Padmanabhapuram Murals

PADMANABHAPURAM MURALS

Even a casual tourist to the Padmanaabhapuram Palace will be affected by a hard sense of the past. History, to use a cliché, slumbers here brooding over the past. This palace- complex was once the nerve centre of the powerful kings of Venad, later the rulers of Travancore, whose family tree claims lineage to the Cheras of Kodungallor.

This magnificent palace is also a splendid example of native architecture at its best. And it has utilized the plenitude and excellence of Kerala wood. If one wishes to experience the grandeur of carved wood, Padmanaabhapuram is just the place.

Padmanaabhapuram is now in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu about 65 Kms. to the south of Trivandrum. A slight detour from the national high way running through Trivandrum and Nagercoil will bring you to this old palace enclosed within a four kilometer perimeter of a huge granite wall. The reign of Maarthaanda Varma, the most powerful of the Trvancore Kings (1729-1758), was also the most glorious period in Padmanaabhapuram or the abode of Padmanaabha. This was around 1744, before which the place was known as Kalkulam.

The construction of the palace is typical of the native architectural idiom except for the protruding balcony in the northern wing and the clock-tower near the main entrance. The tiled saddle-backed roofs with triangular gables ensconcing carved wooden screens, latticed wooden windows, cool and ventilated rooms and corridors, black floor polished to a glistening smoothness, pillars of beautifully carved wood, intricately carved wooden beams and wall panels, steep narrow stair cases – all these add to the quaint charm of Padmanaabhapuram.

The “Thaar Kottaram” or the mother palace is almost central to the complex. Near this wing is the three-storyed “Upparikamaalika”, the tallest of the structures here. On the top floor is a rectangular chamber, the walls of which are enriched by well – preserved murals. The chamber was designed for meditation and retreat for the king and the heir-apparent.

The fine wood carving of the four poster bed in this room is a synthesis of Indian and Western motifs. Two lamps burn permanently in this room. The bed is believed to be hallowed by the divine presence of Ananta Sayana Padmanaabha, the Travancore royal family’s chief deity of worship. The several doors of this room open out into a very narrow balcony which is enclosed by wooden ventilated panels with dormer windows.

Murals decorate the inner walls of the room. These paintings depict gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon and are intended to create a congenial atmosphere for meditation.

On the western and eastern walls, the paintings of Ananta Padmanaabha form the central theme. And both these paintings were held in reverence since it was believed to be sanctified by the presence of the particular deity. The mural on the eastern wall is only a re-painting of the original which was destroyed when the wall was struck by lightning sometime in the past.

The lines of the paintings conform to all the specifications desired by the verses sung to invoke the deity. The Lord reclines on the serpent Ananta, attended by his consort Sridevi, and surrounded by several rishis and numerous celestials including the other important gods and goddesses of the Hindu pantheon. An idol of a Siva Linga is pictured near Vishnu’s right hand from which he drops flower offerings.

The mural on the eastern wall measures 224 cms by 152 cms. One feature that sets apart this mural from other of the same theme elsewhere is its capacity for creating a three-dimensional illusion. On the top right and left hand corners of the panel are paintings of the Sun and Moon personified as Gods. The Sun is personified as Soorya Narayana sitting on a lotus engulfed by his own iridescence. The Soorya Narayana is painted white. They are shown worshipped by sages and celestials and are in turn worshippers of the Supreme Being. At the bottom of the panel are two ‘Dvaarapaalas’ flanking the diety. As we turn to the northern wall paintings of the ‘dasa avataara’ of Lord Vishnu, and the Saiva celestials, the eleven forms of ‘Rudra’ can be distinguished easily. Apart from these there are paintings of Siva Taandava, Ganesa Pooja, Vettakkorumakan, Krishna as Paarthasaarathi or Arjuna’s Charioteer, the Master of master Veda Vyasa Sankara Narayana, a composite of Saiva and Vaishnava energies. Mahisha Mardini Durga, Dakshinaamurthi or Siva as the interpreter of the supreme Truth, Siva as Bhairava, a painting of Saastha as a hunter on horseback, Krishna being showered with pots and pots of jewels, Vishnu with his two consorts in Vaikuntha and a picture of Siva accepting the hand of Paarvati.

The central theme on the eastern wall is a re-painted version as said earlier. Palace records show that an Iranian mural painter Saris Katchadourian was commissioned to repaint the mural in the early forties of this century. In this painting at the bottom middle portion is a small painting of Vishnu flanked by his consorts, bearing a close semblance to icons. The wall also includes paintings depicting Krishna Leela or the antics of Krishna. Balakrishna confronting Kamsa’s murderous envoys like the demoness Poothana, Krishna dancing on the hood of Kaaliyan after vanquishing it, Krishna as Damodra giving salvation to two accursed celestials who were turned into trees.

The most beautiful painting on the southern wall is the picture of Krishna playing on the flute to an entranced audience of gopikaas in the wood of Vrindaavan. This can also be ranked among the finest murals of the typical Kerala style. This is an oft-painted subject. Krishna stands with crossed-feet playing his flute surrounded by an enraptured audience that consists of Gopikaas, cows, birds, and beasts of Vrindaavan. The entire subject is contained within a frame of 128 cms. by 100 cms. This mural stands out by virtue of its harmony in the application of colours, Green, Ochre, White, Golden Yellow and Dark Blue blend and match with each other. Another remarkable feature is the converging effect of the lines of vision of the Gopikaas and Krishna the central figure. Yet another note worthy mural on this wall is the coronation of Raama.

Other paintings include a painting of Subramanya, Siva in his Ardhanareeswara (half male and half female) form, Vishnu’s , main weapon the Sudarsana Chakra personified as a celestial being, Vishnu holding Mahalakshmi, a couple of pictures of Vishnu with his consorts, Raama as Veera Raghava the personification of courage and daring Bhadra-Kaali, a Siva Linga and the Siva family, a picture of Narasimha in a yogic stance, Siva with Paarvati and twelve Vishnu purushaas.

One can easily distinguish three individual styles in the wall paintings of Padmanaabhapuram. Most of the paintings on the western wall were done by a master-artist while large part of the lower halves were filled by a lesser artist. The entire re-paintings on the eastern wall were done by another person, whose style reveals a marked post-Vijayanagara influence.

It is not incorrect to assume that the murals except on the eastern wall were painted during Maarthanda Varma’s occupation of the palace. The style in general resembles the original paintings of the Padmanaabha Swami temple of Trivandrum district. The elongation of the face and body of the figures, pouting lips and sharp acquiline noses are the salient features of this style. Above everything else, what radiates through these pictures, is the absolute reverence of the Travancore royal family to Vaishnavism.