RR
3rd August 2009, 07:52 PM
Restoration of Kuthira Malika Paintings
- Padmanabha
I am a frequent visitor to Kuthira Malika the royal residence of Maharaja Swati Tirunal. I am part of a team which is doing a documentary film on Travancore. The royal family has provided us space in the Palace complex near the temple of Sree Padmanabha Swami and is near to my house as well. Near Kuthira Malika there is a single storied structure. . It is a high building. In the ground floor functions the office of the Kuthria Malika. I prefer to walk through these structures. Sometimes I may sit and sketch or at times I may sit and go through the works of Swati Tirunal or listen to Padmanabha Sathakam.
A row of pictures in the first floor of this office always attract my attention. I will view them from outside though it is not clearly visible. It has been in my mind for long to study these works and due to other pre-occupations I postpone every time. In March 2009, I decided to go there and for that sought His Highness permission and was granted immediately. I was accompanied by a Palace Staff. I climbed the spiral wooden staircase. To my surprise I saw 60 valuable paintings displayed high above the 18ft wall. From below I could see the magnificent works but that was not sufficed and sad to say most of them were affected by termites.
[html:71bdb2787d]http://mayyam.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=174&g2_serialNumber=1
http://mayyam.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=178&g2_serialNumber=1[/html:71bdb2787d]
[html:71bdb2787d]http://mayyam.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=181&g2_serialNumber=1[/html:71bdb2787d]
I informed to His Highness and the next day, a ladder was arranged and I climbed to see the colorful wonders-yes-they were great works on ethnic tribes and are more than 250 years old. The letter used for the captions are square alphabets we find in Granthams. I was thrilled. The same day I informed His Highness and my request to recopy the works was granted. I put aside all my other works and it took one week to recopy them in my digicam. I told His Highness that I can restore these valuable works-as soft copies and then we will think of recopying them on paper or canvas later. He readily agreed and my work began on Patham udayam--tenth day after Chitra Pournami-considered to be an auspicious day.
While restoration, I searched for its background. So far I didnt get any proof to establish who the artist was. Nothing was mentioned in the work. In the meantime I came across similar works-at the Yale University. An unknown artist had executed similar work for Rev Fr William Twining and Daniel Poor-two American Missionaries. The caption of the works was executed by a Madurai based writing master T Varada Pillai. The series was handed over to the Missionaries on 2 Feb 1837.
[html:71bdb2787d]http://mayyam.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=196&g2_serialNumber=1
http://mayyam.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=187&g2_serialNumber=1[/html:71bdb2787d]
[html:71bdb2787d]http://mayyam.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=184&g2_serialNumber=1[/html:71bdb2787d]
What surprised me was the resemblance in the theme. I found similar works here and in the Yale collection. At the same time, I found the following differences.
The Madurai works-are beautiful in the sense that they are extremely graceful-with prominent features. The works I found here are realistic. The Madurai works have no background. Here I saw plenty of huts/houses that too single storied, lot of greenery, swaying coconut palms, the cloudy sky etc. In the Madurai works the male and female of each tribe are essayed separately while here I saw both of them in a single frame.
There was a period when the attire and adornment varied from caste to caste. Thus the works I saw here unveiled this part of the social history. The attire I saw in the Madurai work is rich and gracefully ornamented-highlighting the skill and imagination of the artist-hence non-realistic to some extent.
Also, the Madurai works are executed on paper. Here the works are carried out on a surface of Kummayam-which indicates the evolution of art from the 2D mural works to 3D realistic ones. The works are beautifully shaded. These pictures may be the one evolved and portrayed in this transition period. Decades later the world witnessed the amazing works of Raja Ravi Varma known for realism.
All the works in the Madurai works have captions in Tamil and in English. The works in the Palace have captions in the old Malayalam language and as I said earlier square letters are used. The medium is water color.
The works can be classified into two categories-namely-1. That related to occupations-like carpenter, barber, weaver, flower sellers etc and 2. The people representing paradesis that is aliens-like Marathas, Tulus, Punjabis etc.
These works need further research and study.
- Padmanabha
I am a frequent visitor to Kuthira Malika the royal residence of Maharaja Swati Tirunal. I am part of a team which is doing a documentary film on Travancore. The royal family has provided us space in the Palace complex near the temple of Sree Padmanabha Swami and is near to my house as well. Near Kuthira Malika there is a single storied structure. . It is a high building. In the ground floor functions the office of the Kuthria Malika. I prefer to walk through these structures. Sometimes I may sit and sketch or at times I may sit and go through the works of Swati Tirunal or listen to Padmanabha Sathakam.
A row of pictures in the first floor of this office always attract my attention. I will view them from outside though it is not clearly visible. It has been in my mind for long to study these works and due to other pre-occupations I postpone every time. In March 2009, I decided to go there and for that sought His Highness permission and was granted immediately. I was accompanied by a Palace Staff. I climbed the spiral wooden staircase. To my surprise I saw 60 valuable paintings displayed high above the 18ft wall. From below I could see the magnificent works but that was not sufficed and sad to say most of them were affected by termites.
[html:71bdb2787d]http://mayyam.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=174&g2_serialNumber=1
http://mayyam.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=178&g2_serialNumber=1[/html:71bdb2787d]
[html:71bdb2787d]http://mayyam.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=181&g2_serialNumber=1[/html:71bdb2787d]
I informed to His Highness and the next day, a ladder was arranged and I climbed to see the colorful wonders-yes-they were great works on ethnic tribes and are more than 250 years old. The letter used for the captions are square alphabets we find in Granthams. I was thrilled. The same day I informed His Highness and my request to recopy the works was granted. I put aside all my other works and it took one week to recopy them in my digicam. I told His Highness that I can restore these valuable works-as soft copies and then we will think of recopying them on paper or canvas later. He readily agreed and my work began on Patham udayam--tenth day after Chitra Pournami-considered to be an auspicious day.
While restoration, I searched for its background. So far I didnt get any proof to establish who the artist was. Nothing was mentioned in the work. In the meantime I came across similar works-at the Yale University. An unknown artist had executed similar work for Rev Fr William Twining and Daniel Poor-two American Missionaries. The caption of the works was executed by a Madurai based writing master T Varada Pillai. The series was handed over to the Missionaries on 2 Feb 1837.
[html:71bdb2787d]http://mayyam.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=196&g2_serialNumber=1
http://mayyam.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=187&g2_serialNumber=1[/html:71bdb2787d]
[html:71bdb2787d]http://mayyam.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=184&g2_serialNumber=1[/html:71bdb2787d]
What surprised me was the resemblance in the theme. I found similar works here and in the Yale collection. At the same time, I found the following differences.
The Madurai works-are beautiful in the sense that they are extremely graceful-with prominent features. The works I found here are realistic. The Madurai works have no background. Here I saw plenty of huts/houses that too single storied, lot of greenery, swaying coconut palms, the cloudy sky etc. In the Madurai works the male and female of each tribe are essayed separately while here I saw both of them in a single frame.
There was a period when the attire and adornment varied from caste to caste. Thus the works I saw here unveiled this part of the social history. The attire I saw in the Madurai work is rich and gracefully ornamented-highlighting the skill and imagination of the artist-hence non-realistic to some extent.
Also, the Madurai works are executed on paper. Here the works are carried out on a surface of Kummayam-which indicates the evolution of art from the 2D mural works to 3D realistic ones. The works are beautifully shaded. These pictures may be the one evolved and portrayed in this transition period. Decades later the world witnessed the amazing works of Raja Ravi Varma known for realism.
All the works in the Madurai works have captions in Tamil and in English. The works in the Palace have captions in the old Malayalam language and as I said earlier square letters are used. The medium is water color.
The works can be classified into two categories-namely-1. That related to occupations-like carpenter, barber, weaver, flower sellers etc and 2. The people representing paradesis that is aliens-like Marathas, Tulus, Punjabis etc.
These works need further research and study.