ARDHANAREESWARAN

 Ardhanareeswaran   mural  painting haas been done  on a canvas board. It depicts the composite, half-male and half- female form of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati  (Shakti ) in the classical Indian Mural tradition. it shows the unity of Siva and Shakti. The picture shows Shiva on the right half and Parvati on the left half, split vertically down the middle.   The eyes are the classical lotus-petal shape with a high-set pupil; the urdhva-pundra tilak runs white and red up the forehead; a pearl ring sits at the nostril of Parvati and a smile just barely breaks the lips. Behind the shoulder of Shiva on the  left side , a cobra's hood and a fringed cloth edge slip at the margin, are seen .

 To the right a curling stem of leaves and a pink lotus grows into the empty ground, and a small square mural motif is placed in the upper corner like a seal.

The bare vermilion is not unfinished space. In Kerala mural convention that ground is the sanctum itself — warmth, heat and sacredness — and leaving it open here lets the ornament glow the way it would on a lamplit  wall.