. Pooja Kashyap, a former journalist and native of Bihar, too was mesmerised by it the very first time she came across the paintings on the walls of a temple near Koothuparamba in Kannur. It gave her life a new direction and a new mission.
Ms. Kashyap’s second exhibition of mural paintings concluded in Kozhikode on Sunday. Now a resident of Thiruvananthapuram, the exhibition also marked her reunion with her old friends from Kannur.
Being the wife of a senior police official, Ms. Kashyap could not stick to any job due to her husband’s frequent transfers that took her from one city to another. However, she made the most of her life in Kannur, which is her favourite place in Kerala, by making an effort to learn the Kerala mural art.
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“I was not new to painting when I started learning this style of art. This is not just another style of art but a science in itself,” Ms. Kashyap said citing the strict rules and regulations that make the Kerala mural art a unique entity.
The exhibition featured around 50 paintings though only half of them were in the Kerala style. “I have been learning this style for the last three years and am yet to complete my education. Looking at my earlier works, I can see my evolution as an artist,” Ms. Kashyap said explaining that it was from an artist in Sargaalaya Art and Crafts Village, Iringal, that she learned the nuances of the style. The exhibition was part of a series of cultural events organised by Satkalapeetam, Payyannur, which also featured other art forms like Kathakali, magic show and various classical dance forms.