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So Ravi Varma wasn't all western
Art histories have depicted Raja Ravi Varma, the world renowned painter as having been influenced solely by the classical European tradition of portraits and drawings. But the recent findings of a documentary film team suggest that mural paintings of Kerala may have had an impact on his style.
For instance, some of the murals depict female figures clad in saris, which was also how Ravi Varma portrayed his divine characters. These murals are at the royal temple of the Kilimanoor Palace near Thiruvananthapuram-the palace WHERE Ravi Varmawas born and lived till his youth. For R. Sarath, who directed Painted Epics for the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts, it wasconfirmation of his research findings.
Sarath sensed some similarities between Ravi Varma's works and the rich mural tradition of Kerala, but art history books had no information on this. A visit to the Kilimanoor palace only strengthened his belief. He learned from a family member, C.R. Kerala Varma, a Sanskrit expert, that as a teenager Ravi Varma to work on murals in the palace temple.
According to art historian P. Ravikumar, some of the written records show that Raja Raja Varma had encouraged his nephew to com plete some of his portraits. Perhaps establishing Ravi Varma's director association with the mural paintings.
It was after much reluctance that the royal family agreed to permit shooting inside the family temple where entry is strictly restricted to royal family members and Brahmins. Paintings like 'Parvatiparinayam', 'Sakthipanchakshari' and 'Lava and Kusha' show similarity to Ravi Varma's works. The sari-clad female figures reminded one of Ravi Varma's paintings.
As conclusively proved, it will certainly deal a death blow to the age-old method of viewing Ravi Varma through the classical western style. |
