THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kocchu Kodungaloor Devi temple at Kazhakuttam received a unique painting of Goddess Durga with 64 hands. The 12-feet-long and 5-feet wide painting has been made by artist Sreeraj V P. According to him the painting is not-so-common. “The only time Goddess Durga is pictured with 64 hand is during ‘Kalam ezhuthu’ (drawing done on the floor with colour powder during rituals) in Vaikom temple. As far as I know not many have tried doing a wall painting of the Goddess in such a posture,” said Sreeraj.
He came to know about the posture from descriptions in “Dhayana Slokam”. “Dhayana sloka describes this vibrant form of Goddess Durga with 64 hands. And in the same sloka the facial expression of the deity too is described. It also elaborates about the kind of weapons that she holds in her many hand. Her 64 hands hold 64 different weapons,” he said.
Painting Murals His Forte
The Kottayam native finished his graduation from Institution of Mural Painting, Guruvayur with first class. For the past 12 year, he has been active in this field. Sreeraj has done a large number of paintings at national and international level, the notable one being his solo exhibition at Dubai. Some of his paintings are kept at Vaikom Mahadeva temple, Guruvayur temple East Gopuram, Poojapura Saraswathy Mandapam in the capital city, Thirunakara temple Kottayam and Palakkad Muzhipillangadi and Madurai Koodal Azhagar temple. His father Passanna Kumar is also an artist. Though specialised in mural painting he has forayed into other areas of art too. Along with mural painting he does mural reliefs. “I love to travel and my aim is to spread the essence of mural paintings all over the world. Earlier, mural paintings were seen only in temples but today they have found space in living rooms too,” he said