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Murals that come alive

Three women mural painters put up their works in the city and one of them is all set to do murals on a temple wall

PHOTO: VIPINCHANDRAN

EMBRACING TRADITION The three artists Baksa, Tara and Lekha, whose mural paintings were on show at the Durbar Hall Art Gallery

Picture this - A woman painting a mural on the walls of a temple, telling a tale in white, green, red, yellow and black, sometimes blue. If you are wondering what the big deal is about, it is this - unlike painting, mural painting has very few women practitioners. Whether this was due to patriarchy or gender politics is a subject open to debate. In the old times, this form of stylised paintings of gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon were done on the walls of temples and palaces. This form constitutes an important aspect of the traditional visual arts of Kerala.

Few women

"The reasons for there being very few women mural artists may not necessarily have to do with discrimination. In the old times murals were traditionally painted on the walls of temples and palaces. This involved living there for the period of time until the painting was completed. Besides, during those days the arts were taught under the gurukula system, the guru-shishya tradition, under the system the male students lived with the teachers. There were no women, so probably that must have been the reason why there were hardly any or very few women artists," says Lekha Venugopal Vyloppilly.

Lekha has been commissioned to paint a wall of the Pavakulam Siva Kshetram at Kaloor, and this is not the first time either. She has painted goddess Durga at the Aramchery Durga Temple, Kaloor as well as `Saktipanjakshari' at the Puthenkulamkara temple at Eroor. This young painter, along with two of her friends Baksa D. J., and Tara S. Pillai recently conducted a group exhibition of murals belonging to the Kerala school of the art form, `Sparsham', at the Durbar Hall Art Centre. The trio are BFA graduates in Mural Painting from the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady. "The Sanskrit university is the only university that offers a degree course in mural painting. But there are other places where women are taught this form. And now there are more women among our juniors," says Tara. Lekha and Baksa belong to the first batch of women who trained in mural painting from the Sankaracharya Sanskrit University.

What the three have achieved with `Sparsham' is that they have brought the focus, albeit modestly, back on a very traditional form of painting typical to Kerala. More so at a time when fashionable labels such as abstract, modern and post-modern art dominate the art mart. Although veteran artists like C. N. Karunakaran have adapted and innovated on the basic template of mural painting, these women have stuck to the basic idiom and syntax of the art form. These women, as also other mural artists, have moved towards the commercially viable formats such as acrylic, oil on canvas or on board.

When they paint, they do it the old fashioned way, with a verse - dhyana shloka - invoking the god or goddess who is to be painted. "It is like a sadhana that we do, we have to fast when we paint. Particularly if we are painting for a temple or at a temple," says Lekha. Whether it is painting for a private collector or for a temple, these women say they adhere as far as possible to the tenets of painting murals (chanting dhyana shlokas, fasting etc). Lekha's works are reminiscent of traditional murals, the murals she paints have an innate charm, of them having been conceived and executed an era ago, in a different time altogether.

Varied interpretations

If on the one hand, these women have painted the more conventional `Gitopadesam', `Kaliyamardhanam', `Ardhanariswaran', `Sreekrishna', `Radha Krishna', `Sakuntala' or each of the dasavataaras then on the other hand there are paintings such as Baksa's `Flower filled pot', `Women Gather' or for that matter Lekha's interpretation of Vyloppilly's poem `Mampazham' which are innovative and experimental.

In terms of genre, the works of these women belong to one category, but in terms of interpretation these are varied. Baksa's paintings, for instance are very sharp with details. Baksa, who is hearing impaired, is able to give a touch of fineness to her works. Tara's forte is definitely the conventional format, which she is able to interpret magnificently.

It is not that there have not been women mural painters before, there may have been, however the point is that with this exhibition these women have brought the focus on women mural and mural painting practitioners. And it is not only on women mural painting practitioners but also on the genre .

SHILPA NAIR ANAND

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