Kerala Mural Paintings
Goddess Attukal Devi -the mural picture
The four-armed goddess, ringed by a flowered prabhavali
Story
The goddess Attukal Devi stands frontally, no turn of the head, no narrative action, only presence. Her arms fan outward in symmetrical pairs, each holding various weapons of creation and destruction
Behind her rises the prabhavali, the arch of glory:
Symbolism
- Lamps
- Knowledge dispelling ignorance; the living flame of the sanctum
- Prabhavali arch
- The aura of the deity given architectural shape
- Offerings at the base
- Flowers, fruits and bell and vessels for offering the pooja
Artistic Technique
- Warm ochre range with green reserved for the arch fringe and garments
- Fine stipple to model faces and limbs; no blending
- Spirals and flower motifs of the ground drawn freehand, never stamped
