Traditional Painting Gallery

Kerala has a rich legacy of mural paintings. It has developed a unique style in both drawing and painting of murals. Our popular imaginations were full of images of these mural narratives.

Mural paintings were generally done on the walls of temples. The walls of Sreekovil and
Gopuram are the places were paintings are drawn. The wood carvings and paintings on temple walls give a balanced incorporation of Kerala architecture and decorative art.

Kerala mural painting is done in five colours, i.e. yellow, red, green, black and white. White is the wall itself and the other colours are prepared from stones and leaves. On specially prepared wall, the picture is drawn first in lines and then filled with colours.

The human figures in the Mural Paintings are generally stylistic. Most of the human forms have stylized facial expressions and gestures whose origin can be traced back to the theatrical elements in Koodiyattam and Kathakali. Wide opened round eyes, elongated painted lips, beautifully exaggerated eye-brows, stylized body postures, thick ornamentation etc. come from classical theatres of Kerala.

For connoisseurs of art, Blackberry Hills has a good collection of paintings done on wood, canvas, leather and terracotta by some of the very famous Mural artists of Kerala. All the cottages have a few of these paintings. Also our reception foyer and restaurant display a few. You may simply admire them or buy.