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Design Resource
Kerala Murals
The Art of Painting on Walls
by
Prof. Bibhudutta Baral and Antony William
Products
Renowned widespread illustrations of Vishnu in various personifications are the oldest paintings found in Kerala. Other common murals are of Ganesha and manifestations of Siva.
Thrissur houses many mural paintings in the temples like:
• Pallimanna Shiva Temple with the illustrations of the story of Ramayana on the walls of the Mattancheri Palace and in SankaraNarayana, Mahabharata is retold.
• Vadakkunatha Temple with twin sets of paintings – in the interiors and the other in a small shrine.
• The Chemmanthatta Temple of Shiva has sculptural art of Krishna and Balarama at its entrance.
Others murals can be found in:
• The Padmanabhapuram Palace houses murals portrayingpuranic themes from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
• Krishnapuram Palace at Kayamkulam has a big panel of Gajendramoksham existing during the earlier eighteenth century era.
• Panayannarkkavu Murals depicts Hindu mythology on the walls of SaptaMatha temple of Panayannarkkavu.
• Ettumanoor Murals depicts the epics with imaginative panorama of a music concert by the Gods and Goddesses.
• Pundareekapuram Murals depicts the Hindu epics and also the frolics of Lord Krishna.
• Rama Temple at Triprayar represents Rama and his coronation, Vishnu, Krishna and Sita.
• Guruvayur and Aranmula Parthasarthy temples have many wall paintings.
• Marathiavolom temple in Alleppey has many paintings on Krishna.
• St. George’s Orthodox Churchis surrounded with Christian murals depicting scriptural stories and biblical characters.
• Mar Sabore and Afroth Churches in Akapparambu, located in the outskirts of Ernakulam, possess murals portraying various scenes from the bible.
• Attractively, St. Mary.s Church at Kanjoor has battle scenes of the armies of Tipu Sultan and of the English East India Company, on the both sides of its entrance.
