The passion of all art is reaching for the sky. For Kerala’s leading mural painter, the Kochi based artist Sasi K Warrier, it’s reaching for the cosmos where the great God Shiva dances his eternal tandava. On a 20 feet wall in Bangalore, Warrier created Kerala’s tallest work of art ever done on a single surface. Hari’s inspiration was a painting of Lord Shiva he had seen before. Then, serendipitously he got the Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi as a gift. The artist set to work. Helped by the students of the Indian School of Arts, Kochi of which he is the principal. He embarked on a labour of love that was to last for 50 days. The end result is a stunning mural of Lord Shiva, 18 feet high and 7 feet in width, with 48 elaborately drawn figures.
The painting, titled ‘Shivam’, was displayed at the Durbar Hall gallery. “Shiva destroys only when there is a need to do so,” he says. “He has a lot of energy and is far more vibrant than all the other gods. He is my favourite God.”
Mural painting is also his favourite art form, thanks to his father, the renowned mural painter, KK Warrier. “I have been painting since my childhood,” says Sasi. “My father has been my mentor all along.”
And both follow the ancient method, when it comes to painting on walls. Initially, the wall is plastered. Following that, lime and tender coconut water are applied. In fact, there are 28 coats. It becomes thicker than paper. It is on this base that the painting has done.
Sasi’s recent restoration work—a ‘Dance of Siva’ painting was done at the Paalnaari temple at Palakkad. Earlier, with the help of his father, they salvaged a work at the Karivellur Puthoor Siva temple at Kannur, before the building was demolished. “The painting was 400 years old,” says Sasi. “I was so happy that I could save these paintings.”
He is pleased that the government is showing keen interest to preserve this ancient art form. “The only problem is the dearth of mural restoration experts,” says Sasi. “But many youngsters are getting trained. So the future looks bright.”
In fact, as a result of regular exhibitions, and exposure in the media, the mural art form is gaining in popularity. Sasi has held exhibitions on scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, the life of Jesus Christ, and vignettes of life. “I have done a lot of commissioned work,” he says.
The artist says that he gets his inspiration from the murals at the Ajanta Caves as well as the Lepakshi paintings in Anantpur, Seemandhra. “The Veerabhadra temple has some of the best mural paintings in India,” he says.
Meanwhile, Sasi’s Shiva painting has set tongues wagging in the art community at Kochi. Most feel that Sasi has been paid about `25 lakh. Sasi laughs it off and says, “Hari is a friend. I did it for far less money than what has been mentioned. In fact, I was more excited that I got a chance to do such a large mural.”