Government offices will be beautified on the lines of the mural art project executed at the Pathanamthitta collectorate, Revenue Minister Adoor Prakash has said.
The Minister was inaugurating the ‘Open Art Gallery’ at the collectorate here on Friday. He said the mural paintings on the collectorate walls would attract foreign tourists. The project, initiated by Collector S. Harikishore was a model for the rest of the State, he said.
A 14-member team of mural artists from the State-run Vasthu Vidya Gurukulam at Aranmula, led by chief artist Suresh Muthukulam, has converted the walls along all the four stairs of the collectorate into an open art gallery.
The acrylic paintings depict the culture, tradition, spirituality, communal harmony, history, and rituals of the Central Travancore belt with utmost care.
The Sabarimala temple and the sacred grove (Poonkavanam); Ponnambalamedu; legendary Malayalam poet Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan who popularised Padayani through his poems; the pilgrim centres of Manjanikkara and Parumala; the one century-old Maramon Christian Convention and Cherukolpuzha Hindu Convention; Thookkom vazhipadu; Padayani kolams; K.K. Nair who is regarded as the Father of Pathanamthitta; Justice Fatima Beevi from Pathanamthitta town who became the first woman judge at the Supreme Court of India; Shaktibhadran, the Sanskrit scholar; Muloor S. Padmanabha Panicker, the satirist and social reformer; the majestic Palliyodams (snakeboats) of Aranmula; and the centuries-old Sree Parthasarathy Temple on the banks of the Pampa are all the major themes of this unique art gallery.
Valued at Rs.30 lakh
The Minister said the 300-ft-long, four-ft-wide piece of art could be the largest wall painting in the State. The administration had to spend only the cost of the paints and other materials for completing the gallery. The paintings were valued at Rs.30 lakh, the Collector said.
