KOCHI: One day, mural artist Sasi Warrier, who runs the Indian School of Art at Ravipuram, Kochi, got a call. It was from his student, Meera Menon. She said, “Master, they have started demolishing the temple.” The temple in question is the 800-year-old Vishnu Narasimha Swami Temple at Elamkulam. Sasi immediately got in touch with the temple committee. They had earlier agreed that Sasi could peel off the mural paintings at the temple.
But it seemed they forgot about it, as the roof had just been demolished. But they made amends by quickly putting up a tarpaulin sheet over the wall on the second floor where the paintings had been etched. On the morning of October 22, Sasi stood in front of the works, accompanied by his student Shreekumar and Dr C P Unnikrishnan, a well-wisher of the school and Kathakali artist. Inches above them was a blue tarpaulin sheet. On the wall in front, there was a 3x2- feet painting. It depicted a scene from the Mahabaratha. Sasi has a time-tested method, as perfected by his artist father K K Warrier, who died on August 6, 2018.
He rubbed a chemical on the surface and then waited for about two hours. Once the chemical dried up, Sasi took a pocket knife and began to lift the edges delicately. A slight mistake would damage the painting. But his movements were sure-fire and confident. Within a matter of time, the entire painting was taken off. He continued to work steadily. Soon, around 12 works of differing sizes had been taken off, without a blemish.
They are all now stored at the school. “My next job is to clean the back of the paintings,” says Sasi. “There are bits of mud, the plaster of the wall and dust particles.” According to Sasi’s estimate, these works were done in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. “This style can be seen in North Malabar temples, and is similar to the Thanjavur school of painting,” says Sasi. “Unlike most murals, the women are wearing a blouse and saree. This probably was done by the disciples of a master named Pulakkat Raman, as the style seems to be the same.”
This idea of preservation was K K Warrier’s life project. The first painting the duo saved was one in the Guruvayur Temple in 1986. So far, they have 140 paintings in their possession and all of them have been registered with the Archaeological Survey of India. Apart from Guruvayur, there are paintings from eight temples across Kerala. These include the Kumaranalloor Devi temple at Kottayam, the Tahikkattusseri Vamanamoorthi temple in Thrissur and the Pallathankulangara Siva Temple at Vypeen, Kochi. The oldest painting -- at the Karivellur Puthoor Siva temple at Kannur -- is 400 years old. Unfortunately, many works have been destroyed. “Sometimes, it is the handiwork of human beings,” says Sasi.
Surefire method
@ Kochi: Sasi has a timetested method perfected by his artist father KK Warrier. A chemical is rubbed on the surface after which there is a 2-hr wait