List

friday march 13 friday review article
fostering a tradition by kausalya santhanam
Melody of the duck instrument by suganthy krishnamachary
Collectors item by lalithaa krishnan on ludwig pesch. you might like to possess this book
Stories through shadows by suganthy krishnamachary. you will loveto read this article

march 15 sunday magazine
article voices from the margins by pushpa chari
Past and present by ram guha how to retire
Ram guhas article also is in the same no. march 15
book extracts thanjavur throughPost Options the ages by lakshmi vishwanathan

march 16 monday metroplus
dream on by ss kavitha on sarath babu
blissful baliby kalpana sundar under the heading escape
inside story a craftsmans tale by lakshmi sharath

march 17 main paper op ed
celebrating an indians breakthrough science on jc bose by ashok parthasarathy
Gender forgotten wonders byzehra naqvi
A tribute to women by p. anima

march 20friday review
artists brush with celluloid by randor guy on s. rajam
all sound and fury by a. seshan

March 21 saturday metroplus
Sweet fruits of labour by prince frederick on fruit shop on greams road

March 27 friday review
melodies and memories by sriram. v on dk pattammal
aesthetic ,affordable by lalithhaa krishnan
visual journey through ruins by kausalya santhanam
article with gnb as the only link bu rupa gopal
upanyasaka changes tack by charukesi
Synonymous with religious texts by vidya saranyan on lifco publishers
Candyman is back by sr asok kumar

march 27 friday cinemaplus
blast from the past miss kamala 1938 by randor guy

April 3 friday cinemaplus
blast from the past sabash meena 1958 by randor guy

April 3 friday review
gentleman star who played gangster by randor guy
(you must read this)
leader humble, scholarly by g. srinivasan
where creativity thrives by pradeep chakravarthy on the govt. college of arts and crafts

april 5 sunday magazine
under heading rural tourism untapped potential by hugh and colleen gantzer
discover tradition and folklore by soma basu

Sunday Feb8 Magazine
heritage the essence of shiva by ranvir shah
level playing fields by mike marqusee article gateway to new worlds

Monday feb 9 metroplus
escape memories of winter by rishad saam mehta

Friday review feb 13
music his canvas on s. rajam by sriram.v
in delicate patterns by pushpa chari

Friday feb 13 cinema plus
devdas 1953 by randor guy
god pf a different kind on director bala by malathi rangarajan

monday feb 16 metroplus
meet the bestseller on chetan bhagat by gowri ramnarayan
escape harvards end by shaleena koruth
madras miscellny by s. muthaiah in his fathers footsteps same author article on spencers remembering 60 yrs ago

Feb 20 friday cinema plus
blast from the past pavalakodi 1934 by randor guy

Feb 20 Friday review s
sculpting a succes story by ts subramaniam on ganapati stapati a great temple architect
heartrending story of love by vijay lokapally on devdas
the maestro and his music on pt. ravishankar by ranjan das gupta
they mourned with laughteron nagesh by malati rangarajan
A leap to the high heavens by deepa ganesh
it was all about moods by rupa srikanth

feb 23 monday metroplus
heading escape article wonderstruck in ramsess land by kausalya santhanam

Feb 27 friday review
the sultana of melody by savitha gautham
he painted with his lens by randor guy
myriad hues intricate designs by pushpa charisame day and no. are the following.
stage is his world kausalya santhanam on kp
the stage is his world kausalya santhanam on kp pravin the founder of theatre group magic lantern
voice rich and powerful by sriram.v
penchant for dance dramaon dance guru krishnakumari narendranby lalithasai

March 2 monday mrteoplus
wah usrad on zakir hussain by chitra swaminathan
Escape architectural wonders heritage by ashrafi s. bhaga

march 6 friday main paper
newscape new rock art scenes by ts subramanian

March 6 friday review
article saga of grit and success on sarojini varadappan a truly great lady by suganthy krishnamachary
graceful screen presence by savitha gaytam
art in its pristine formby pushpa chari
the archers penance by suganthy krishnamachary
serenity in stone by rupa gopal on buddhist sculptures

March 8 sunday magazine
a journey called india by vibhuti patel on michael wood
review the past comes alive by vibhuri patel
newsmaker for the sake of the arts by ranvir shah must read article
second life his world is the stage by syeda farida

10 April 2009 Friday Review
Capturing the lost magic by pushpa chari
Cinema unforgettable thriller by ks rajagopal
kings inns under heritage by dunstan s. morris
confluence of different styles under heritage by suganthi krishnamachari
under event enduring charm of ramayana by vasanthi sankaranarayanan
under stage paari from a distance by kausalya santhanam

hindu magazine sunday april 12
an indian institute by ram. guha
by our lady correspondents by nirupama subramanian

cinema plus april 17 friday
an ode to shaktida by v. gangadhar

next friday review april 17
Where history owes it to fiction by suganthy krishnamachary
Melody is his middle name by v. balasubramanian
same no. article the story of a song by sriram.v

april 20 monday metroplus
madras miscellany by s. muthaiahthe message bearers
under escape ice story by chitra srikrishna-same no

metroplus tuesday april 21
the viewfinder by pankaja srinivasan. you must read this being a photo buff

yoyng world tuesday april 21
heading art beat fleeting figures on sand sculpture

Friday review april 24
search for identity by geetha venkataramanan on chos play
same no article burst of coloyr by pushpa chari
same no under craft poetry in earthy hues by pushpa chari
same no demystifying mythology by sganthy krishnamachary
Same no under legend worthy disciple of a great guru by sriram. v must read
same no heritage the path to glory on buddha

next april 26 sunday magazine
a gift to itself by ram guha on i i sc
article harmony thro art by kausalya santhanam

hindu april 27 monday article
indus script does encode a language by a. srivathsan and ts subramanian

1 may article friday review
it is a happy family affair by kausalya santhanam. must read.
ext. same number. article remembering roxy by randor guy
next same no. again a thema that is universal by lekha shankar
bollywoods macho man bids goodbye by v. gangadhar on firoz khan
two more from the same no. movies of a legendary musician on gnb by randor guy
the enlightened one on buddha.

may 4 monday main paper article
where heritage has survived onslaughts of time by deepa h ramakrishnan


hindu may 4 monday metroplus
under escape article the road to damascus by sangeetha barooah pisharoty

may 8 friday cinemaplus
blast from the past chandragupta chanakya 1940 by randor guy the woman is vasanthakokilam in the photo

may 15 friday review article
statement with a bow by suganthykrishnamachary must read
article when india was the cynosure of all eyes by s. rangarajan
craft glittering replicas of puri deities by pushpa chari
under history article national anthems madanapalle connectionby kss seshan must read
titan from kanchipuramby sriram.v on naina pillai one of the greayest musicians pf alltime

may 18 monday metroplus
madras miscellany by s. muthaiah article topping the forgotten
under escape article medieval glory by kausalya santhanam
under escape article in santaland finland by celine lemaire
amid the sand dunes by k. pradeep

may 25 metroplustitle
plain tales from the hills on ruskin bond by divya kumar
same no. madras miscellany by muthaiah a 40 year correspondence on krittika tamil writer

may 23 metroplus
penchant for the past on v. sriram by prince frederick

may 22 friday review
memorable movies of 1939 by randor guy

may 29 friday cinemaplus
blast from the past parthiban kanavu by randor guy

may 29 friday review
revolutionary step by v. sriram on vina ramanujayya
review retrospective the period of celluloid classics by randor guy
facile on two fronts on ilampirai manimaran by suganthy krishnamachary

may 31 sunday magazine
time out our own dino park by indu balachandran
dinner in an iglooby ranjita biswas
tribute burnished music by meena menon on md ramanathan

The call of the murals

GEETA PADMANABHAN

A masterpiece in the making: KU Krishnakumar at work

"On the wall, the first line is the final line," says master of Kerala murals KU Krishnakumar. A first-person account of how a mural comes to life.

Meeting master of Kerala murals KU Krishnakumar, who is in the city to conduct a workshop on the divine art of mural making, is a privilege. Charmingly humble, this authority on the divine art is on a mission to promote it. In a narrative of short sentences and perfect sequencing, he takes me through the history of the art to which his own artistic life is inseparably linked.

The process

“I start painting on an auspicious day after worship. Murals demand hard, manual work. Preparing the wall, an act that distinguishes a mural from a ‘painting-on-the-wall', is a complicated process. Egypt or Kerala, this preparation is crucial, though the techniques are different. Artists use locally available materials.

The rough plastering of the ‘ground' is made smooth with a mixture of sand, shell lime, water and plant (kadukkai, chunnambuvelli) extracts, fermented for 15 days. The wall is left to dry, to make rare shades possible. The second coating has sand, lime and cotton ground into smooth butter. The cotton fills the cracks and absorbs colours to give it a rich finish.

The thin third coating is a mixture of lime and tender-coconut water. Horizontal and vertical strokes pile up 25-30 layers. The paintings are done with five major colours (Panchavarnam). A trained artist will leave the white portion and paint only the coloured ones.

On the wall, the first line is the final line. We start with yellow lines, fill with red and green and outline in black. Yellow and red are crushed out of stones and plants, green from indigo (neelambari) mixed with yellow, black from gingelly oil lamp soot. The final coat is the glossy neem resin.

When a temple mural is finished, the priest does a puja for the brushes and colours. And, the guru opens the eyes of the main figures in a final touch, bringing them to life,” he concludes.

Decline and revival

Talking about the history of the arm form, he says it had a golden reign for 400 years from the 14th to the 18th Centuries. Then, colonisation brought the Portuguese and Dutch painters and their training methods. The Raja Ravi Varma era provided readymade canvases and oil colours. The system of gurukulam went out of style and mural paintings lost their sheen. In the 1970 Guruvayoor temple fire, all the murals were lost.

Later, the senior artists, the Devaswom management and the Government decided to promote this unique art form, and set up The Institute of Mural Painting, Guruvayur Devaswom, with KK Nair as Principal.

“And, I was among the 10 students in the first batch in 1989. For five years, I studied aesthetics, Sanskrit, history of Indian and Western art, tribal and folk paintings. I specialised in Kerala mural painting,” he recalls.

“We exhibited our art in camps. No one had heard of Kerala murals. They had stayed within temple precincts because of strict rules. In exhibitions and camps we painted on cement sheets, paper and canvas to popularise the art.”

And, now, the master artist worries about the commercialisation of the art form by “hobby artists”, who copy the murals on canvas, sell them at fancy prices and proclaim themselves ambassadors of this art abroad.

Still, he is happy that temple murals are mobile, so what if you find them on sari pallus. “It's all part of development,” he shrugs. “If some at least study the art thoroughly, learn to prepare colours and know the technique, it is all right.”

Its all in the detailing

Kerala murals are characterised by heavy ornamentation — costumes and jewellery.

Green (satvik), white (tamas), yellow (rajas) are the prominent colours. The expressions resemble Natya Shastra's mudras and bhavas.

Chitra Sutra says an artist must study great artists, watch the changes in seasons and in human life. He must paint a picture of a sleeping herd of cows, with one of them dead; the viewer must be able to spot the dead cow.