Kerala women adorn Kozhikode temple with murals
KOZHIKODE: The Kerala mural paintings often seen adorning the walls and ceilings of temples are, more often than not, the works of men. The reasons for these are several, with the prominent among them being the restriction imposed on women in the yesteryears to avoid entering a temple during the menstrual period and the age-old misconception that women are not designed for physical work.
Though women today are engaged in about all the jobs once deemed only for men, there were little inroads made regarding women doing murals on temple walls. However, a temple committee in Kozhikode’s Vadakara is set out to bring about a revolution in this regard.
The Mannabrath Devi Temple in Karthikappalli, Vadakara, had entrusted the work of Mughappu and Chanthattam (painting of the walls and temple ceiling with murals) to five women artists. To date, this work has been a forte of men, who fast for several days ahead of undertaking the work.
The five - Ambili Vijayan, Rejina, Swathi, Anaswara and Haritha, hailing from different parts of Malabar - completed the work in 18 days. To respect the temple’s beliefs and practices, the women kept away from work during the menstruation period.
“Until a month ago, we were just artists confined to the canvas. Today, it makes us proud to have undertaken work at a temple,” said Ambili, who is also an art curator. The five had approached the temple via an artist friend, Shaji Poyilkavu. “We were unsure whether the temple committee would allow women to enter the temple for work. But to our surprise, we not only received confirmation from the temple committee but were also urged to begin the work as soon as possible.
The authorities made all the arrangements for us, including wide ladders to climb and paint comfortably,” Ambili added. Maybe the work was previously not assigned to women considering the physical challenges involved, including the heights they have to scale to complete the work, Ambili said.
“We worked most days in January, save for when we had our menstruation period. The temple committee was very welcoming and ensured that the work never turned too hectic for us,” Ambili said. The team painted two temples in the same compound. Of the five, two are students of Fine Arts College.
“We have created a movement inside art, more than women empowerment. We can now proudly tell our co-artists that art has no discrimination even in the religious circuit,” Ambili said. It is learnt that two more temple committees in Kozhikode have approached the group for similar works at their respective temples.