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Drvida and Kerala: In the Art of TravancoreAuthor(s): Stella KramrischSource: Artibus Asiae. Supplementum, Vol. 11, Drvida and Kerala: In the Art of Travancore(1953), pp. 1-51Published by: Artibus Asiae PublishersStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1522577

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DR VID A N D KE R LIN THE ART OF TRAVANCORE

BY

STELLA KRAMRISCHProfessorof South Asian art,University of Pennsylvania.Curator of Indian art,

Philadelphia Museiumof art

MCMLXIARTIBUS ASIAE, PUBLISHERS, ASCONA *SWITZERLAND


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First Printing 1953 - Second Printing I96IIllustrations from original photographs of the

Department of Archaeology, Government of Travancore (I942-I945)Printed in Switzerland


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

pageDravidaand Kerala n the Art of Travancore5

DravidaTemples on a SquarePlan 6CircularDravidaTemples oKeralaTemples 3KeralaHouses and Palaces 20The Stone Sculpturesin Travancore 26The Metal Images 31The Wood Carvings 33The Paintings 39The ClassicalHeritage 40KeralaForm 41

List of Plates 49Plates 5I

PLATES I tO 44


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DRAVIDA AND KERALAIN THE ART OF TRAVANCORE

Thousands of templesarestill used for worshipin Malabar,on the southwest coast of India. In Travancore,the extremesouth of this green strip of land between the sea and themountains,two traditionsof artcoexisted. The one formspart of the Dravidaschool of architecture;the other is in-digenous. The Dravida school of architecture, to theexclusion of any other style, is at home in South India,onthe east or Coromandel coast; at the extreme southernpoint of the peninsula it touches also the West coast, inTravancore. Another indigenous school of architecture,sculpture and painting,by which the West coast of SouthIndia or Malabar s distinguished,may be designatedas theKerala school. Kerala was the ancient name of Malabar.To the northeast of this country, in the KanareseDistrictsof the Deccan, are some of the most ancient temples ofthe Dravidaschool. This is their northernmostextent, andthere they appearby the side of Nagaratemples.** The term Nagara primarily designates the curvilinear tower of the sanct-uary of the majority of temples to the north of the Kanarese Districts ofthe Deccan. The sanctuary is generally square in plan.

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DRAVIDA TEMPLES ON A SQUARE PLAN.

In the extreme southwest of India the Dravida templesbuilt in stone and bricks are preservedfrom an earlieragethan the laterite,brick and timbertemples of Kerala.Theymay have been precededby brick and timber constructionswhich have perished. The Dravidatemples arerepresentedin several of their varieties: (P1. i) as small shrines, con-sisting of a cell having a superstructure(the temples ofVizhinjam);stairs, sometimes a porch, led to it; (P1.2) aslow, spreadingstructuresor hall temples, having a pillaredinterior; or as high structures appearingto have severalstoreys, but which in fact have no interior or accessiblespace corresponding to the ornate and diminutive storeysof their superstructures.These varieties of the temple with a square plan arerepresentative of Dravida architecture. The temples inVizhinjam(P1. i), of the ninth century, are akin to con-temporary Chola shrinesin Kaleyapatti,Tiruppur and sitesin Pudukkottai. There the walls are built of very largestones. In Vizhinjam,however, the base, the pilasters andpillarsin the corners and the porch, as well as the entabla-ture and roll cornice, are of stone but the walls and thesuperstructureare of brickmasonry. Were there no fillingbrickwalls,the shrinewould be an open pavilionsupportedon pillars. However, the shrines are closed, conformingwith the squareLiiga shrines of South India. The super-structure,a small shrine in itself, has a squaredome shape,6


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which together with its dormer windows and finial-likeportion is solid. The walls of the smallupper temple, orHigh Temple, have a buttress or a projected niche in thecentre. They are overshadowed by a deep and long rollcornice (this has disappeared n the temple havinga porch,andis partlybroken on the smallershrine). The heavy rollcornice, highup,has a lowering effect on the superstructure.It accentuates the breadth of the dome shape: the wholeedifice is given furthergirth,beyond the extent of its walls,by the main roll cornice which tops the cubical sanctuaryand also connects it with its porch. Below, the socle hastwo widely projected fillets. Their sharp,horizontalbandsare interruptedin front by the rolling curves of the stair.These buildingsare set up on a very wide terrace. Theintention of the architecturalform is an effect of height.It is raised on a terrace, thence on a socle, and has piledon top of its walls yet another structuralshape. But thisheight is negativedby the repeatedhorizontalsof filletsandroll-cornices,proportionatelyincreasing n verticalsequencein their projection from the part of the building whichthey encompass.The Guhanathasvamitemple at Cape Comorin (985-1013 A.D.) does not represent a development of the typeof temples built in Vizhinjam(P1.2). While the Vizhinjamtemples house nothing but a small, cubic space, the Gu-hanathasvamitemple comprises a hall within its interiorand in its centre (cappedby a dome shapewhich replacesthe originalsuperstructure) s a small sanctuary. The smallcubical temple with flat ceiling, if thought of without itssuperstructure,base and roll cornice, resembles a dolmen

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raised on a socle--such Shivatemples are known in SouthIndia. However the spacious interior of the Guhanathas-vami temple and other contemporary temples in SouthIndia has other antecedents. Structural halls used astemples, of which a few only arein existence, are describedin a compendium of Indianarchitectureof early 1 h cent-ury, the Samaranganasutradhara. his type of temple musthave been widely represented in the Deccan and in SouthIndia.

The Guhanathasvamitemple is akin to hall temples inPudukkottai,such as the Shiva temple in Mangudi, Thewall of the temple (the window openings, as they are atpresent,appearto be of later date) is divided into a zoneof pillars and a high portion above their capitals. Thecapitals project boldly and their thin tiers repeat on thewall the effectof the socle, althoughtheir band of shadowsis lighter and non-continuous, forming an architecturalrhythmwhich divides the wall horizontally. In comparisonwith the other temples the shafts of the pillars are pro-portionately low. The roll cornice with its carved atticwindows and the lion frieze above are the common pro-perty of all Dravidatemples of this age. The Guhanathas-vami temple is built of stones; as in the other temples ofthis kind, they are of large size in proportion to the lowwall. Its smallheight is made even lower in effect by thehorizontal mouldings which are given particularemphasis.The Guhanathasvamitemple rests within their embrace,closely hugged to the ground.

The third variety of the South Indianor Dravidatempleis represented by the temple of Parthivashekharapuram,8


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palimpsest, of which the socle goes back to the ninthcentury. This kind of temple has the shape of a steppedpyramid; a central, square structure forms its nucleusand is surrounded on each floor by a parapet,originallyacloister of chapelsof differentshapessymmetricallyaligned.The walls of the central shrine are topped on each floorby eaves widely projected. On their underside they showa construction which recalls their wooden prototypes.The Dravida school of architectureclassified ts templesaccording to the shapeof the "dome" of the High Temple,as Nagara,Dravida,and Vesara,these being square* (PI.i),octagonal, and round respectively. The cloister whichoriginally surrounded the sacred precinct is an indispens-able part of a Keralatemple. It is without "chapels" andis built of wood. This structuralshapehas not been trans-lated into stone in the Dravidatemples of Travancore.However, the ancientpracticeof architecturalranslationwas not forgotten. The craftsmen who had cut temples inthe rocks of Bihar or of the Deccan carved the shapes ofthe wooden architectureon the facade of their excavations,and vaulted the interior of their temples to resemble thoseof their wooden prototypes. The same practice of literaltranslation from one structuraltechnique and substanceinto another was followed by the buildersof Travancorewhen they set up the navaratri mandapa n Suchindram,astone structure,representativeof the last phase of Dravidaarchitecture (P1. 3). Its pillars do not support the usualflatceiling,but a cofferedone, raised above the beams by a* The two fold application of the term Nagara (cf. p. 5) is discussed onpp. 175, 292-294 of "The Hindu Temple" by Stella Kramrisch.

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bracketconstructionwhich has the shapeof a four-sidedcollar ceiling. Every detail of the original wooden con-struction is carved in stone (P1.4). No attempt has beenmade to adjustthe forms of ceiling and pillars.

CIRCULAR DRAVIDA TEMPLES

Of greater significance and beauty than the DravidaPrasadas(temples) built on a square plan are the circularshrines. Vastu-Shastras,he traditional texts on the scienceof Indian architecture and known from about the sixthcentury A. D., treat in detail of the varioustypes of circu-lar temples built throughout India from that age to thesixteenth century, when SrI Kumaraof Keralacompiledthe "Shilparatna."Very few round temples are known toexist outside Kerala, although the walls of one of theearliest structural temples yet known (at Bairat, Jaipur,.Rajasthan,of the third-second century B.C.), are circular.

The temple of Niramankaras raisedon a circularpave-ment which forms the outer path of circumambulation(P1. 5). This elegant building is a sandharaprdsada. Inaddition to the ambulatoryin the open it has an inner,covered one which lies behind the circularenclosure wall.Stepsleadup to it. The inner wall of this inner ambulatoryis square; it is the wall of the Garbhagriha, he innermostsanctuary. It is surmounted by an octagonal dome.I


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The innertemple, the Srikoil,originallywas not visibleasit is today.* In front of it on each side and forming acircle in the inner ambulatory,aretwo high pillars. As theyare seen today they end with a tenon to which originallyseems to have been mortised the wooded framework of aroof over the entire building. The shapeof the roof wouldhave been conical. The placement of one building withinanotheris partof the Indiantraditionof sacredarchitecture.When complete, the temple of Niramankaramust havebeen similar from the outside to the circular Srikoilof thethirteenth century temple in Tirunandikkara,which iscovered by a conical roof. This type of Srikoil s practicallyunchanged in buildings of the sixteenth century, such asthe temple in Vaikom. (Pls. 7 and 8).The incorporation of a Dravidatemple within a Keralatemple is not the only complex shape of the temple inwhich the builders of Malabar showed their proficiency.The circular Dravida Vimana became fused with the in-digenous Srikoil. The shrine of Valyandyadichapuram fthe sixteenth century, is a perfect solution (PI.6). Thesecret of the mixture of the Dravidaand the Kerala ormlies in the fact that the architecturalshapesin both schoolsgo back to similar or identical origins.On the wall of the circulartemple of Valyandyadichapu-ramthe motives of pilastersand niches arereduced to a flatminimum (P1.6). The wall is almost plain; it can beimagined completely covered by mural paintings. A co-* The Srikoil is the structure which houses the innermost sanctuary. Itcorresponds to Prasadaor Vimana in the terminology of the Nagara andDravida schools of architecture.

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nical roof would fit over its simpleshape,the perpendicularwalls forming a cylinder. Replacing, however, the crispangle of such a roof, a widely projected roll cornice throwsits shadow over the walls and protects them. Above it asif binding the walls is a circularrim, the highest part builtof stone. Extended in heightby courses of bricks, t formsthe socle of the brick-built superstructure. It rises withthree storeys of its own. But for the apsidalchapels, therampartcorresponds to those on a Dravidasuperstructurehaving a square section.In all the temples, whether square or circularin plan,the socle is variouslydividedinto three zones of mouldings.They clasp the building firmly, and impart to it a rootedstability. The richer shapesof the Dravida socles, belong-ing to the various ages of the school outside Travancore,are eschewed. The reason is not that the Travancoretemples aresmaller, or even smallandearlyChola temples,like those of Kodumbalur n Pudukkottai,rise from lotuspetalled and other complex, heavilyrounded and obliquelyprojected bases. A late and otherwise ornate structurelikethe gopuram gate tower) in Suchindram s based on a re-latively plain socle consisting of three major mouldings.While angular mouldings prevail up to the fourteenthcentury, those of the subsequent periods incorporate vari-ous torus (kumbha)and cyma (padma-lotus) shapes. Thelatter, even though carved in the likeness of petals, arediscretely subordinatedto the generaleffect. This is moreobvious even on the circular than on the other temples.The Dravidatemples of Travancore are not the only oneswhich rest on bases of this particularquality. Buildings12


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constructedn theindigenousmannerf Keralare imilar-ly supported.Whetherbuiltaccordingo the Dravidarto Keralaradition,hesmooth ontinuityf themouldingsof the socle s mostfullyonewith hetotal tructuref thebuildings circular.There its self-contained,apacioussweep is one in naturewith the curveswhich also distin-guish hewallpaintingsf Malabar.

KERALA TEMPLES

The indigenousemplesare our-sidedP1.o) orcircular;(Pls.8,9) the latter hapes possiblyhemoreancient;hegarbhagriha,owever,s alwaysquare.The original lanand,as a rule, he stonesocle,of the indigenousemplesin Travancorerecompleteo thisday. Manya Srikoilsraised bovestepswhichare nscribed.Their ateralarv-ings togetherwith the inscriptions rove them to becenturies arlierhan hepresent hrine,which s arecon-struction dentical n plan with the originalbuilding.Similarly,he entiresite plan of these templesof thethirteentho theeighteenthenturiesaithfullyollowsheprescriptionsndpractice f earlierenturies.The mainbuildingies,onan East-Westaxiswithinarectangularloister(P1. ). Although he Srikoils notplacedn theexactcentre,t canbe approachedromthefour directionsand its highroof dominates he assemblageofbuildings. loisteredemplesrenotconfinedo Malabar.

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Pallavatemples in Mamallapuram nd Kaiichipuram,Jaintemples in Rajasthanand other parts of India, the templesof Kashmir and those of Mysore are similarly enclosed.This plan of temple precincts is ancient and has its be-ginnings in the enclosure by which a sacred field wasdemarcatedprior to the building of a temple on it. In theearlycenturiesof the present era theBuddhists n Gandharaworshipped in stone-built shrines within similarlyplannedsanctuaries. The corresponding structures in India werebuilt of wood and bricks and have perished.The roofs are the main accents of Keralabuildings.TheKerala diom is seen typically in theirwooden constructionand in the wood carvings. Where, however, the walls areof plasteredstone or brick, it is in their paintings. Thesedifferwidely from those in Ajanta,except that they coverthe entire availablewall space. This is also true of thecarvings,of the timberarchitecturewhere alltheirinordinatewealth is comprised within or covered by large and purearchitecturalshapes: The broad cone of the roof of theSrzkoil, he oblong frameof the pent roofs of the surround-ing halls hold under their wide eaves a wealthof figureandcolour, which, if exposed or removed from these lids andreceptacles,would have a forlorn splendour and involvedintricacy.The roofs as a rule are covered with thin tiles. Thecarefullyplanned construction and form of the roofs wasproportionate in all its parts. For example, the length andthickness of the various kinds of rafters and their parts,were calculatedas formingthe hypotenuse of the respectiverectangular triangle of posts and brackets,etc. The pro-14


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portionate thickness of the hip-rafters of a ridged roofover a rectangularbuilding, for example, is equal to thediagonal of the square section of the rafters, which arebolted to the sides of the top beam (according to "Vastu-vidya", chapter X).*The various joints have each a proper name and em-ployment; the science of wooden construction assuredthegreatest precision, stability and durabilityto the building.A simple and ingenious construction shows the frameworkof the roof planted in the ground and not resting on thewalls of the building, so that at the same time the roof hasa firmsupport and the interior of the temple is replete withspaced rhythm of concentric, pillaredcolonnades.Single or double roofs alike give an effect of lightnesstothe otherwise low structure. The portion of the buildingcovered by the sloped roofs is more than four times theheight of the visible perpendicular wall of the temple(P1.9).Outside Malabarnot even the highestsuperstructureof any temple of India ever rose to such proportionateheights.OutsideMalabar,hesuperstructureof stone orbricktemples is as a rule not more than double the height of thewalls and does not exceed thrice theirheight. The wall ofthe Keralatemples is very low in proportion to the girthof the temple, and the total height does not exceed muchif at all the height of the enclosing trees and palms.The circular Srikoil is clear-cut,but its simple shape isembellishedby sumptuousdetail. The balanceof these twoconceptions is rigorously drawn. The architecturalshape* The correspondences or seaborne interrelation of the methods of woodenconstruction in Chinese and Keralaarchitecture await detailed study.

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asa wholeremains naffectedythefrenzyof devotionalimagerywhichscarved nitsbrackets,trutsanduprightson theoutside, ndon theceilingsnside hebuilding. hepaintingsimilarlyovereverywallspace,ikea tapestryin which hebuildingppearslothed.Thisconceptionfthe "painted emple" PI.9) exists today only on theMalabar oast. It musthavebeena widelyusedtype ofsacred rchitecturen India,not onlyin the nterior ftheBuddhistave-templesutalso n the wholeSouth f India.CertainDravidatemples reclassifieds abhasan Vastu-Shastra.he nameabhasamaybederivedrom heglowingradiance f thepaintingswhichcovered hem.Butpaint-ingsor carvings,owever xuberantn detail, re ubordi-nated to the architecturalhapeof whichthey are anintegument.They do not dissolve t, howeverflamboyanttheirdetails.The planning f the siteandthe spacing f elementalarchitecturalhapeswithin the enclosureof the templereflectheorderof thecosmosnwhose ikenesshetempleis conceived. The temples engulfedby untrammelled,luxuriousnature,and has absorbedt, integratedt withinthe simplicityof its order, n the innumerablearvings ndpaintings.The reduplication of the roof, i. e., the addition of asecond storey of the superstructure,not only adds heightbut also providesfurtheropportunity of embracingan evenwider rangeof images(P1.14). This is not a secondarycon-sideration with the builders of these temples. The workof building a temple gives liberation(moksha)o the builderor patron (Vishvakarmaprakasha,I. to). Even a person


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who merelycomesto seethetemples by the sightof itfreedfromall sins andbecomespure(Vishnudharmot-tara,III.LXXXVII.63). Seeingthe templewith the lookof Knowledges onewayof achievingeintegration.t isthus necessary to show meticulously all that is to be seen.Attentionhas frequentlybeen drawnto the similarityof certainNepalesestructures ndthe buildingsof Kerala.*In both countriesthe perennial ndiantradition s living;botharerichin wood anduse it. The reduplicationfroofs becomesaqualityof thesacredbuildinganda meansof display.Templeshavinga squareplananda doubleor tripleslopedroofexist n stone-formn Kashmirrom heeighthcentury,butalso n Gop,Kathiawar,f the Guptaage.**Vastu-Shastralassifieshesetemples ndnameshemaftermountainpeaks,HimavanndMalyavan,rsimply hringa-vanif there s but onepeaked oof(V.Dh.III,LXXXVI).When Keralatemples are built on a squareor rectangularplan, heirroof is constructedn similarprinciples.Oneof itsshapess thefoursidedpyramidaloof,which smoresevereandless impressivehanthe conicalroof withitswide,all-embracingurve P1. o).The otheris a ridged oof,singleor double.It hasaparticularshape in Kerala,common to both sacred anddomestic rchitecture.t hasa hipped ndon each of itstwo sides; he ridgeof the roof,runningbreadthwise,sextendedbeyondthe hippedend and carrieswithit the* The multiple pent roof towers of temples in the Kulu valley (W. Hi-malaya) also belong to this family.** Cf. the brick towers at Mudabidri.

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uppermost part of the roof, which thus forms a widelyprojected gable above the hipped end (P1. i i). In this"open" attic manifold carvings are introduced on thebuildings belonging to the temple (P1.13), whereas in do-mestic architecture the verge of the gable overhangs lessand serves the purpose of protecting a latticed roof lightfrom an excess of rain, wind, and sun (P1.i6).The ridge of the roof, as in the Nair house, if made oflight wood, has a tendency to sag and produce a slightlyconcave sky-line (P1.16). This slightly concave outline isretainedin the curve of the eaves of temple roofs whoseconstruction is more solid. If the concave curve, howeverslight, was introduced to redeem the effect of angularrigidity, the convex curve,- such as might have resultedin this kind of roof construction, as it does, for example,in theruralhouses andtemplesof Bengal, found relativelylittle favour in Kerala.

The buildingsof ancient Indiarepresentedin reliefsandpaintings belonging to the centuries before and after thebeginning of this present era, in Central India,the Deccanand South India,have ridged roofs. Most are curvilinear,and even where the roof is peakedit approaches he shapeof a dome in sections. The gables or windows of thesebuildingsare also curvilinear,archedin the vertical section.In South Indian Vastu-shastra they are known as Nasa("nose"), and a very large projection in front of thesuperstructure of a North-Indian temple has the nameShukanasa r Shukanghri.The firstpartof these compositewords refers to the parrot,whose beak is curved. Anghri,however, denotes a pillar,and while pillars are carved inI8


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the Shukanasaof ancient stone temples, the pillarsof theKeralagables appear to answer this term more closely.(PI. 13, 14). On the other hand, certain motives of coevalDravidaarchitectureareemployed discretelyandaltogethersubservient to the indigenous form.

Notwithstanding suchincorporations, wo formsof archi-tecture exist simultaneously in Travancore. They servethe same Gods and forms of worship,but do not representequal stages of architecturalform such as had been re-presented by the coexistence of North and South Indianstyles in Aihole, Mahakuteshvar,Pattadakal,and also inAlampur, in the Deccan. The Keralatype of building inTravancore is homely and almost dateless; the Dravidabuildingsare more stately and aresubjectto allthe changesof style which the development of a school of architectureimplies.Thus two well defined types of form co-exist; the oneunaging, the other full of possibilitieswhich mature in thecourse of centuries,and finally disintegrate. That two suchforms of art may be used by the same people at the sametime has been seen elsewhere in the history of Indian art.The terracottas from the days of Mohenjo Daro to thepresent are an example. In the history of Indian architec-ture, however, Travancore occupies an almost uniqueposition over roughly a millennium. A similarco-existenceof diversearchitecturaltypes mighthaveprevailed n Bengalin the Pala and Sena periods. The villagehuts of Bengaltoday represent the agelesstype of this country.

In some of the later temples, built in the manner ofKerala, he Srikoilis not a detached structure but is com-I9


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karmaprakashand the BrihatSamhita. While the templesare built of wood, brick, and stone, the houses in Malabarwere built originally of mud, light woods and thatch. InTravancore the temple, the palaceand the house representdegreesin the drawingon resourcesof structuralknowledgeand symbolical reference. All the resources are activatedin buildingtemples;many are left untapped in the buildingof palaces.The reticence is even greater n the constructionof dwelling-houses, for what belongs to the Gods is notmeet for man, be he even the King. Certain subjects suchas scenes of war, death or sorrow in the stories of theGods and the Asuras should not be representedin houses(Mayamata,XVIII). Certaindegreesof realisationand theircontents, such as the supernatural, houldalso be excluded(Vishnudharmottara,Part III, Ch. XLIII).The rangeof subjectsand of wealth of carvingis restrict-ed in the palaces and the homes of later centuries, anda sage economy of motives is practised by the builders.Most of the wood work in the houses built from theeighteenth century is purely structural. However, a fewsymbolical shapes are introduced, such as the vyala (my-thical animal) which supports the built-in seat and showsit to be a simhasana(lion-seat) (P1.17),and the lotuses inthe caissons of the ceiling or at the juncture of joists orbeams (P1.17). The rest of the wood-work, the curvesand crockets of braces,the rod or cable-shapedbattens,addthe weight of their form to an interior mellow with theplay of light and shade on cofferedceiling and curved edgeof the collar-likeroof, and to the inside of the eaves. Themainaccents,however,arethose of the structuraldisposition

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this knowledge by itself would not suffice to give to eachcarving ts due effect in the whole. The effect is achievedbythe fact that the eye of the devotee is at a distance fromthe carving, furthermore by the darkness in the recesses;thus, shapes of a more particular significance graduallyemerge in front of and againsta backgroundof symbols ofgeneral validity. These are seen but dimly or in placesonly where the light of day or of oil lamps throw intorelief one or the other carving of the background.Such knowledge and recognition have their place in thetemple; they would be out of place in the daily use of thehouse where everything serves an immediate purpose instraightforward hapes. How varied these are depends notonly on the size of the house and the wealthof the patronbut even more on the various usages which they serve.The skylight,for example,in the centralhallof a Nalukettu(four wing house), hasthe shapeof a shaftandis sunk intothe hall from the ceiling, for not only light but rain as wellis conducted into the hall, and the water is collected in aspacious sunk basin below the rectangularopening in theceiling (P1. i8). Basin and floor are built and paved withstone slabs. This "water and light" room is set in a whollyingenious way. Many more of these purely Keralashapesand effects of interior architecturesolve practicalproblemsimposed by a special climate,light, and mode of life.In the palaces,the same ingenuity within a tradition oflong standing is present in greater display. The railing-louver wall admits diffusedand tempered light and air intothe hall (P1. 19). The upper part having the louver effectis curved outward;sinuous and strong studs,throughwhich

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passthe planksof the louverlink the eaves of theroof tothe railingwall below. The wall so formed is built up inan airypattern ull of light. Itslarger ndupperpart s notperpendicular ut swings outward towards the frameofthe ceiling,which restson solidpillars;hey are the onlyverticals n the hall. The wholeinteriorbut for the pillarsis likea widebasket, hady, ool,andfullof the movementof lightand air.The pillars,withtheir loreated racketsndpendants, ppear otwhollycongruousf seenbythemselvesinsteadof immersedntheparticularpaceof the hall P1. 9).Western Europeannfluencehad come to be aweaken-ing factor in buildingsof the eighteenthand nineteenthcenturies.Althoughpresenton the Malabaroast fromthesixteenthcenturyonward, herewasno scopefor its entryor assimilation n the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.This is the morenoteworthy,asWesternismswerelargelyaccepted n the paintings f theMughals t thattime. Thepaintings f Malabar,owever, emainedreefromWesterninfluence,even those executedin the MattancheriPalace,which the Portuguesepresentedto the Rajaof Cochinabout1555A. D. Onlyin thesecondsetof murals, aintedafter the Dutchrestorationof the palacewithinthe eight-eenth century, did Western influence immobilizethepowerof these compositions.Kerala rchitecturecomprisesemplesandhumbledwell-ing houses, which latteruntil at least the middleof the16th centurywere built of mud. The local conventionrequired hathousesof wood and stone be builtonly forKingsand Gods. Everyoneelsehadto live in mud houses(i. e. temporarystructures).24


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The Nair houses in their own detailed nteriordecorationare thus adaptationsof the palace. Their plan whether infour or eight wings, must have been customary also whenimpermanentmaterialswere used for those buildings. Theplan of the house was not transferred o the temple, which,being the house of God, fulfilleda function differentfromthat of the houses of man.

The original distinction between these two abodes ismade by primitive people such as the Chenchus, for ex-ample,who live in caves, but builda round bamboo hut fortheir Gods.

The circularSrikoil,the shapemost particular o Kerala,has no prototype in the houses of Brahmins and Nayars.Circularbuildingshowever are set up by some of its pri-mitive peoples. The Ullatas ensconce the bride-to-be in alarge round building made of leaves, where she choosesher husband. These religiousand ritualbuildingsarethem-selves partly of a temporary nature, set up for a definiteoccasion and soon destroyed; but the practiceis living andnot forgotten. Such structures as well as the circularandconical huts of the Malapantarams re among the shapescontributing to the circular Srikoiland its conical roof.

These circular buildings, as well as the shed generallyused as places of worship, are connected in shape andpurpose with the Keralatemples. The Keralatemples inTravancore did not derive from the megalithicpracticeofsetting up dolmens-though this practiceis extensively re-presentedin Travancore and contributed to the shape andstructure of the Hindu temple elsewhere in India. Theflatroofed Gupta temples in CentralIndia,and, to a certain

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extent, the Dravidatemples generally of the earlierperiod,show, integratedinto their own shapesand technique,thoseof the megalithicstructures. But this component was notcontributed particularlyto the Dravida temples in Tra-vancore. Wherever the ethnical roots lie of the elementsthat contributed to the Keralatemples, the consistency oftheir simple shapesis part of the scene of the country.

THE STONE SCULPTURES IN TRAVANCOREThe stone sculptures in Travancore although few innumber are representativeof South Indiansculpture fromthe eighth to the sixteenth century. The rock-cut figureof a donor or chieftain, n Kaviyur(PI.20) is closely relatedto Pallava dvarapalas and other figures of the Dravidacountry. Its pose in particularhas its equalin the figureofa Pallavachieftain in the rock cut Shiva Temple of Kun-

nandarkoyil in Pudukkottai. In its sculptural style andgeneral type of costume there is nothing to distinguishthis carving from any figureof the east coast, except thatthe accoutrements are simpler and adhere more to thebody of the figurewith its surgingstance and commandingrestraint. The composition of cylindricalvolumes, heaviertowards the top, is held up by the verticals of the legswhose straightness s emphasizedby the ends of the waist-band; these cling symmetrically to either leg and as fardown as the short loin cloth.

Another figure of a beardedRishi in the same cave hasnone of the sculpturalquality of the Chieftain's shape;its26


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animation s more descriptive. The naturalismof this figureis familiar to Pallavaart; it is assignedits place in a relieflike that of "Kiratarjuniya"n Mamallapuram,where theemaciated shapes of the hero and Rishis are part of thisrelief's array of types. The'many possibilities withinPallavasculpture are represented also outside the centralschool. A hitherto unidentifiablerelief, for example, toeither side of the entrance of a cave temple of Vizhinjam,though unfinished,hasmuch in common with later Pallavawork (P1. 21).These Hindu sculpturescarved in the rock are followedin the ninth century by a group of Jain reliefs cut in theChitaralHill (PI. 22), and by images of the Buddha, fromMavelikara.They are carved in the round with a breadthwhich relieves their dogmatic tedium (PI.23). The imagesof PadmavatiDevi, moreover, of which P1. 22 shows butlittle,haveallthe ripenessof modelling and leisureof stanceof imagesof the Goddess carved throughout India in theninth century.It can be seen on the Guhanathasvamitemple (ca. iithcentury)that the facilityin carvingtraditionalsymbols madethe quality of their form frequently sink below their mean-ing. These carvingswere the work of competent, thoughuninspired, craftsmen; they helped towards a reading ofthe context of the symbols without appealingto the totalsensibility of the devotee.Farfrom markinga falling off in the course of centuriesfrom the attainment of the Pallava type of sculptures,fluctuations in the qualityof the reliefsmay best be judgedwhere allied subjects decorate the same partof the temple,

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as in Figs. 24 and 25, a dancer, male in the one carving,female in the later,between two musicians. The first carv-ing, on the lateralpanelof the stair of the Kidangur empleprecedes by about a century the finicalTrivikramamangalarelief. It has rhythm in the powerful action of the kuda-kuttu(kuda-pot,kuttu-dance). Even so, the carving is nonetoo well spaced in relation to the panel, and the pots sodeftly juggled by the dancer have not been utilised by thesculptor for a balanced distribution of the figures on theground. Its upper part is blank.

*When, however, a great taskwas entrustedto a sculptor

equal to it, an image of the dignity of the Vishnu of Ni-ramankarais the result (P1.26). In this image of thefourteenth century the spirit of Kerala has found a com-plete form through the medium of Dravida conventions.The body and limbs of this image are broad and weighty,but without heaviness. The sculpture is magnificentin itsproportions. The high pillar of the crown attracts wheeland conch, symbols hovering above the handsof the God,and surrounding the majesty of his face. This "halo",inwhich the outer arms partake,swings around the upperpart of the image and is traversed by the counter-move-ment of the lower armswhich lead backto the total pillarofthe God's upright stance, clad in scarves and ornaments.There the ascension of the halo is preparedin narrower,inverted arches. They span the God's powerful form;ripples of radiance in the shape of folds of raiment clingto his legs.* not shown in P1.24.28


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Few of the innumerableimagesof Vishnu havesucceededin showing him as the pillar and support of the cosmoswhose radiance is that of the sun. The sculptor of theimage of Niramankarahas made the icon planear and yet,what volume of inhaled breath is hid in the chest anddilates the shoulders and imparts supreme power to theface The gaze of the eyes is chargedwith power, andthebroad mouth tastes its radiance.

It appearsas if the Keralaartistcontributednot only theform but also the physiognomy of this image.Power in theglance of the eyes and squarenessof face arepeculiaralsoto the Chieftain's figure and might be specific traitsof thephysiognomy of stone sculptures as shaped by Keralacraftsmenof the Dravida school in Travancore.

The 16th century temple town of Suchindramis ac-complished in architecturalform, Dravidian in style andKeralaby the application. It contains amongst its manysculpturessome of a nobility and livingnessof form which,two centuries earlier,distinguishedthe Vishnu of Niraman-karaand at a distance of eight centuries at least, made theChieftain in Kaviyur the gate-keeper of the future ofTravancore sculpture.In the largerelief of VishnuTrivikrama, he architecturalframe, . e. the flankingpilasters, houghnot speciallydevisedfor framingthis particularcomposition, yet accompanythestages and keep pace in their sections with the dramaenacted by the figuresof the relief (P1. 27).The Trivikrama composition has many famous pre-decessors such as the gigantic reliefs in Badami and Ma-mallapuramabout a millenium earlier. There are others of

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mediaevaldate, n Osia,Rajasthan,or examplebut noneof the later reliefs is comparable n scale and vision to theSuchindramrelief.The power of the God's step, the magnificentdistortionof the leg dartingupwardand accompaniedby the dancing

gesture of the arm is as daring as the estrangementfromthe body of the God of the three arms and theirweapons on the right side of the relief. In their rotatingmovement the arms seem to burst forth from behind theleg, an aggrandisedcontinuation on the horizontal axis ofthe arms on the other side. This other side of the imagedoes not take part in the cataclysmicupheaval;there theGod is nothing but beautiful and young-his club andarm provide the supportof his stride. The feat of the greatGod is rounded off at the bottom of the relief. There therueful Ball squats at the left while on the right this Kingof the Asuras and Vishnu in his dwarf shape confirm theircontract by the rite of pouring water over the hands ofthe baby-shapedGod. Clouds accompany His greatstrideand serenely subside in ordered rows when the celestialsemergeand renderhomageto Him. The heavenly counter-play to the great commotion which reaches to the sphereof the gods is devotional. Their movements embody themusic of the spheres, which pervades the pattern of theclouds.

While so surpassinga vision and its adequate form arenot common among the carvings of Suchindram, norin any other temple, the averagequalityof sculpture in thesixteenth century is high (P1.28). Uninjuredby iconoclasmand unaffectedby foreign form, stone sculpturein Travan-30


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core- and not only in the Southof the State maintaineda highlevel of which DrIvidaart was the substratum ndthe illumination f the Kerala raftsmants actuality.

THE METAL IMAGESThe substratum lso remainsDravidiann some of thefew metalimagesdatingfrom the eighthto the sixteenth

centuries. While certain ocalpeculiaritiesreto be seenon each of the earliermages, hesedo not sufficeto givethem particular istinction.The eighthto ninth centuryimageof VishnuVaradaraja-itsattributesand handssi-milarto those of the Niramankaramage follows thePallavachool in its own humbleway(PI.29a.b.).Certainlocal idiomsare to be noted. The righthand of this andother Travancore magesof this type is not shown withits fingerspointingdown;a roundobjectrestson its palmand the fingersare bent towardsit. Similar,both in theearliermetalfiguresand the laterstone images,s also theupavita, he sacred hread, n its wide lateral urve,drawntowards he rightarmof the stoneimageandpassingoverit on the metal mages.Metalimages,especiallyon a smallscale,travel easily.The bronzeimages,supremeachievement f the Dravidaschool of the Tamil country, dominated he output inmetal mages n SouthIndia. The otherSouthern choolsrarelyattained o its refinement.Nevertheless he bronzedv,arapaladoor-keeper) igures n Trichurin Cochin areof equallyhigh qualityand are of Kerala orm.

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The rafter shoes rescued by chance from dissolution,and now in the Travancore Museum, show one of themany uses to which metal-work had been put in woodenarchitecture (P1.3oa,b). Some of the shapes in stonearchitecture,such as occur on the Buddhistrailing n Barhutof the second century B. C., mightoriginallyhave been ofmetal,affixedto the wooden construction,andsubsequentlytranslated,together with it, into stone architecture. Themanymedallionshaving otuses or variousfiguresassubjects,may have been metal discs on the wooden original. Theraftershoes, farrrom being homogeneous in the combinat-ion of their various motifs, show three distinct typesassembled and overlapping. The lotus discs are cast in onewith the rest of theraftershoe. This is truealsoof the secondelement, the images of the Gods, current types of Shiva-Nataraja,etc., which together with their pedestalsserve asadornment and also secure a firmerhold of the raftershoe.The third element, the band of scrolls, the one a series ofcurls,the other a continuous arabesqueof flowery plumage,are at home particularlyin Malabar,where the formerpattern can be seen in stone carvings and the latter inpaintings.A medley of forms and shapes like that of the raftershoes has a certain strangeness; it should, however, beimagined n itsproperpositionagainst ts nearerbackground,the solid wooden rafter which was a unifying base of thedisparateelements, whereas its wider setting amongst thecarvings and paintings of the temple made it sink into therich texture of form and colour of the total edifice.In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries certainmetal32


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images,particularlythose representingShasta,are powerfulsculptureof Keralainspirationsuch asit is seen in the paint-ings or in wood carvings. The Shastaimage of the nine-teenth century (beaten silver on wood) (P1.31 a.b.) thoughhardened in its details, has a volume which exceeds itstangible shape. This volume includes the spaceheld by theYogapatta(band) to body and limb, the space which dropsfrom the ornament at the back of the headto the pedestal,and also the wider spaceover which Shastarulesby a move-ment of his hand. This Keralalineage of sculpturehas itsdistant ancestorsin the sculpturesof Mysore,known at thetime of the Hoysala dynasty.

THE WOOD CARVINGS

Travancore is famous for its wealth of wood carvings,prodigiousin quantityand refreshing n their variety.Noneexist which antedate the thirteenthcentury. In the profus-ion of carvings extending over six or seven hundred yearsare the residuesof the innumerableimagesand reliefswhichpreceded them.The carvings may be viewed under three heads i) asimages, 2) as narrativescenes and 3) assymbolicaldecorat-ion. Under all the three heads the carvingsare symbolical,each figure, scene or motif having reference to a realitywhich it adumbrates. These three groups, moreover, arenot sharply demarcated, for the images take part in the

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narrative scenes, and images as well as scenes are bothsurrounded and altogether pervaded by symbolic adorn-ments.The images are carved according to rules which werebinding for their execution whether in stone, wood ormetal. The numberless images carved as part of a ceiling,on walls, or pillars, also conformed with the rules. Theceiling of the namaskdramandapa (prostration hall) inKatinamkulamshows in solemn if somewhat mechanical

repetition the figures around Brahma,the Dikpalas, theguardiansof the eight directions. This theme adorned theceilings as frequently as the Navagrahas(P1.32).Where, however, the task of the craftsmanwas not asstrictly set by the exigencies of architecture and icono-graphy and he could fill panels and enrich mouldings bynarrativescenes, he drew from the vast repertory of theEpics, mainly the Ramayana. He composed panels andfriezes with an ease only obtainable in a traditional artwhere the subject is known to all, the trainingcontinuous,and no effort lost on choosing a theme or the means bywhich it acquiresform.The Ramayanascenes, in their many and differentre-presentationsfrom the fourteenthto the eighteenthcentury,show the art of the people of Malabaras it moved theirheart and imagination. These carvings are the peoples'RImayana. It is told on their own level. The manydifferentstyles of this "folk art" do not, as a rule, dependon the way in which the cult imageshave to be made soas to be fit for worship. As many as are the degrees ofdevotion and skill, so many are the versions of the Ra-34


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mayanan the woodcarvingsf thetemples.Theirscaleis modest,buteach s livelyandauthentic.In no otherbranch f theirvisual rthave hepeopleof Malabareengivenequal cope o speaknmanyongues nd rom heirhearts.The fourteenthentury epresentationn Sathankulan-gara f the vicissitudesf Sitassturdy ndstraightforward(P1.33). Afflictedshe sits in the cloak and canopyof herlonghair ndherenormous andsdemonstrateerabandonandgrief.Hanumans nthe reeandHanumanapproachesher;the tree which inksthe figuresillsthe compositionwithalgae-likeeaves, uchas growin fairy-land;verychildmustdelightn thissetting.It is clear s awood-cut.When the exactingaskof composinghe figuresas anenrichmentf a roundmouldings carriedut,the burlyfairy-talemood does not forsake hefiguresandthe pathosof their action (P1.34). Althoughthis artis trulypopularit must not be imagined hat it waspractisedoutside thetemples.It wasa purelyreligious rtthatspoketo thepeoplewhocame o thetempleor thepurpose f seeingit withdevotion.In theirown homes herewasno oc-casion or it.

TheRamayanacenesascarvednSathankulangaraP1.34)showthesingle igures scompact olumesspacedoberlyaccordingo size andshapeof thepanelheyhad o filloradheringo the curvedplaneof the moulding n whichtheywerecarved.Thegroupsucceed neanother,rthesinglepanels resuperimposederticallyndthusfill heirapportionedall-space.In Ettumanur,he Ramayanacenes,thoughsuperim-

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posed, are not confined each in its panel but are dividedone from anotherby a representationaldevice only, a roof,for example,or by the foliage of a tree, showing therebythat the scene takes place in the palace, or in the jungle.The several groups of figures may be superimposed with-out any other demarcation than that produced by theircomposition (the group at the bottom of the panel) (P1.36).Thus the scenes follow one anotherin the vertical,on onepanel,and form in each case one consistent relief composit-ion. The figures are placed at any angle to the ground ofthe relief. Their movements cut into depth or project fromit as they act their parts with a vehemence that also tossesthe foliage of the trees and separatesthe figures by deepgrooves. With all their splendid acting, the movement isin their miensand gestures,not in their modelling,dissolvedas their bodies areby the rings and chainsof their jewellery.

High-strung, crude in their refinement and nearing adissolution of carved form, the Ettumanur carvings are aclimax of popular art in which the single elements areblended as are the ingredientsin a witch'sbrew. Spells andsorcery are modes of belief as popular in their practice asis the appealof these carvings. Other Ramayanascenes inEttumanurgo even furtherin giving form to the uncanny;herdsof demoniacbeastsaccompanythose horizontalpanels.In a context like this, the symbols and adornments (P1.35)too, are gnarledwith demoniac traits. These override theiroriginalsignificance.In the seventeenth-eighteenth centurythe demoniac traits are combined with dissonantlyinflatedshapes(PI.37).A frantichorrorvacui fastensthemwithin in-tricately carved details. In the eighteenth century a brittle36


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classicismfinds a narrow way out of the barbaricmedley(P1.38).Another base for the display of flamboyance are thesymbolicshapesof architecture.Two motives have speciallybeen singled out from the repertoryof Indianarchitecturalform, the gavakshaand anothershape,which may be calledshirsha.

Gavakshasthe name of the curvilinearwindow-openingcarved in the rock which admits light and air into theBuddhisttemples. In structuralHindu temples its likenessis carved large and small, singly or connectedly, in rowsand lattices over the surfaceof the temple. There it hasnoopening but is solid, a paradoxicaldevice, a window shapethroughwhich no light can enter from without. The mean-ing of gavakshais "ray-eye"or ray-curve. On the templethe "ray-eye"shines with the Light from within; it is notmeant to admit light into the "superluminousdarkness"ofthe shrine where God is housed, source of all light and il-lumination. In this its paradoxicalapplication, he 'ray-eye',thegavaksha,scarved n anyposition(P. 36)orin rows:(P1. 5)thispatternhadbeen known asgavahkshamalaRaghuvamsha)for about a millennium before having been given oneof its specific shapes in Kerala,where it looks like a di-minutive, flamboyantframe.From this closed window the faces of celestials lookdown, in Ajanta and elsewhere. It may be filled, in itslarge versions, with an image of the deity enshrinedin thetemple or with accompanying images as on temples ofCentral India, from the sixth century. If its size is small,other devices may fill it, floral or nameless seals of the

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carver'sart. Thus it figures on fillets and mouldings, or itis attached to the other architecturalsymbol, which maybe called shirshaand is carved, superimposedas a verticaldevice, and framesthe figuredpanels (P1. 36).Shzrshameanshead,and is used to designatethe bracket-shaped capitalabove the capital proper (bharana)of a pillar("Samaraiganasutradhara",LVII, 128). In the rock-cutexamples of the early centuries of the present era (nostructuraltemples having survived) this sur-capitalhas theshape of superimposed slabs increasingly widened in areatowards the top (for example in Bedsa, Karli, etc.). Inthese early rock-cut examples, animal figures are carvedabove the uppermostslab. The slabs are thus superimposednot only on top of pillars but also on top of a sacredmonument, the Buddhiststupa. They are supported by acube called harmikd,a square enclosure, in which inheresthe uppermost part of the shaft of the central pillarwhereit emerges from the apex of the stiTpa'shemisphere.This very shape is carved in relief in Malabar;it hasseveral more or less complex versions which allow a recon-struction of its underlying design. Carved singly and ful-filling the function of an uprightwhich divides the scenesin the sequence, on a recessed portion of the wall (P1.35),it resemblesin shape the harmikaor "house of the gods",the small house of the Buddhiststupacovered by wideningslabs. In this particularrelief, an ornate harmikais placedon a pedestal overgrown by prickly flamboyance,and theshirshais covered by lotus petals. Elsewhere it has lateral(P1.36) projections such as are familiar from mediaevalpillarswith their bracket capitals. These support an arch-38


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itecturalfantasy in which the centralposition is held by thegavaksha. The shzrsha s furtheraugmentedby smallerandpart replicas of the gavaksha and by flamboyant scrolls.This superstructureoccupies the place of the animalfiguresin the early rock-cut examples,on the shirshaof pillars.A square railing is seen in lieu of the solid cubicalharmikaon a numberof stupas. It surroundsa smallshrinewhich encloses the place where the central pillaremerges.

Complete shrine-models (Kuta) of this type, equippedwith pillarsand surmountedby a largegavaiksha, re carvedbetween the two tiers of the roof of the temple in Kazha-kuttam (P1. 14) (147 A. D.).The 'High Temple' (Kuta) as seat of divinity and thecorresponding shape as sur-capital;and the gavaksha,theplace whence its Light shines forth, are thus combinedwith, surge from, and are surrounded by flaming shapes.This burning fantasy centred in symbols of divinity be-longed to the stock in trade of the Keralawood carver inthe 16th-i8th centuries.

THE PAINTINGSMany of the wood carvings are coloured and thusbecome part of the painted wall. An eighteenth century

temple in Pazhur shows a similarconnectedness of paintedwall surface and painted sculpturesas could be seen in thecave temples of Ajanta or Badami in the Deccan in thesixth century.

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THE CLASSICAL HERITAGE

The Devata painted about the year 800 on the wall ofthe mandapaof the Shiva cave-temple in Tirunandikkarain South Travancore, is one of the few still discerniblefigures (P1.39). This figure formed part of a large panelof which only the uppermost portion is in existence. Itshows amongst flowers, clouds and rocks, traces of handsin fleeting movements and of heads bent with tenderness.In another panel are two seated figures of which one, awoman,hasan impressivecountenance; fragmentsof pillarsand smiles, and elephant and leonine faces are preserved.They are shaped with the spontaneity of an establishedtraditionwhich, having explored all its possibilities,showsits mastery even when it no longer draws on all of itsresources.

The ground of the paintingsis white, the colour of thewall, and red and touches of green and yellow are stillvisible. The outlines areof unequalfunction, eithersuppleand modelling or else merely circumscribingthe modelledsurface so that it appears like a plaque set against thebackground. Such unevenness in the use of the elementsof form is also to be seen in other paintings of approxi-mately the same phase, such as those in the KailasanathaTemple in Kancipuramnear Madras,and in Elura. Therehowever, a new orientation was about to be given to wall-paintingwhich up to then had been homogeneous in itsform, and hadproduced over one millennium the 'classical'40


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paintings in Bagh,Ajanta,Badami,etc., in the Deccan andin Orissa (Yogimaracave, second century B.C., Sitabhinji,4th century A.D.).

KERALA FORMNothing is known as yet of painting in Travancorebetween Tirunandikkaraand the sixteenth century. With

the stupendous wall-paintingof Natarajan the gopuramofthe temple of Ettumanur (P1.40), the chapter of Keralapainting in Travancore, to our present knowledge, opensabout the same time as it does in Cochin with the wall-paintingsof the Mattancheri Palace. The paintings glowin sombre colours, Indian red and terreverte, white, blackand yellow; blue is very sparinglyused. The technique istempera,the bindingmediumbeing made from the seed ofabrusprecatoriur.The ground of the paintingsis a speciallypreparedplasterto which may have been added thin washesof lime. The ground supplies the white in the paintingsand white details in the coloured parts are produced byscraping the surface. These white surfaces and also thedeep black ones-the cascadesof beardsof the Rishis-helpfix to the surface the round effect of the bodies and limbsof the figures. These are modelled in colour, yellow beingstippled with red, and green shaded with black. A blackoutline binds the rotundity of the limbs.The limbs and bodies are uniformly modelled. Smoothshapesare inflated to the same degree of roundness in allthe figures,the shadowsbeing massedtowardsthe outlines.

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These are firm, with little modellingcapacity of theirown so that they imparthardness o the volumes whichthey bound. Shadingndependentof any source of lightmetes out one and the samemodellingto all the figures.There is essentiallybutone typeforthe Gods,anotherorthe Goddesses,although he demons are cast in a greatervarietyof moulds.There is samenessalso of position. Abroad three-quarter view impresses an unmovable, per-manent mood on the face. This is relieved and varied bythe glances of the eyes and the gestures of the hands andarms which function as intelligible signs, eachin its properplace.The body of each figure is a compact unit, but is aug-mented in width beyond its amplitude by arms, generallybent at the elbows and held away from the body. Be theylowered or raised or in any other attitude, in any of theimages,they form part of their coloured volume. This isfurther extended when the armsare many and are part ofShiva'sdance.

The figuresof the celestial host are shuffled in vaguelyparallelhorizontal rows, one above another, covering asmuch of one another as yet allows each figureto be iden-tified. This refersto their connectedness vertically,whereasin the horizontal one figure borders on the other withoutinterspace. There is no background whatsoever to theirdensity.Eachfigureis set in acircumambientine. Where this doesnot coincide with the outline of the body it is made parti-cularlydistinctby havinga beadedborder(P1.4 ) the 'beads'being specks of light, the ends of the rays emanatingfrom42


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these painted presences. Brahma(not shown in PI.40) hasa veil of locks, etc., spread around him which is hemmedby the luminous beaded border.

The sixteenth to seventeenth centuriesshow asumptuous,heavy fabric of Keralapainting. Nearest to Ettumanurarethe less ambitiousthough not less gravid paintings of thetemple in Vaikom (P1.41).The breadth (one would almost be tempted to say thegirth) of the image of Parvatiholding her son Ganapationher lap, exceeds any dimension in which human limbs arewont to move. It has no scenery or stage,no setting com-parable o any actuality.The modelled shapesof the imagesof the gods form the units of the pattern on the walls.ClassicalIndian painting had shown God in his mani-festations in the world enchanted by their presence. Theymoved on the ever-green slopes of Mount Meru or in theclouds nearby. They hadtheir chariotsand palaces,grovesand mountain caves as vehicles and abodes. This adorableworld, the pleasanceof the Gods in which they move atwill, is not painted on the walls of the temples and palacesof Kerala.Its phantasmagorias not displayed; no housesare built in these paintings for the Gods to dwell in, nogroves to have their sport in; they have no ground totread on; no space in which they could be shown gracingit with their movement and presence, for there is nothingbesides their presence. The images seem to communicatetheir fullness to the many shapeswhich they engender: tocrowns, halosand tree tops, ornamentsand raiments. Thusencompassed, there is no end to the presence of a Godbut where it coincides with that of another divinity. The

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limits of the body are augmented until they touch uponthe confines of another presence equally potent in form-engendering shape (the beaded 'outline', on the right ofthe Ganesha-ParvatIroupisthe outlineof anotherdivinity).The ornaments, the surroundings,the symbols, are allthe outcome of the central group. Their shape is like thatof their source; the petals and pearls, stems and scrolls,share in its modelled ripeness.The closeness of shapesis massed spacelessbut volum-inous on the surface. It is bounded by a linear contextwhose flow is staid around the central theme, the compactfigure of divinity. God in the world was the theme ofclassicalIndian painting. The world of the Gods is thecontent of the painted walls of Kerala.It is shown with a proficiency which an often repeatedvision ensures. The paintingsof the sixteenth century giveno indication when it was first beheld. Wall paintings ofMysore under the Hoysalas should have been of a relatedkind if one is to judge from their sculptures.The sculptures of the Hoysala temples of the twelfthand thirteenth centuriesrepresenteda disintegrationof theplastic sensibility of Indian sculpture. The disintegrationwas markedby the inert heavy shapes of the images andby a cloying profusion of detail in which these inert shapeswere bogged. This level of disintegratedform became, itappears,the basis of the heroic and meticulous world ofthe gods such as it was painted on the walls of the templesand palacesin Malabar.

The ample, f schematic,modellingof the figures,togetherwith the heavy and hard surrounding lines, would be in-44


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congruousdidnotthese wo constituentspervadehewholecompositionand all the paintings.Two componentsofclassicalpainting,each following its inherentpossibilitieslogically o the very end, appear herebycompacted; heone fits,the otherfills,they havebecome the substance fpaintedform.Outside the generaltype of Keralapainting, n theirposture, costume and physiognomy, arethe figurespaintedin a panel of a wall of the rock-cut temple at Chitaral.Starkprofiles of face, the body in a combined front andside view clad in tight bodice and clinging sari betray theinfluence of the late Vijayanagar tyle.The Vijayanagar style became part of the large scalepaintingsof the eighteenthcenturyin the palacesof Krishna-puramandPadmanabhapuram.he walls of aspaciousroomon the fourth floor of the palace at Padmanabhapuramare covered with nearly fifty large compositions, each in apainted frame of its own. This arrangement might havebeen suggested by European contacts. There are butthe faintest occasional reactions to them in the paintingsthemselves. This is the more surprisingon account of thecenturies of Western contact and rule on the Malabarcoast. The paintingsof the sixteenth century arefree fromany intrusion of Europeanidioms. Neither do contempo-rary Indian developments of painting contribute to thesecompositions except in the prevalence of the "face inprofileshowingthe eye in front view",and the correspond-ing "stance" of the body, and in a thinning of the modelledcontext of the paintings so that some of the figures areoutlined againstthe flat ground.

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The close contiguity of the superimposed masses offigureshad been thinned. It had also become rationalised,cut up and arranged n lines. The single figures now areset at a distance from each other, so that one can see theground of the painting against which they are limned.Their clear outlines have regaineda modelling capacity-almostabsent from the i6th- l7th century paintingsthoughpresent in classicalIndianpainting. They areaccompaniedby a beaded border such as had comprised the wider en-tourage of the images in the earlier groups of paintings(P1.42 a; b). Here it is no longer an outer rim to theiropulent presence; it is a device which clarifiesand enlivensthe surface of the picture to which the figures appearattachedas if by series of pin-heads.Now the figuresdo not bend their headsshown in broadthree-quarterprofiles and full ovals. They carry them insharp profile, summarized by the bordering pin-heads,against the monochrome ground. Though the physio-gnomies differ according to the status and caste of thefigures, they are yet of one typological family. The picto-rialancestryof the faces may be tracedto Vijayanagar.Thebodies display much of their frontal width and, on thewhole, have accepted the stance of the figures in theVijayanagarand subsequent schools of South Indianpaint-ing. The freedom of movement, however, is greater herethan elsewhere, and the joints are more flexible. The linehas regained a modelling capacity,has become more pliant,and rejoices in its own inventiveness in curved trianglesapplied on arms and chest. The conversion of the variouspictorialmeans into ingenious surfacepattern can be seen46


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in the 'drop' shapes especially on the necks of the figures,where the sinews are (P1.42 a;b). Drop shapesandtriangularlines are patterns derived from an altogether assimilateddescriptive naturalismof Western provenience.The newly devisedelegant figuresconfront the opulenceof the more ancient shapes (P1.43). The ancient rhythmshave dwindled in sweep and cogency, in comparisonwiththeir former plenitude. Different from the polished,if aridelegance of the paintingsin the palaces, hose on the wallsof the temples show a vigorous or residual folk art(P1.44).The end of Kerala wall painting came in the later part ofthe nineteenth century.*

* Today the art survives in painted shadow play figures."Dravida and Kerala in the Art of Travancore" is abridged from the chap-ters contributed by the author to "The Arts and Crafts of Travancore",The Royal India and Pakistan Society, London and The Government ofTravancore, 1948.

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LIST OF PLATES

P1.I Temples at Vizhinjam,9th-ioth centuryP1.2 Guhanathasvamitemple, CapeComorin, Ioth-II th centuryP1.3 Pillars n NavaratriMandapa,Suchindramtemple, i6th centuryP1.4 Ceiling(stone) of NavaratriMandapa,Suchindram,6th centuryP1.5 Temple at Niramankara, 4th centuryPI.6 Centralshrine, Valyandyadichapuram,6th centuryP1.7 Temple at Vaikom,1539A. D.P1.8 Srikoil, Temple at Tirunandikkara,3thcenturyP1.9 Srikoil, Trikothithanamsocle dated i th century)P1.Io Srikoil, Sathankulangara,4th centuryP1. II Dance-dramaHall,Temple of Haripad,i8th centuryPI. 12 Interior (of ii) showing stageP1. 13 Central Shrine, Panayannarkavu,I8th centuryPl. 14 Superstructure of temple at Kazhakuttam, 147I A. D.P1. 15 Ceiling (wood) of NamaskaraMandapa, Temple at Kaviyur,

I6th-I7th centuryP1. 16 Old Nair family housePI. 17 Nair house; verandahPI. 18 Nair house; Light and Water ShaftP1. I9 PadmanabhapuramPalace; pillar in hall, I8th centuryP1.20 Chieftain or Dvarapala; Kaviyur cave temple, 8th centuryP1.21 Unfinished carvings,unidentified; rock-cut; Vizhinjam, 8th centuryP1.22 Jaina images, rock cut; Chitaral Hill, ca. 9th centuryP1. 23 Buddha image, Mavelikara, 9th centuryP1.24 Kudakuttu dance panel on steps of temple; Kidangur, I th century

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P1.25 Dancer and musicians,panelon stepsof temple,Trivikramamangalam, I2 th centuryPI. 26 VishnuVaradaraja;Niramankara;4th century

P1.27 Vishnu Trivikrama, uchindram,6th centuryP1.28 Apsaras;Vaikom,i6th centuryP1.29 Vishnu. Bronzeimage,TrivandrumMuseum,8th- 9th centuryP1.30 Metalraftershoes; Ponmana, 4th centuryPI.31 Shasta silveron wood) TravancoreMuseum, I9th centuryP1.32 Brahma ndAstadikpalaeiling;woodcarving;NamaskaraMandapa,

Katinamkulam, 1214 A. D.P1.33 Sita andHanuman; Sathankulangara,4th centuryP1.34 Wooden mouldingcarvedwith Ramayanacenes; Sathankulanga-ra, I4th century

P1.35 Ramayana cenes, Gavakshamaland animalfriezes; Ettumanur,542-45 A.D.

PI.36 Ramayanacenes, Ettumanur, 542-45 A. D.PI.37 Yashodhara'soilet, Bracketrelief, Chonakkara,7th centuryPI.38 Warrior;Bracketfigure,Kidangur,8rh centuryP1.39 Devata;wall painting n cave, Tirunandikkara,th-9th centuryP1.40 Natarajadetail),wallpaintingn Ettumanurtemple, 1542-45A.D.P1.41 ParvatiandGanesha,Vaikom,1539A. D.P1.42 Detailsof panel; Worshipof Ganesha(Padmanabhapuramalace,

18th century)P1.43 Shasta;painting n Padmanabhapuramalace,i8th centuryP1.44 Krishna ndhis parents;Trichakrapuram,8th century

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PLATES


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P1. i Temples at Vizhinjam, 9th-ioth century

P1. 2 Guhanathasvami temple, Cape Comorin, Ioth-i th century

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PI.3 Pillars in Navaratri Mandapa, Suchindram temple, i6th centuryP1.3 Pillars n SlavaratriMan?dapa,uchindramemple,I6th century

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P1.4 Ceiling (stone) of NavaratriMandapa,Suchindram, i6th century


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P1. 5 Temple at Niramankara, I4th century

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P1. 6 Central shrine, Valyandyadichapuram, i6th century


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P1. 7 Temple at Vaikom, I539 A. D.

P1.rkoi, T mlTrndika-, 1. 3hcntrP1.8 Srikoil, Temple at Tirunandikkara,13th century


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P1. 9 Srikoil, Trikothithanam (socle dated x th century)

P1. Io Srikoil, Sathankulangara, x4th century


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Pi,,.i 'i D e-d a H , T e o .HPI. I Dance-dramaHall, Temple of Haripad, I8 th century

P1. 12 Interior (of i i) showing stage


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P1. 13 CentralShrine, Panayannarkavu,I8th century

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P1. 14 Superstructure of temple at Kazhakuttam, 1471 A. D.


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PI. I6 Old Nair family house

P1. I7 Nair house; verandah


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P1. 18 Nair house; Light and Water Shaft

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P1. I9 Padmanabhapuram Palace; pillar in hall, i8th century


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P1. 2 Chieftainr Dvarapala'Kaviyur cave temple, 8th century


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