THRISSUR: Pilgrims who visit the renowned Guruvayur Sree Krishna Temple will soon get a chance to glimpse the history of the temple along with the rich cultural heritage of God’s Own Country depicted on a giant mural temple gate.
The Kerala Lalitha Kala Akademi has decided to set up the biggest cement mural temple gate in the country at the entrance to the famed Guruvayur Temple.
The work is being carried out in association with the Devaswom Managing Committee and Devaswom-owned Institute of Mural Painting in Guruvayur, one of the first institutions in the state to devote itself to the art.
Akademi chairman K L Francis told ‘Express’ that the last meeting of the Akedami has decided to carry out this work here considering the cultural and pilgrimage-touristic importance of the temple.
Artist Ramesh has been entrusted with the task of preparing a detailed project report with a master-plan and the draft master-plan will be submitted to the government and Devaswom for ratification soon.
According to the preliminary understanding, the project is estimated to cost around `2 crore. However, the actual cost of the project may be much higher than this as there are a lot of sponsors to donate fund for the project as it is a temple project, he said.
Institute of Mural Painting principal K U Krishnakumar said that the alumnus and the artists of the Akedami will be employed to create the temple wonder under the supervision of the institute. Themes based on temple legends, the political and cultural interference in the temple history, ancient struggles and cultural heritage of the state will find place in the gate, where pictures would speak than words, he said. Guruvayur Devaswom Managing committee chairman T V Chandramohan said that there has been a growing demand for a mural pilgrimage gate in the temple town in the recent past.
The institute has informed the Devaswom of its plan to construct the mural wonder but it is yet to submit a detailed project report in this regard. The project will take some time to be completed as the Devaswom will have to acquire buildings and a portion of the municipality land at Manjulal, where the project is slated to come up. The works related to this effect can be started only after the ratification of the master plan of the project by the Devaswom and the state government, he said.