Rebirth to the Traditional Murals at Purameri temple

The traditional murals which are mostly related to temples and palaces are considered as the primary example of Kerala's artistic heritage. One such place was Karyat Vishnu temple at Purameri in Vadakara, where the murals on the four walls of the sanctorum are considered as one of the oldest in the Malabar region. Due to its dilapidated condition which was beyond the stage of conservation, the temple management decided to redraw the murals. Now the efforts are on for repainting the same in pure traditional manner with the help two talented mural artists.

Karyat Vishnu temple

Karyat Vishnu temple is an ancient temple of Lord Vishnu situated at Purameri in Vadakara. The temple was belonged to the ruling family of erstwhile Kadathanadu, under the management of Kadathanadu Valiya Raja Devaswom- aka K V R Devaswom. The temple is comparatively small, but has a specific structural features of a typical temple architecture. The glory of the bygone era is clearly seen in its features and construction and also in other aristocratic traditional homes near to the temple. 

The main deity is Lord Vishnu and is facing the west. The sanctum sanctorum is square shaped with the basement in granite; the walls are in laterite and traditional roofing in wood covered by copper plates.  The ancient murals were on the four walls of the sanctum sanctorum.

Around the Sanctorum is Nalambalam and outside the Nalambalam is Balikkalpura (for performing some important tantric rituals).  The inscriptions on the basement of the flag post indicate that the flag post was dedicated by Krishnavarma Thamburan of Ayancherry Kovilakom, 120 years before.

Dilapidated murals

The efforts for repainting the murals have started as part of the renovation project for the whole temple. The murals at this temple are considered as the best example of the Kerala style murals. Experts have the opinion that the influence of different mural styles that had existed in different places in Kerala are seen in these paintings and these murals might be at least 200 years old.  

The entire walls of the sanctum sanctorum are filled with traditional paintings depicting variety of characters and themes from Hindu mythology. All of the paintings are created based on Dhyana Sloka, the stanzas describing the character. The theme and characters which are  important among the paintings are the main deity-Lord Vishnu with four hands, Sakthi Panchashari- the family of Lord Shiva, a scene from the story Gajendra Moksham, Vimsa Thyakshari- Lord Srikrishna with eight hands and surrounded by eight Gopikas, Avahandi- Lord Vishnu with consort Sridevi, Kamadevan- the God of Romance, Pradosha Nrutham- Dancing Shiva, Goddess Bhadrakali with her militia Bhoothaganagal, Saraswathy- the Goddess of learning, Shiva and consort Parvathy in tribes form, Vettakkaran- tribal form of Lord Shiva, Lord Ganapathy- the elephant headed God etc. 

Apart from these figures, designs like Veerali, Ghanadwaram, Pakshimala etc. which are described in the ancient texts can also be seen on the borders and on the sides of the door. 

Repainting- a new challenge

All these paintings were dilapidated and were beyond the stage of conservation. The effort to reproduce it in its ancient glory was a challenge to the young artists Asokan Cheruvathur and P.Naveen kumar who started their work in 15 April 2008. During each process- wall preparation, preparing colors and its variances etc, an authentic method of traditional style has been implemented, which of course is remarkable and the murals thus drawn can be considered as a specimen of Kerala tradition. According to the artists, the traditional concept of mural is that it has to get oxygen from the atmosphere and the wall should allow free flow of air so that the change in humidity in the atmosphere will have no effect on the mural and it lasts for centuries. The importance of natural materials is it allows natural flow of air unlike artificial compounds which block the free flow of air.

Both these artists were the students of the same batch who completed 5- year National Diploma in Mural Painting in the year 2000, conducted by Institute of Mural Painting, Guruvayur. According to them the lecture classes by the Sanskrit scholar late. Pattambi Madhava Varrier helped them very much at the time of reproducing murals at Purameri temple. During their studentship, they had gone through some of the ancient Sanskrit texts like Chitrasoothram in Vishudarmothara Puranam, Abhilasha Chinthamani of Someswaran, Kamasuthra of Vatsyayan, Silparatnam of Srikumaran written in 16^th century, Samarankana Soothradhara of Bhoja Raja and the texts Moolakalpam, Aattusalini, Nalakambu, Sukraneethisaram, Kasyapasilpam etc.  The philosophical interpretations in mural tradition were thus imparted to them by Madhava Varrier.

According to the artists they have followed the four stages of wall processing for the background wall. Fine powdered sand / conch are used in combination with other natural solutions/ dyes, which then applied in different layers so as to achieve the final white background.  The solutions used as glue are fruit extracts from Kadukka (Chebulic Myrabalon/Terminalia Chebula), Koovalam (Bael tree/ stone apple/Eagle Marmelos), the creeper Naranth and tender coconut water.(Kadukka, Koovalam and Naranth are vernacular names)

The colors used are yellow, red (both with saffron base), green, black and white (background). Of these red and yellow colors are created from stones which the artists had collected from Mookambi, South Canara, in Karnataka state. The stone is then powdered into fine dust, mixed with natural glue to make the final paste. Black color is generated from fine burned carbon in a specific method. The green color is created from the juice of an herbal leaf. A type of glue from a tree, called 'Goondh'  is used as the bonding agent. This is available with Ayurvedic raw material shops as it also used in Ayurveda treatments.

Even though the basic colors used in traditional murals are only five, the ancient Gurus had given provisions for the use of different tones of the same color, which is purely dependent on ones creativity and philosophical insight. These tones are applied based on the nature of the characters portraying, emotions and feelings which give life to the mural. For example the ancient texts describe about 12 variants/shades of green and which are specifically named. Each variant is used for representing different feelings/emotions. Some of the yellow shades are golden yellow, sandal yellow, ivory yellow etc. Washing blue, a gum from a tree etc. are used to create these shade variations.

At Purameri temple the same characters and themes are repainted except the one at north-west corner of the sanctum sanctorum, where they drawn a five-headed Lord Ganapathy.  

The artists

The main artists,  Asokan Cheruvathur and P Navinkumar, are trained from the Institute of Mural Painting, Guruvayur and they value the training received from their Guru, late. Srinivasa Paniker of Mammiyur Kalari.  Asokan said that his studies and research related to the preparation of color application and its variations in connection with the temple wood carvings and sculptures, under the traditional sculptor Kannan Kidari, helped him a lot in this project especially on some of the techniques and formulations which are on the verge of extinction and these are now being applied at Purameri temple.  

P Naveenkumar is also a trained conservation specialist in murals, who participated in the conservation work of murals at Padmanabhapuram Palace, recently. The other artists involved in this project  are Pravinkumar Keezhppayur, P K Rajiv, Shyju and Jaineesh Ulliyeri.

The total area covered for the mural is about 200 sq.ft and these murals can be showcased as a specimen of Kerala tradition that will attract researchers, art lovers and enthusiasts.   

Location/Access: At Purameri, which is about 15km from Vatakara on Nadapuram/Kuttiadi route. Vadakara is main town in Kozhikode district, situated between Kozhikode-Kannur National Highway.