The Murals-Harmony of colors

[akshara]

The mural artists of India have exuberantly colored the walls of India in grandeur, especially the murals of Rajastan . Kerala murals, a part of the great Indian painting tradition, has a history of a millennium, influenced by the practice of dhoolichitra( kalamezhuthu) . The artist led by the meditational verse (dhyana shloka) outlines the figure of the deity to be created, and the painting progresses.

Known for the color symbolism, the artists made color from leaves, dug out of earth, by burning coconut shells, and then mixed with either lime juice or coconut water.
The wall surfaces too had to undergo preparation. It saw an expert use of jaggery, milk, resins in required proportions, and so much care had gone into the making of brushes using bamboo and certain types of grass and roots.

15 th to 18th centuries saw the golden period of Kerala mural paintings. Palaces, temples and houses were adorned with murals. Moistly the figures were of Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Ayyappa, Durga and celestial nymphs, and the favorite themes were Ramayana and Lord Krishna’ story.

The Padmanabhapuram palace, the palace of the Rajas of the erstwhile Travancore has the enchanting murals of Krishna with gopies. Also the ‘Sree Rama with Seetha’ in Kottakkal temple of Kerala , Ramayana pictures at the Mattanchery palace prove the creative freedom the artists used.

While the figures in the paintings follow the ancient sacred texts, it should be noted that exaggerated stylization was also followed by the artists.

[smaranam]

Namaste

Nice information on Indian Art.

Happened to come across a nice article on Chitra Sutra , the art (and science) of Painting/Sketching from Vishnu Dharmottara PurANa.
http://ssubbanna.sulekha.com/blog/po...trasutra-4.htm

A specialized section of this Chitra Sutra (Sutra = science, process, mechanism, how to) , is RAgamAlA Paintings,
where pictures of nature, birds, trees, environment with men, women, divine beings are drawn to depict the exact mood of the Classical RAga which the picture portrays - i.e. [HindustAni Classical] Music expressed in the form of Paintings.

This coincides well with PurANic events and paintings of Radha Krshna as well.

Wikepedia on RAgamAlA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragamala_paintings

[akshara]

Namaste

Nice information on Indian Art.

Happened to come across a nice article on Chitra Sutra , the art (and science) of Painting/Sketching from Vishnu Dharmottara PurANa.
http://ssubbanna.sulekha.com/blog/po...trasutra-4.htm

A specialized section of this Chitra Sutra (Sutra = science, process, mechanism, how to) , is RAgamAlA Paintings,
where pictures of nature, birds, trees, environment with men, women, divine beings are drawn to depict the exact mood of the Classical RAga which the picture portrays - i.e. [HindustAni Classical] Music expressed in the form of Paintings.

This coincides well with PurANic events and paintings of Radha Krshna as well.

Wikepedia on RAgamAlA
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragamala_paintings

Thanks Smaranam and good to know you adore art.

Your links did provide more reading.

For more on murals – five basic colors namely white, yellow, red, green and black – go into the making of murals.

While stones like granite are used to make red and yellow colors, neela amari leaves and Eruvikkara leaves are used for green, and wicks are immersed in sesame oil, then lit and smoke collected in a mud pot to scrape out the black color.

Sree Krishna Temple, Guruvayur is the most popular temple in Kerala. The ritualistic dance-drama on the story of Lord Krishna, presented in 8 separate serial plays—‘Krishnanattam’- survives today only at this temple.

History says that a fire in 1970 damaged the murals at this temple. Unfortunately, very few mural artists could be found to restore the paintings. This led to the growth of the “Institute of Mural painting” associated with the temple.