Kerala Murals: The magic of five colours

Kerala Murals: The magic of five colours

Mangaluru: Its all five colours, Yellow, Red, Green, Blue and Black that gets into a mural paintings at Kerala. And, how the white comes into the picture. It's just the original colour of the canvas, explains Prakash V K from Vara Group, a team of nine mural artists from Kanhangad town in Kasaragod district in Kerala who have displayed their works in the city.

Kerala Mural painting was once confined into the temples of Kerala and the art used colours mixed using colour stones and herbal juice. Thus the colour code for the art is defined. There are mural paintings still present in the famous temples like Guruvayur, Padmanabha temple at Thiruvananthapuram.

The mural painting later moved out of the temple and the medium of art got into the canvas with acrylic colours. “However, the colour code is confined into these five colours and the art is mostly made of delicate dots created on the canvas”, said Gireesh OV, another mural artist.

The murals are mostly on the God and Goddeses and Lord Krishna in blue in the favourite of artists. “There is also a dress code for the pictures mostly made of the fine lines and each God or Goddess a definite crown that can't be alternated. Same goes to the ornaments shown in the pictures”, Prakash said.

There are art schools at Mahe, Thrissur and Guruvayur where the mural painting is taught for a period of three years. After their formal studies, the nine-member-team studied the fine details during a 30-days course conducted by famous international mural artist and Kerala Government Kshethra Kala Award Winner, Biju Panapuzha who has inaugurated the mural painting exhibition at Prasad Art Gallery on Saturday. Other members of the Varu Group are, Ajitha Santhosh, Subash Madikai, Seetha Mohan, Priya K, Pushpalath VK, Raashmi P and Sheena AK. The exhibition is open for Monday too.

Mural painting is no more confined to deities and has stepped into churches as the Last Supper of Jesus and Jesus rising from the dead, the latter being displayed in the exhibition. Recently, the team has done nearly 100 mural paintings at Kanhangad Bus stand. Among the art works at display, 'chandalabikshuki' poem by Mahakavi Kumaran Ashan is a beautiful rendition of Buddhist monk discoursing with a low caste woman. Another different painting is the woman returning back with daily provisions for home.

Considering the intrinsic work involved, it takes sometimes three weeks to create one art work. The finest art is priced Rs 2000 per square feet, said the artists.

When dolphins came dying at Mangaluru coast

When dolphins came dying at Mangaluru coast

Mangaluru: Of late, there is a harrowing sight along the beaches of Dakshina Kannada as the visitors to beaches stumble upon the decaying carcasses of dolphins or turtles. With two more dolphins washed ashore dead at Chitrapura beach between Mukka and Surathkal on Saturday and another dolphin washed ashore dead on Monday, the number of dolphins found along Dakshina Kannada coastline has increased to four while the number of dead turtles – mostly leatherbag – has touched five so far.

The local fishing community has been raising apprehensions about the oil balls being washed ashore as cause of these marine animals being washed dead but the experts have ruled out the possibility.

On May 14, a turtle and a dolphin were washed ashore dead at Guddekopla beach Near Surathkal in the afternoon. Another sea turtle was also found dead at Hosabettu beach around the same time that day. On May 27, Briau Royston, a photographer going for a shoot at Surathkal beach near NITK spotted a dead turtle washed ashore along the beach. He expressed his anguish about seeing the gentle marine species dying in the beaches and urged district administration and elected representatives to take up the marine pollution issue seriously.

Starting from the month of April, there are incidents of oil balls being washed along the coastline. District administration has clarified that the previous studies conducted along Western Coast found that it is natural phenomenon considering the fact that a lot of crude oil transport happens along the Western Coast.

Deputy Director of Fisheries, D Thippeswamy said that the department has taken up the issue with Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) in Mangaluru. “We have approached them since they are research organization. The department is also closely following this issue”, he mentioned.

Prathiba Rohit, Head of CMFRI, Mangaluru said that the dolphins and turtles have been washed ashore at highly decomposed state. If there was oil spill in the sea, not just dolphins, it should have affected lot of other fishes too. “These dolphins should have died away from the shore and washed ashore in highly decomposed state. We are investigating the cause of death of these marine species”, she said.

However, fishermen leader Vasudeva Boloor stressed that it is marine pollution which is killing dolphins and turtles. “It is evident from our experience that marine pollution especially oil spilling is killing the marine life. It is also evident from the dwindling catch of our traditional fishermen who fish near the shore”, said the veteran fishermen leader.

The fishermen have submitted a petition to district administration and local politicians to act on the oil balls pollution and protect the marine species.

Box: Another dolphin washed ashore

Even as the officials have been studying the reasons for death of dolphins and turtles along the coast, one more dolphin washed ashore dead at Sashidhulu beach on Monday. Unlike the previous dolphins whose carcass has decayed, this one was fresh with blood oozing out of its nose and another cut injury to its tail. Environmentalist Sashidhar Shetty of National Environment Care Federation said that these are not random dolphins or turtles which died but they have dying in last few years. “The industrial units established along the coast are polluting the marine ecology while the officials pay no heed”, he rued.

Baffled forest department decides to issue notice to port authority

Mangaluru: The sudden incidents of dolphins and turtles being washed ashore dead has baffled authorities since the fishing community alleges that oil spilling as the cause of death of these marine species. The forest department after studying the carcasses of dolphins has decided to alert port authorities of New Mangalore Port about the repeated incidents of dolphins and turtles dying.

Out of two dolphins washed ashore on Saturday, the forest department managed to carry out autopsy on one as the other has decayed beyond any study. The samples have been collected from the dead dolphin which will be studied for any oil spill causing the death.

The dolphins were charred with black colour and there are chances that they have died of suffocation due to oil spilling. Of late, the oil balls are being ashore along Dakshina Kannada coast line since April.

“We are in touch with scientists as well as with authorities to find the cause of death of the marine species. We are not ruling out the possibility of oil balls causing the death and investigating on it”, said Deputy Conservator of Forest, V Karikalan.

The department is also contemplating upon issuing notice to NMPT requesting their support to look into the situation. The Indian Coast Guard will also be requested to keep watch on the merchant vessels causing oil pollution to the sea. “We will issue a notice to NMPT asking them to instruct the vessels coming to the port or leaving not to spill oil or effluents during their voyage. We are also going to seek the support of Indian Coast Guard to keep a vigil on the vessels”, added Karikalan.

Women’s wrestling

Women’s wrestling is slowly unburdening itself from the shackles of the past and is now shining in Dakshina Kannada.

 

It's a Friday evening, and college students Arpitha, Nidhi, Tejaswini and Shaurya are busy doing somersaults and rolls on the mat at Dr P Dayananda Pai Sathish Pai Government First Grade College on Car Street at Mangaluru. The four are part of a bunch of 50-odd women wrestlers of Dakshina Kannada district, who have earned a name in local tournaments.

Women’s wrestling started in this part of the state about 10 years back, over four decades after men took up the sport, and wrestling schools, known as vyayama shalas, emerged in localities like Car Street, Bengre, Bokkapatna and Surathkal. The sport picked up in coastal villages as the fishermen community, known for their stamina and strength, found it an attractive vocation.

Though there are 22 vyayama shalas in Mangaluru and Dakshina Kannada,  only about half of them areactive. The traditional centres, where Lord Anjaneya is worshipped as the supreme wrestler, still don't entertain women’s participation. Things, however, are showing signs of change, and wrestling academies for women are coming up too.

At a recent tournament organised by Veera Bharathi Vyayama Shala at Bengre, four academies fielded their wrestlers, and the women’s matches turned out to be equal crowd-pullers as local elders and achievers entered the arena to bless the girls before the bout. The popularity of wrestling among girls is steadily growing in Dakshina Kannada, says coach Sandeep S Rao.

According to Raguveer, another coach at the event, women wrestlers gain an added advantage from kabaddi – a popular sport played by boys and girls in Dakshina Kannada. “Kabaddi is a grappling game and the techniques learnt by the girls there help them in wrestling too,” he adds.

However, wrestling, on the whole, enjoys little support from the government. “Most wrestlers come from middle class or underprivileged backgrounds, and funding their training as well as education is a challenge. I have had to go in search of financial aid to support a couple of girls in my academy so that they can continue their studies,” Rao recalls.

The wrestlers cite their own set of problems. “Lack of infrastructure is the main issue,” points out Tejaswini, a budding wrestler. “We don't have any place to train and there is no quota for wrestling at the sports hostel in Mangaluru. We practise at the college, and have to travel a long way back to reach home, where we may have to finish a lot of daily chores as well,” she adds.

As of now, they hone their skills in colleges like Sri Venkateshwara College at Karkala, St Agnes College, Dr P Dayananda Pai Sathish Pai Government First Grade College on  Car Street and Alva's College, Moodbidri, where women’s wrestling gets a lot of support from the institution.  

“We need proper training facility. Currently, the only reason women’s wrestling is flourishing is because special interest is taken by our coaches,” says Arpitha.

Lack of enough tournaments is another issue. "Only a couple of tournaments are held in the locality," says Shaurya, talking about how combats are mostly restricted to the training mat.

Rao also feels that local politicians should take interest in the sport and provide support. “There is immense potential among our girls, and parents support their wrestling as well. If we can get adequate infrastructure, our girls will go places," he asserts.

A victory that created interest

After women’s wrestling started in Belagavi, girls from Dakshina Kannada won the state-level PUC Wrestling championship in 2009. “Dakshina Kannada won the championship a year after the tournament was launched and we continue to win the title till date,” points out Rao.

Taboos persist

Even though girls are proving their mettle in wrestling, people continue to hold the belief that they will defile the arena during the days of menstruation. The idol of Lord Anjaneya, which finds place in vyayama shalas, is usually not installed in rings where girls practise. The girls are given off during the first two days of their period, after which they do light exercises away from the mat for the next couple of days, finally returning to the mat after the fifth day.

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