MURAL PAINTINGS
Came to Vogue: About 8th Century AD
Mainly Depicts: The Scenes from Hindu Mythology
The
Murals of Kerala bear the stamp of uniqueness in aesthetic composition and
technique. Murals came into vogue in Kerala as early as the 8th century
AD.
The most antique Murals of Kerala are found in the Thirunandikkara Cave
Temple in Thiruvananthapuram
district, now a part of Kanya Kumari district of the neighbouring state of
Tamil Nadu.
The temple and palace Murals of Kerala are invariably sagas of Hindu gods
and goddesses and visual poems of their heroic deeds.
The Murals in Padmanabhapuram
Palace offer a feast of colours and motifs for the connoisseur of
art. The triple storeyed 'Uppirikka Malika' houses the retiring chamber of
the king and the heir apparent.
The main chamber has its inner walls decorated with fine Murals of gods
and goddesses. The central motif is
Anathapadmanabha,
the chief deity of the erstwhile Travancore Maharajas.
The Murals of Krishnapuram
Palace near Kayamkulam are visual wonders of artistic perfection.
Gajendra Moksham, the largest mural panel in Kerala is a major attraction.
The Murals of Mattancherry
Palace are dramatic picturisations of the Ramayana and the
Bhagvatha. 
The
Murals of the Shiva Temple in
Ettumanoor provide
an insight into the earliest forms of the Dravidian mural art. The mural
of Shiva as Nataraja, symbolic of the eternal cosmic dance, is the most
outstanding Mural here.
This spectacular painting, 217 cms in height and 360 cms in width, is
situated on the inner wall of the southern side of the temple tower,
called as the 'Gopuram'.
