Putting heart into saving art
HUBBALLI: For centuries, temples in coastal Karnataka and Goa had been decorated by an ancient painting style called Kaavi art. The reddish-brown colour murals can be seen even today in some of the old temples in Goa, Dakshina Kannada, and Uttara Kannada districts of Karnataka.
With time, specialisation has diminished, and traditional Kaavi paint makers, who belong to a particular family, have moved on to other professions, leaving the art in the lurch. But a group of artistes from Gokarna has revived interest in the art form, which has started garnering attention again. When old temples were being renovated to suit the idea of a modern structure, the art form began gradually vanishing from the coastal region of the state.
Ravi Gunaga, an artist from Gokarna, pointed out that the art has a history of 1,500 years, and is often associated with the traditional festival of Bandi Habba. “The 12-day Bandi Habba concludes with a car festival, in which the entire village participates. Most of the disputes in the village used to be settled before the deity during the festival. The central attraction would be the repainting of temples with Kaavi art by family members of Desh Bhandari, also called Maatagars. With the new generation moving away from art, we are trying to bring it back to life,” he explained.
“Traditionally, the Kaavi colour was prepared using a natural colour, mortar soil, and lime. Once the paste is ready, it’s put in the mould and stamped on the walls. There are no traditional Kaavi paint makers today, so we are using the same colour paints to recreate designs after studying a few designs of temples in Karnataka and Goa. Artistes from Mangaluru, too, are helping us reclaim the traditional art,” Gunaga said.Gunaga has been working on reviving the art form for over seven years.
He started with the hall of a house, and today he has orders to be delivered over the next few months. “It started with encouragement by friends and family. I run Lalitha Art Gallery in Gokarna, where we make life-size clay statues, portraits and landscapes. As the art form was becoming extinct, we decided to take it up as a challenge, and try our hand at it. As we cannot recreate the original paints now, we started using acrylic paints to attain the nearest possible colour. Once we started drawing walls of houses and a few temples, there has been a demand to paint the walls of many temples in Uttara Kannada in Kaavi art,” Gunaga added.
In the past few years, a group of youth led by Gunaga has painted Kaavi art on temples, houses and walls. Several government departments, including the DC’s office in Karwar, now have murals made in Kaavi art.Gunaga points out that Bandi Habba is celebrated annually in all villages of Dakshina Kannada district, but in Uttara Kannada, the practice is prevalent in a few villages around Gokarna. “We need to revive the festival to save the dying art. It’s a good sign that government offices and new temples are now planning to have Kaavi art as murals,” Gunaga added.
“There are a few people who have researched and documented the Kaavi art. We took help from researcher Shobha Karnik and Dr Krishnananda Kamath, who has authored a book on Kaavi Kale (art) which has helped us immensely in finalising the designs and recreating them. Today, a team of seven artists is working on Kaavi art, and we have received orders from a dozen temples in Karnataka. Work will be taken up after the monsoon,” he said.
Amruth Joshi, a travel expert from Hubballi who has been instrumental in popularising the art along with the artists’ group, said it is a significant effort to save the ancient art for future generations. “Research shows that Kaavi art has been around for over 1,500 years. This means the art needs to be preserved and made popular. Government institutes should make an effort to salvage the art and appreciate the efforts of artists from Gokarna,” he suggested.