MANGALURU: For centuries, mankind has saved art, books, and other medium of expression from war, invasion and natural disasters. It was a way of preserving their cultural heritage.
In Karnataka’s Belur and Halebidu, ancient books, documents and monographs that carry the imprint of a culture, art, and performing arts were protected by people who fled from invaders and marauders.
Kaavi art which was brought to the south by people who migrated from the Sindh region centuries ago has has for long been a dying art form, but now it is on the path to revival.
The art form was practised by those who lived on the plains of the Saraswati River in the Punjab-Sindh region. When their civilisation persihed due to political and geographical reasons, many of them or Saraswaths as they are called migrated to the south — Goa and parts of the Konkan coast — and carried along with them the art they practised and the knowledge of making ‘kaavi’, the pigment made from laterite soil. Kaavi kala is today found all along the western coast from Gujarat to Kerala.
Over the centuries, this art form has given a distinct identity to shrines, temples, churches and mosques on the Malwan, Konkan and North Malabar coast. The art form has transcended linguistic, religious and communal barriers.
During the Portuguese persecution of Hindus, a large number of Saraswaths migrated to Karnataka and settled down in Karwar, Honnavar, Kumta, Ankola and Bhatkal. Many Kaavi kala artists belong to these families that had migrated to the state back then. “This is the reason why Uttara Kannada has more houses, temples adorned with Kaavi Kala,” said Vishwa Konkani Sardar Basti Vaman Shenoy. Shenoy is a renowned Konkani activist.
Heritage activists in Goa are accredited to have popularised Kaavi kala. Heta Pandit in her book (co authored with Annabel Mascarenhas) ‘Houses of Goa’ had feared that Kaavi kala might be confined to the pages of history if not revived. “A unique art form that originated in Goa, kaavi was Goa’s gift to Maharashtra and Karnataka. This art form possesses the wisdom of ages in that it has survived the rigors of weather, time and other deleterious factors,” she wrote.
Popularising the art
Vaman Shenoy added, “The Vishwa Konkani Kendra (in Mangaluru) has been making efforts to popularise Kaavi Kala in coastal Karnataka. We are in the process of identifying artists in Mangaluru, Udupi and Uttara Kannada and training them to make it commercially viable. There are also plans to reach out to architects to show them the beauty of Kaavi art.”
A veteran Kaavi Kala artist from Mardol in South Goa Baburao Varnekar said, “Kaavi art is similar to the frescoes. The media and canvas are naturally obtained. Simple techniques like burning seashells, mixing it with judicious volumes of clean sand and jaggery will make the canvas for Kaavi kala. The reddish ink is obtained by grinding the red pigment latent in a particular type of laterite stone and few other natural emulsifiers.”
The Goa Heritage action group which restored Janardhan Mayenkar’s family temple in Pernem feels that Karnataka and Maharashtra have better practice of Kaavi Kala. While Goa had the resources to do so too, it needs more practical incentives. The first effort to revive the art form was made in 1982 when the Goa government constituted the first beautification committee among all states of the country to include use of Kaavi Kala, but the focus was diverted due to excess emphasis laid on retaining the tiled roofs instead of concrete roofs.
Gopi Nagesh Bhat, an artist in Gokarna, said Kaavi Kala predominantly takes themes from Vishnu Purana, Ramayana and Mahabharata. “The temple of Shiva panth had not subscribed to Kaavi art which goes on to say that Vaishnava Brahmins were more akin to Kaavi Kala. Few Devi temples in South Goa were also decorated with Kaavi Kala,” he said.