KOCHI: Looking to immortalise events that defined and shaped the present-day Church, various parishes of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church have undertaken projects to recreate the historic occasions on canvas. But what are these important occasions?
“These are the various synods held in the Church, including the historic Koonan Kurisu Sathyam of 1653,” said Dr M Kurian Thomas, a Church historian, who was entrusted with the projects by the parishes. According to him, the painting on Koonan Kurisu Sathyam, an oil on canvas, marked the beginning.
“The painting, the biggest oil on canvas in Keralam, measuring 16ft X 4ft, was commissioned by the Orthodox Theological Seminary Kottayam, popularly known as Pazhaya Seminary,” he said. The painting was commissioned in 2007 by the then seminary principal, Rev Dr K M George, himself a prominent theologian and painter. The painting was done by artist Das Mohan and is now world famous,” said Dr Thomas.
“Soon, other churches that hosted important synods began commissioning paintings to immortalise those events. These are the major 10-12 historical events. For the Koonan Kurisu Sathyam, I did the research,” he said. The next project was the 1836 Synod of Mavelikkara.
“The work was commissioned by Mavelikkara Puthiyakavu St Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral. They approached me after learning about my role behind the Koonan Kurisu painting,” Dr Thomas said.
Among the artists engaged was Jijulal Bodhi, a native of Kozhikode and an art conservator. He and his colleagues painted the 1836 Mavelikara Padiyola based on the concept and background developed by Dr Thomas. “The project received continuous guidance from Dr K M George. The painting, which maintains historical accuracy even in minute details, also attracted considerable attention,” Jijulal said.
According to Dr Thomas, one has to be very careful when recreating historical events on canvas. “The details can’t go wrong. Everything needs to be perfect, right down to people’s hairstyle and dresses,” said Dr Thomas. Jijulal agreed.
Talking about the effort taken to reproduce the details associated with the historical events, he told TNIE that notes from Dr Thomas played an important part in getting the nitty-gritty right. “The paintings have a darker hue to give it a historical touch. Every detail, be it the clothing, skin tone and even the hairstyles, was researched before depiction,” he said.
A mural artist, Jijulal is the person behind 16th-century murals at Kottayam Cheriapally (St Mary’s Orthodox Church), St George Orthodox Church in Paliakara and St George Orthodox Church in Puthuppally. Another mural was based on Arthat Padiyola at St Mary’s Orthodox Cathedral in Arthat in Kunnamkulam, added Jijulal.
Dr Thomas said that during the discussions regarding the 1836 synod, when the church officials were told about the other important synods that were held at the church in 1754, 1769, and 1818, they wanted paintings of all three of them. Subsequently, Jijulal and his colleagues completed all three, he said. The painting of Chengannur Synod of 1686 was also one of the projects. “It was a historical assembly of the Malankara Church convened in 1686 by Mar Ivanios (Ivanios Hadithallah). The parishioners wanted a painting of it,” said Dr Thomas. “All these paintings are big,” he said, adding that a few more are on the anvil.
“These include the 1876 Synod of Mulanthuruthy, the 1912 enthronement at St Mary’s Church in Niranam, when the Catholicate of the East was established, and also the 1934 drawing up of the Church’s constitution,” Dr Thomas said.