Uses of Plants and Plant Products in Traditional Indian Mural Paintings

Author(s): T. S. Nayar, S. Binu and P. Pushpangadan

Source: Economic Botany, Vol. 53, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1999), pp. 41-50
Published by: Springer on behalf of New York Botanical Garden Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4256152 .
Accessed: 21/10/2013 04:10

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

New York Botanical Garden Press and Springer are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend
access to Economic Botany.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 158.102.162.9 on Mon, 21 Oct 2013 04:10:35 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
USES OF PLANTS AND PLANT PRODUCTS IN TRADITIONAL
INDIAN MURAL PAINTINGS'

T. S. NAYAR, S. BINU, AND P. PUSHPANGADAN

Nayar, T. S., S. Binu, and P. Pushpangadan (Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute,
Thiruvananthapuram - 695 562, Kerala, India). USES OF PLANTS AND PLANT PRODUCTS IN
TRADITIONAL INDIAN MURAL PAINTINGS. Economic Botany 53(1):41-50, 1999.
The genius of Indian paintings was first manifested in the Ajantan mural art which spanned
a whole millennium from the second century B.C. to the eighth century A.D. This rich tradition,
which continued up to the nineteenth century under the patronage of different dynasties in
India, declined by the end of that century. But this cultural heritage has been kept alive by a
few artists in Kerala who practice even today the methods and techniques of mural paintings
similar to those practiced by the Ajantan mural painters.
Plant materials and/or plant products used during different phases of a mural painting, from
preparation of the base wall to the finishing touches of the creation are identified and pro-
cessing and application detailed. Ajantan and post-Ajantan murals are reviewed and the ma-
terials, methods and techniques used in them are discussed.

EMPLOI DES PLANTES ET DES PRODUITS VEGETAUX DANS LES PEINTURES MURALES TRADITIONNELLES
EN INDE. Le genie des peintures indiennes se r'vela pour la premiere fois dans I'art Mural
d'Ajanta qui couvrit tout un milliaire, du deuxieme siecle avant J. C au huitieme siecle apres
J. C. Cette tradition riche qui prolongea jusqu'au dix-neuvieme siecle sous le patronage des
diffJrentes dynasties en Inde tomba en decadence vers la fin du dix-neuvie me siecle. Mais cet
heritage culturel est encore vivant grace a 1'effort de quelques artistes au Kerala qui, menme
aujourd'hui pratiquent les mithodes et techniques des peintures murales pareilles a celles
exercees par les peintres Muraux d'Ajanta.
Des matieres vegetales et/ou des produits vegetaux utilise's pendant les phases differentes de
la realisation d 'un mural des la preparation du mur de base aux finissions de la creation sont
identifies. Leurs traitement et opposition sont detailles. En outre, les muraux d'Ajanta et ceux
de la periode suivante sont examines et des matieres methodes et techniques y utilisees sont
discutees dans une certaine mesure.
Key Words: Ajantan,post-Ajantanand Keralamurals,pigments,plants and plant products,
processing.

Primitiverock paintingsshowing outlinedhu- to the present,representsthe floweringof Indian

man and animal figures and depicting scenes of
hunting,dancing,and otherfeaturesof triballife
are found in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh
(Ghosh 1932, Lal 1950) and Kerala (Thampi
1976), India. These paintings are dated from
12000 B.P. to the tenth century A.D. (Mathpal
1984; Misra, Mathpal, and Nagar 1977). Arti-
facts found at Mohenjodaroand Harappahave
traces of naturalpigments suggestive of the use
of colors in pre-Aryan art (Ansari 1961). But
Ajantanart, the traditionof which extends more
than two millenniafrom the second centuryB.C.
i Received 3 December 1993; resubmitted;accepted nation as Siddhartha(see Ghosh 1967; Grun-
20 August 1998.
mural paintings. It is difficult to trace the pre-
Ajantan period to the pre-Aryan era or to the
prehistoricperiod as there exist no remnantsof
any muraltraditionto establishprobablelinks in
between. The muraltraditionat Ajanta,spanning
a whole millenniumlasting up to the eighth cen-
tury, occupies the walls of 27 caves (near the
village of Ajanta,centralMaharashtra,west cen-
tral India) that extend in a semicircularpattern
for nearly a kilometer.
Ajantan murals narrateJataka stories which
deal with the innumerableincarnationsof Bud-
dha as bird, mammalor man and the last incar-
wedel 1901; Lalit Kala Academy 1956; Mitra

Economic Botany 53(1) pp. 41-50. 1999

(? 1999 by The New York BotanicalGardenPress, Bronx, NY 10458-5126 U.S.A.

This content downloaded from 158.102.162.9 on Mon, 21 Oct 2013 04:10:35 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
42 ECONOMICBOTANY
1983; Singh 1965.) The best of the cave paint-
ings of Ajanta (Fig. 1A) have been placed be-
tween the second and the seventh centuries (Mi-
tra 1981). Bagh is the other center of Buddhist
paintings in India. There are nine caves at Bagh
with murals (Marshall et al. 1927) and paleog-
raphers date them to the fifth or the sixth cen-
tury. The regional murals have been studied and
described by a number of scholars: Orissa mu-
rals (Gangoly 1955, Krishna Chaitanya 1976);
Karnataka murals (Kramrisch 1936; Sivarama-
murti 1959); Tamil Nadu murals (Govindaswami
1933; Ramachandran 1936, 1961; Sivaramamur-
ti 1936; Jouveau-Dubreuil 1922; Krishna Chai-
tanya 1976); Maharashtra (Kramrisch 1937;
Thompson 1926). Andhra Pradesh (Krishna
Chaitanya 1976; Rao 1969; Sivaramamurti
1937); Kerala (Achan 1936, Chitra and Srini-
vasan 1940, Heston 1988, Krishna Chaitanya
1976, 1987; Poduval 1937; Shashibhooshan
1987; Tampy 1948, Venkatachalam 1940). The
earliest of the Kerala murals (Fig. IB, C) were
located by the side of a rock and a shrine at
Thirunandikkara.
After India's independence in 1947, govern-
ment organizations patronized art and in this
process, temple based mural tradition suffered.
A revival of mural tradition in Kerala took place
as major temples in Kerala came under the in-
direct control of the local government and their
restoration and maintenance was supported by
public funds. The Centre for Study of Mural
Paintings, a school established by authorities of
the wealthy Guruvayur temple in the Thrissur
district of Kerala under the chief instructorship
of Mammiyoor Krishnan Kutty Nair, father of
the extant mural tradition in India, represents
this revival phase.
This school practices methods of mural paint-
ings (Fig. IE, F, G) strictly adhering to the tra-
dition followed by the sixteenth century mural-
ists in Kerala and use only natural products de-
rived from plants and one or two mineral earths.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The three ancient Sanskrit texts viz. Vishnu-
dharmottara of the sixth century (Kramrisch
1928; Sivaramamurti 1978), Abhilashitartha
Chintamani of the twelfth century (Shamasastri
1926; Shrigondekar 1925, 1930) and Silparatna
of the sixteenth century (Bhattacharya 1974;
Raghavan 1933) agree to a large extent on four
different logical sequences for the process of
This content downloaded from 158.102.162.9 on Mon, 21 Oct 2013 04:10:35 AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
[VOL. 53
completion of murals on the granite and laterite
walls. They are (1) preparation of the ground (2)
sketching of the outline (3) application of colors
and (4) addition of decorative details. Plants and
plant products used and processed for various
purposes in the accomplishment of murals are
described under these titles below. These San-
skrit texts discuss in detail the style, effective-
ness of different colors, desirable combinations
that could be brought out by mixing vanrous pig-
ments and methodology of preparing the base
for application of colors and for preparation of
colors from different natural sources in general
terms. Definite proportionate ratios of materials
used are standardized through trial and error by
local mural artists. The methods and techniques
described here faithfully refer to those followed
by the Mural School at Guruvayur. Local names
of plants used are given in bracket after their
family names.
Description and critical evaluation of murals
mentioned in the text (see introduction and dis-
cussion) are from three sources: some of the
published works mentioned in the text, assess-
ment made from reproductions (Lalit Kala
Academy 1956; Singh 1965; UNESCO 1954)
and studies carried out by the senior author on
murals at actual sites in Kerala and Ravi Varma
Art Gallery, Thiruvananthapuram (Nayar 1983).
PREPARATION FOR MURALS
BASE WALL
Frescoes are painted on the surface of granite
or laterite plastered with lime (calcium carbon-
ate). Lime and sand are mixed in 1:2 ratio and
the required quantity of water is poured into a
pit made at the center so as to make the mixture
become a semisolid mass. This is kept as such
for one week. This paste is used for plastering
the granite or laterite wall.
One mature fruit of Terminalia chebula Retz.
(Combretaceae) (Kadukka) (Fig. 2A) is crushed
and boiled in one liter of water. This increases
viscosity of the liquid. After cooling, it is used
to dilute the lime while applying on the walls.
Fruits of Terminalia chebula can be substituted
by crushed mature stem of Cissus glauca Roxb.
(Vitaceae) (Chunnambu Valli) (Fig. 2B). For 25
liters of water, a 45 cm long stem is enough. A
second coat 2 mm thick is applied out with the
lime and sand mixture thoroughly ground with
fibers of Gossypium herbaceum L. (Malvaceae)
1999] NAYAR ET AL.: INDIAN MURAL PAINTINGS 43

re~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~w

Fig. 1. Indianmuralsfrom differentcenturies.A. Ajantanmural (5th century).B and C. Thirunandikkara

murals,Kerala(8-9th century).D. Gajendramoksham mural,Kayamkulam,Kerala(19th century).E. Mammi-
yoortemplemural,Trissoor,Kerala(completedin October1992). F.Pigmentsandbrushes.G. A muralistworking
at Mammiyoortemple.

This content downloaded from 158.102.162.9 on Mon, 21 Oct 2013 04:10:35 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
44 ECONOMICBOTANY [VOL. 53

4~~~~~~~

L i

AI

kvJ/

Fig. 2. Some plants used in murals. A. Fruits of Terminalia chebula. B. Cissus glauca. C. Sterculiafoetida.
D. Pandanus odoratissimus. E. A twig of Indigofera tinctoria. F Aristida setacea. G. Gum exuding from the
stem of Garcinia morella.

This content downloaded from 158.102.162.9 on Mon, 21 Oct 2013 04:10:35 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
1999] NAYAR ET AL.: INDIAN MURAL PAINTINGS 45

(Panji)in the ratio of 4:1. This applicationgives with water to make juice. The juice is sieved
brightnessand needed softness to the wall. through a piece of cotton and kept for a long
Calcium carbonateis mixed with the "milk" enough time for the sediment to form. Super-
from immaturefruits of Cocos nuciferaL. (Are- natantliquid is decanted and sediment is dried
caceae) (Tengu)to obtain the concentrationand to a powder which serves as the blue color.
thickness of cow's milk. This mixtureis sieved
throughcotton and used to-coat the wall for the Green
thirdtime. If the milk of immaturefruitsis bitter, An exudate commercially known as 'gam-
pure water is added to reduce its bitterness. boge' is obtained when an incision is made on
Coating may be done at least 20-25 times, one the bark of Garcinia morella Desr. (Clusiaceae)
layer across the other, after proper drying of (Eravikkara)(Fig. 2G), an indigenous tree spe-
each applicationand taking care that these 20- cies. It is odorless but slightly acidic. Gamboge
25 coatings producea layer of plasterno thicker is a resin containing 15 to 20% gum. When this
than a leaflet of Tamarindusindica L. (Caesal- is mixed with the powder preparedfrom leaves
piniaceae) (Puli). The wall will graduallyattain of Indigofera tinctoria the green color is ob-
a bright white backgroundwhich also serves as tained. Different intensities can be achieved by
the white pigment for murals. alteringthe ratio.
For coating the wall with this milky solution, Places where blue and green are to be painted
a flat brush made by crushing a portion of the will be washed 4 to 5 times with the juice of
bark from Sterculia foetida L. (Sterculiaceae) Citrus aurantium L. (Rutaceae) (Cheru nara-
(Tondi, Pottakkala)(Fig. 2C) is generally pre- gam) diluted with water (now occasionally with
ferred. A brush made out of the leaves of Pan- copper sulfate solution) in order to reduce the
danus odoratissimus Roxb. (Pandanaceae) (Kai- effect of lime. Both the colors, especially the
ta) (Fig. 2D) may also serve as substitute,but it green, are otherwise prone to distortion.
is of inferiorquality.Plants and plant partscho-
sen to apply any substance on the wall should Black
not have sap that reacts with lime and spoils the Cotton wicks saturatedwith the oil of Sesa-
whiteness of the wall. The wall thus preparedis mum indicumL. (Pedaliaceae)(Ellu) are burned
ready for muralpainting. and an earthenpot is kept upside down over the
SKETCHING OF OUTLINE flame. The lampblackthat sticks to the inside of
the pot is scrapedand collected. This will form
Outlines of the murals are sketched first with
the black pigment.
dung crayons and are then run over along the
outerside with ocher-yellowand if requiredwith Basic Adhesive
ochre-red (Fig. 1G). Ocher-yellow (FeO) and
ocher-red(Fe'O3) are still processed exactly as Gum obtained from the bark of Azadirachta
explained in Silparatna. "After ochres have indica A. Juss. (Meliaceae) (Vepu)is used as the
been broughtfrom the river beds and hills, they basic adhesive. It is a clear, bright, amber-col-
should be washed in pure water,pulverizedand ored materialthat blackens with age. This gum
then reducedto fine powder.The fine powder is is mixed with black and blue colors to make
to be kept in a vessel full of water and the dirt these pigments stick to the base wall. The ratio
will be deposited at the bottom. This process is of color powderto adhesiveis 6:1. However,for
to be repeatedseveral times till the colors attain green color this is not requiredas gamboge will
perfect purity. It is then besmeared on a new work itself as the adhesive. All the colors except
earthen pot to dry" (rendering from Krishna black have to be applied several times to get the
Chaitanya1976). It is only after many applica- desired effect of their pigments. Muralsin Ker-
tions, deep intensity in yellow and red is ob- ala are paintedwith basic five colors: ochre-yel-
tained; likewise by properlymixing them, vari- low, ochre-red,blue, green and black and their
ous shades of gold are achieved. desirablecombinations.
Pigments are applied on the base wall with
PREPARATION AND APPLICATION OF COLORS
the help of brushespreparedfrom the long, soft
Blue awns of Aristida setacea Retz. (Poaceae) (lyam
Fresh leaves of Indigofera tinctoria L. (Fa- pullu, Kuntalipullu) (Fig. 2F). The panicles are
baceae) (Neela amari) (Fig. 2E) are expressed collected and dipped in boiling waterfor 5 to 10

This content downloaded from 158.102.162.9 on Mon, 21 Oct 2013 04:10:35 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
46 ECONOMICBOTANY [VOL. 53

minutes and then dried and stored. The trifur- (Shangupushpam) and rhizomes of Maranta
cated portionsare carefullyassembledby cutting arundinaceaL. (Marantaceae)(Koova) are good
the basal thickerportions off and then threaded substitutes.
togetherfor the requiredthickness. Tips are cut
off when thick brushesare needed or retainedif Yellow
requiredto sketch narrowlines. Stems of Areca Rhizomes of Curcuma longa L. (Zingibera-
catechu L. (Arecaceae) (Adakka,Kavungu)and ceae) (Manjal) are crushed and the juice when
Bambusa arundinaceae Willd. (Bambusaceae) dry produces a yellow powder. Roots of Bixa
(Mula) are used as brushhandles.Brushesmade orellana L. (Bixaceae) (Kuppamanjal)can serve
of Aristida setacea are still in vogue because as an excellent substitute.
modern brushes are not as long-lasting since
they always come in contact with the lime me- Red
dia. The heartwood of Caesalpinia sappan L. (Fa-
baceae) (Chappangu)is cut into small pieces,
ADDITIONAL DECORATIVE DETAILS pounded and then boiled in water.This mixture
When the paintingsare completed a thin coat is boiled to a concentrateand finally to a fine
of resin from Pinus roxburghiiSarg. (Pinaceae) powder form. Heartwood of Pterocarpus san-
(Pyne) diluted with Sesamumindicumoil is ap- talinus L. (Fabaceae) (Raktachandanam)and
plied over the murals,which providesthem with rhizome of Alpinia galanga Willd. (Zingibera-
brightness and strength. Brushes made of fine ceae) are substitutesof equal status.
roots of Pandanus odoratissimus are generally These colors are mixed with the basic adhe-
used for this purpose. sive, the gum obtainedfrom barkof Azadirachta
indica in the ratio of 6:1. This proportionis
MURALS ON WOOD maintained because the film of color applied
There was a "wood age" culturein Keralaat may otherwise separate from the woodwall.
a time when wood was the chief componentof Blue, green and black pigments are preparedthe
buildingsincludingfoundations,walls, androofs same way as describedbefore.
of houses, palaces and temples. Predominance
of this traditioncan be tracedfrom the sixteenth DISCUSSION
century to the middle of this century. But this Information,often insufficientand sometimes
culturedeclined with dwindlingof treeresources fragmentary,is available on methods and tech-
in the region. Artocarpus hirsutus Lam. (Mora- niques used for Ajantan and post-Ajantanmu-
ceae) (Ayini, Anjili) and Artocarpus hetero- rals. Art technologists have interpretedAjantan
phyllus Lam. (Moraceae)(Plavu) were the com- murals as technically belonging to the category
monest species used for this purpose.It may be "fresco secco" (Mitra 1981) where murals are
appropriateto think that this culturegave rise to painted when the lime base on the wall is com-
the development of indigenous techniques for pletely dry. In "fresco buono," colors are ap-
doing muralson wood. plied when the lime medium of the wall is par-
Because the wooden wall is differentin struc- tially wet. It was observed that the granite sur-
ture and texture from the lime plasteredgranite face of the caves in Ajanta was plasteredwith
or lateritewalls, sources and preparationof col- coarse lime presumablyobtainedfrom calcined
ors used are also differentin certaincases. They shells mixed with straw, vegetable fibers, clay
are detailed below. and powderedrock. Over this lime base was ap-
plied pure white lime a few millimeters thick.
White From the structureof the layer,it was estimated
Tuberousroots of Ipomoea digitata L. (Con- that the pure white lime layer was condensedby
volvulaceae) (Palmutukku)are crushedin water. polishing it with trowels. Obviously, this layer
The turbidliquid is passed througha fine cotton was allowed to dry before the colors were ap-
cloth and the filtrate collected is allowed to plied (see Mitra 1983; Paramasivan1936; Raw-
evaporateundernormalconditions,preferablyin son 1961). Investigationson some post-Ajantan
a shallow, wide mouthed-earthenpot. The resid- murals have proved that they were done as
ual powder is used as the white base of color on "fresco secco" and Keralamurals,as explained
wood. Roots of Clitoria ternatea L. (Fabaceae) earlier,evidently come underthis category. For

This content downloaded from 158.102.162.9 on Mon, 21 Oct 2013 04:10:35 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
1999] NAYAR ET AL.: INDIAN MURAL PAINTINGS
the coarseness of the primary lime base, Ajantan
mural artists used powdered rock and straw
whereas in Kerala these materials are replaced
by sand and cotton fibers. Cotton fibers impart
gleaming whiteness to the surface and give bet-
ter texture to the base. Application of calcium
carbonate dissolved in the "milk" of immature
coconuts on a primary lime base for attaining a
still brighter whiteness might be an advanced
version derived from the availability of better
local resources. Murals at Khandagiri dated to
the second century BC were executed on lime
base. As far as the evidence goes, the murals of
the ninth century Narthamalai temple and the
tenth century Brihadiswara temple were painted
on the surface of soft lime plaster. Art critics
attribute the brightness of the white surface of
the lime plaster to the powdered conch shell and
mother of pearl added to the lime.
Blue, orange, brown, green and purple are the
most common colors used in Ajantan murals.
White, pink, and gold are occasionally repre-
sented. Mineral earths containing ferric oxide,
ferrous oxide and copper carbonate were used as
sources of red, yellow and green colors. There
is also evidence to establish that roots of Rubia
cordifolia L.(Rubiaceae) and leaves of Indigo-
fera tinctoria were used as sources for red and
blue colors (see Rawson 1961). Colors ex-
pressed in Ajantan murals, it is evident, could
be brought out from the above primary sources
using them directly or mixing them in various
combinations. Khandagiri murals are dominated
by red, yellow and black colors. Red, yellow,
off-white and white are the main colors used for
the murals in the rock-shelter of Koenjhar which
are traced from the fourth to the eighth century.
Narthamalai and Brihadiswara murals are done
prominently in red, yellow, black, brown, green
and blue. Art technologists have proved that in
these murals, red and yellow are from mineral
earths containing ferric and ferrous oxides,
green from green earth containing silicate of
iron and blue from lapis lazuli, the stone con-
sisting of calcite, and other minerals colored ul-
tra-marine by lazurites with iron pyrites (Krish-
na Chaitanya 1976). Black color in the Khan-
dagiri, Narthamalai and Brihadiswara murals is
considered to be have been obtained from the
pure black earth derived from the fertile deposits
covering wide regions of central India and ac-
cessible to the mural artists contiguous to these
regions. Burnt cotton generally considered as
This content downloaded from 158.102.162.9 on Mon, 21 Oct 2013 04:10:35 AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
47
used in the murals of later periods as described
in Silparatna of the sixteenth century is the
source of black pigment in Keralamurals.Min-
eral earthshave been extensively used as sourc-
es for red and yellow colors in Indian murals
since the Ajantandays. They are still in vogue
in Kerala. It is interestingto note that Valladas
et al. (1992) observed the use of ferric oxide for
red pigments in the prehistoricpaintings at the
Spanish caves of Altamira and Elcastillo and
FrenchPyreneancaves of Niaux.
CONCLUSION
All plants and minerals employed for mural
paintings on lime-plasteredwalls are of indige-
nous origin as is the technology of processing.
The substitution of Terminalia chebula with Cis-
sus glauca, Sterculia foetida with Pandanus
odoratissimusand citrus juice with copper sul-
fate solution shows the inherentinterestof mural
artists in expanding their sphere of knowledge
by identifying new raw materials. Sap in the
stems of Areca catechu and Bambusa arundi-
nacea does not react with lime and discolor the
base and so their stems are used for brush han-
dles. That the applicationof a thin coat of resin
of Pinus roxburghiiover the murals is a later
preservationtechnique can be concluded from
the fact that the plant is not native to Keralaor
to any of the ancient mural sites (Table 1) but
to the Himalayanregion. It is worthyof mention
that the botanical materialsused for murals on
wood include, apart from indigenous species,
naturalized species like Maranta arundinacea
and Bixa orellana indicative of the later origin
of this techniquein Kerala.Otherplantsadopted
as substitutesin the process of pigment prepa-
ration for murals on wood also corroboratethis
point.
Knowledge of this ancient system is at the
verge of extinctionperhapswith the sole excep-
tion of the remnantsof this traditionkept barely
alive in Kerala. This cultural heritage that has
spannedtwo millennia since the second century
B.C. may soon be lost in the countryof its origin
because of the inroads of modernismwhich are
sweeping the presentstyle, method and technol-
ogy of artin Indiaunless bold steps are initiated
for the revival of this ancient tradition.
48 ECONOMICBOTANY [VOL. 53

TABLE 1. IMPORTANTMURALSAND MURALSITESIN INDIA.

Murals/Mural sites State Period Patronage/Dynasty

Ajanta Maharashtra 2nd centuryB.C. 8th Satavahana

centuryA.D. Vakataka
Chalukya
Khandageri Orissa 2nd centuryB.C. Cheta
Sitabhinji(Koenjhar) Orissa 4th-8th centuryA.D.
Bagh (Gwalior) MadhyaPradesh 5th-6th centuryA.D. Gupta
Badami Karnataka 6th centuryA.D. Chalukya
Panamalai TamilNadu 7th centuryA.D. Pallava
Kailasanatha(Kanchipuram)
Tirumalaipuram(Tirunelvelly) Tamil Nadu 7th-8th centuryA.D. Pandya
Kailasanatha Maharashtra 8th centuryA.D. Rashtrakuta
Lankeswara
Indrasabha
GanesaLena(Ellora)
Thirunandikkara Kerala(peresentlyin 8th centuryA.D.
TamilNadu)
Sittannavasal(Pudukottai) TamilNadu 9th centuryA.D. Pandya
(in Pallavastyle)
Narthamalai(Tanjavur) TamilNadu 9th centuryA.D. Chola
Brihadiswara(Tanjavur) TamilNadu 10th centuryA.D. Chola
Jagannatha Orissa 11, 12, 15th century Ganga
A.D. Surya
Pillalmari AndhraPradesh 12th centuryA.D. Vijayanagar
Kantaloor(Thiruvananthapur- Kerala 13th centuryA.D.
am)
Pisharikkavu(Kozhikkode)
Kaliampalli(Kozhikkode) Kerala 14th centuryA.D.

Tirupparuthikunram AndhraPradesh 14th centuryA.D. Vijayanagar

Hampi AndhraPradesh 15th centuryA.D. Vijayanagar
Lepakshi (Anantapur)
Anegundi Andhra Pradesh 16th century A.D. Vijayanagar
Somapalle
Guruvayur Kerala 16th centuryA.D. Zamorin
Ettumanur
Panayannarkavu Travancore
Udayanapuram(Vaikom) Kerala 16th centuryA.D.
Padmanabhapuram Travancore
Mattanchery Kerala 16th and 19th centu- Cochin
ry A.D.
Udayanapuram Kerala 17th centuryA.D. Travancore
Pallimana(Vadakkanchery) Kerala 17th centuryA.D. Local chief-tan

This content downloaded from 158.102.162.9 on Mon, 21 Oct 2013 04:10:35 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
1999] NAYAR ET AL.: INDIAN MURAL PAINTINGS 49

TABLE1. CONTINUED.

sites
Murals/Mural State Period Patronage/Dynasty

Tanjavur
Tiruvalanjali
Tirupparuthikunram
TiruvalurChidambaram TamilNadu 17th centuryA.D. Nayak
Chengam
(Thiruvan-
Padmanabhaswami Kerala 18th centuryA.D. Travancore
anthapuram)
(Trissur)
Vadakkunatha Kerala 18th centuryA.D. Cochin
(Kottayam)
Pundarikapuram Kerala 18th centuryA.D.
(Kayamkulam)
Krishnapuram Kerala 19th centuryA.D. Travancore
Kottakkal
Balusseri(Kozhikkode) Kerala 19th centuryA.D. Local chief-tan
Nair's Hospital(Kollam) Kerala 1992 Hospital
authorities
MuseumHall (Thiruvanan- Kerala 1993 Government
thapuram) of Kerala
Mammiyoor(Guruvayur) Kerala 1992 Mammiyoor
-continuing temple authorities

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ansari, Z. D. 1961. Evolution of pottery forms and

Authors express their gratitudeto Shri Mam-
miyoor KrishnanKuttyNair,fatherof the extant
mural traditionin India and Chief Instructorto
the Centrefor the Study of MuralPaintings,Gu-
ruvayurwho sharedwith us his vast knowledge
and experience of the techniques and style of
muralpaintings.He passed away l9th July 1994.
We thank:Prof. M. G. Shashibhooshan,Depart-
ment of Malayalam,University College, Thiru-
vananthapuramfor fruitful discussions; the Di-
rector,Museum and Zoo, Governmentof Kerala
and the Curator,Ravi VarmaArt Gallery, Thi-
ruvananthapuram for permission to photograph
Thirunandikkaramurals; Shri T. Satyamurthy,
formerly Director,Departmentof Archaeology,
Governmentof Keralafor lending us two slides
of Gajendramoksham;authorities of Mammi-
yoor Temple near Guruvayurfor permittingus
to photographstages of muralpaintings in pro-
gress; and the instructorsand students of the
Centrefor Study of MuralPaintings,Guruvayur.
LITERATURE CITED
Achan, P. A. 1936. Two scenes from the Ramayana
paintingson the walls of the Mattancheripalace at
Cochin. Journalof the Indian Society of Oriental
Art 4:77-78.
fabricsin India. Marg 14:4-19.
Bhattacharya, A. 1974. Citralaksana,a treatiseon In-
dian paintings.SaraswatLibrary,Calcutta.
Chitra, V. R., and T. N. Srinivasan. 1940. Cochin
murals,3 vols. Publishedby His Highness Maha-
rajahof Cochin, Cochin.
Gangoly, 0. C. 1955. Summary survey of Orissan
paintings.Marg 8:47-56.
Ghosh, A. 1967. Ajanta murals. Archaeologicalsur-
vey of India,New Delhi.
Ghosh, M. 1932. Rock paintingsand otherantiquities
of prehistoricand later times. Memoirsof the Ar-
chaeologicalSurvey of India 24:14-19.
Govindaswami, S. K. 1933. Cola paintings.Journal
of the IndianSociety of OrientalArt 1:73-80.
Grunwedel, A. 1901. Buddhistart in India. Bernard
Quaritch,London.
Heston, M. B. C. 1988. The palace murals at Pad-
manabhapuram:the politics of an image. Pages
115-131 in A pot-pourriof IndianArt. MargPub-
lications, Bombay.
Jouveau-Dubreuil, G. 1922. The Pallava paintings.
HindustanReview, Pondichery.(Originallyprinted
as a broadside with one illustration,Pudukottai,
1920).
Kramrisch, S. 1928. The Vishnudharmottara, PartIII.
CalcuttaUniversityPress, Culcutta.
. 1936. Paintingsat Badami.Journalof the In-
dian Society of OrientalArt 4:57-61.

This content downloaded from 158.102.162.9 on Mon, 21 Oct 2013 04:10:35 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
50 ECONOMICBOTANY
. 1937. A surveyof paintingin the Deccan.The
India Society, London.
Krishna Chaitanya. 1976. A history of Indianpaint-
ings, the muraltradition.AbinavPublications,New
Delhi.
Lal, B. B. 1950. Rock paintingsof centralIndia, ar-
chaeology in India. ArchaeologicalSurvey of In-
dia, New Delhi.
Lalit Kala Academy. 1956. Ajantanpaintings.Lalit
Kala Academy,New Delhi.
Marshall, J., M. B. Garde, E. B. Havell, P. Vogel,
and H. Cousens. 1927. Bagh caves, 3 vols. The
India Society, London.
Mathpal, Y. 1984. Prehistoric Rock paintings of
BhimbetkaCentralIndia. Deccan College, Pune.
Misra, V. N., Y. Mathpal, and M. Nagar. 1977.
Bhimbetka-Prehistoric man and his art in central
India.Deccan College, Pune.
Mitra, A. 1981. The Ajantaand Bagh styles. Pages 5-
11 in Panoramaof Indian paintings. Ministry of
Informationand Broadcasting,Governmentof In-
dia.
Mitra, D. 1983. Ajanta.ArchaeologicalSurvey of In-
dia, New Delhi.
Nayar, T. S. 1983. Kerala murals. Pages 29-31 in
Onam-1983 Souvenir,KashmirMalayaliSamajam,
Srinagar.Paramasivan,S. 1936. Techniqueof the
PaintingProcessin the cave templesat Ajanta.An-
nual Report of the ArchaeologicalDepartmentof
H. E. H the Nizam's Dominions,Calcutta.
Poduval, R. V. 1937. Note on paintingsandsculptures
in Travancore.Journalof the IndianSociety of Ori-
ental Art 5:181-183.
Raghavan, V. 1933. Some sanskrittexts on painting.
IndianHistoricalQuarterly9:898-911.
Ramachandran, T. N. 1936. Cave temples near Ti-
rumalaipuramand their paintings. Journalof the
IndianSociety of OrientalArt 4:65-71.
. 1961. Cave temple and paintings of Sittan-
navasal.Lalit Kala 9:30-54.
This content downloaded from 158.102.162.9 on Mon, 21 Oct 2013 04:10:35 AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
[VOL. 53
Rao, A. G. 1969. Lepakshi.AndhraPradeshLalitKala
Academy,Hyderabad.
Rawson, P. 1961. Indianpaintings.PierreTisue Edi-
teur,Paris.
Shamasastri. 1926. AbhilashitarthaChintamaniby
SomesvaraVol. 1. Mysore sanskritseries, Mysore.
Shashibhooshan, M. G. 1987. Muralsof Kerala.De-
partmentof PublicRelations,Thiruvananthapuram,
Governmentof Kerala.
Shrigondekar, G. K. 1925. Manasollasaof Somesvara
Vol. 1. Gaekwad'sOrientSeries 28, Baroda.
. 1930. Manasollasa of Somesvara Vol. 2.
Gaekwad'sOrientSeries 84, Baroda.
Singh, M. 1965. The cave paintingsof Ajanta.Thames
and Hudson,London.
Sivaramamurti, C. 1936. Note on the paintingsat Ti-
rumalaipuram. Journalof the IndianSociety of Ori-
ental Art 4:72-74.
. 1937. Paintingsfrom Lepakshi.Journalof the
IndianSociety of OrientalArt 5:184-187.
. 1959. WesternChalukyapaintingsat Badami.
Lalit Kala 5: 49-58.
. 1978. Chitrasutraof Vishnudharmottara. Ka-
nak Publications,New Delhi.
Tampy, K. P. P. 1948. Muralpaintingsin Travancore.
Roopa-Lekha20:28-36.
Thampi, S. P. 1976. A key to the prehistoricarchae-
ology of South Kerala.Bulletinof Deccan College
and ResearchInstitute35:137-144.
Thompson, D. V. 1926. Preliminarynotes on some
early Hindupaintingsat Ellora.Rupam26:45-49.
UNESCO. 1954. India:paintingsfrom Ajantacaves.
Unesco WorldArt Series no. 1. New YorkGraphic
Society, New York.
Valladas, H., H. Cachier, P. Maurice, F. Bernaldo
de Quiros, J. Clolles, V. Cabrera Valdes, P. Uz-
quiano, and M. Arnold. 1992. Direct radiocarbon
dates for prehistoricpaintingsat the Altamira,El
castillo and Niaux caves. Nature357:68-70.
Venkatachalam, G. 1940. Travancoremurals.Roopa-
Lekha 12:44-48.