Chitramathil(Wall of Cement Murals)

Chitramathil - An Ambitious Project

Once an unwanted and neglected compound wall, spitted on by passers by,used it as a back support for rest, Sabrimala pilgrims doing morning routine near it, it was a cynosure to all eyes. Now an eye-catching attraction, this 1200 ft.long and 5 ft. tall Wall is Unique in many respects. Chitramathil or the Wall of Cement Murals as it is named is a master piece creation of artist K.K.Suresh. Situated in the heart of Kalady, a small hamlet Ernakulam District of Kerala, India and also the birth place of Jagadguru Adi Sankaracharya, is the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit. The University has a unique compound wall around its campus. It is 1200x 5 ft. long . Done in cement murals depicting various themes from Hindu Mythology and Puranas are depicted on the Wall.
Chitramathi at a glance:
1. The Wall is divided into 120 units of 10ft. each.
2. Selected Scenes from Indian Puranas and Mythology are depicted on the wall- Scenes from the life histroyy of Adi Sankara(24 units-240 ft.), 108 karnas from Bharatha Munni's Natyasashtra(60 units-600ft.), Scenes from Kalidasas' Sakuntala(5 units-50ft.), Meghasandesha(5 units-50ft.), , story of Vyasa(18 units-180 ft.), Ma Nishada(1 unit-10 ft.) etc are depicted on the Wall.
3 The Chitramathil is the endeavour of a single artist- K.K.Suresh. Done by him within 66 days.
4. It receeived an entry in the Limca Book of Records (ref. Pg.93) for being the longest Mural Wall.
The Objective of Chitramathil is to create an understanding about the rich Indian Culture and Tradition. It is a magnificient example that 'pictures speak better than words'.

A profile of the artist:

BIO-DATA OF K.K.SURESH


NAME : K.K.SURESH
DATE OF BIRTH : 20-4-1962

DESIGNATION : LECTURER IN MURAL
PAINTING.

DEPARTMENT : DEPARTMENT OF PAINTING , SREE SANKARACHARYA
UNIVERSITY OF SANSKRIT,
KALADY, ERNAKULAM,
KERALA-683574.

ART EDUCATION : POST DIPLOMA IN
DRAWING &PAINTING,
GOVT. FINE ARTS COLLEGE,
THRISSUR.

: TRADITIONAL SCHOLAR
IN MURAL PAINTING.

EXPERIENCE IN TEACHING : INSTRUCTOR IN MURAL PAINTING AT GURUVAYOOR DEVASWOM MURAL PAINTING INSTITUTE ,GURUVAYOOR.

AWARDS : HIGHLY COMMENDABLE
CERTIFICATE IN THE 16TH
STATE EXHIBITION OF ART,
1984.
(KERALA LALITHA KALA ACADEMY).

: GOLD MEDAL IN INTER-
NATIONAL EXHIBITION
OF ART HELD AS PART
OF ‘AMRITVARSHINI-50’
CELEBRATIONS HELD AT
KOCHI IN THE YEAR 2003.

HONOURED BY : ‘BHARATHAM’ A CULTURAL
ORGANISATION BASED AT
THRISSUR, KERALA.

ADDRESS : KOLANGARAPARAMBIL(H),
VELUR, KIRALOOR.P.O.
THRISSUR DISTRICT, KERALA
S.INDIA-680601.
E-mail: artistsuresh_k_k@
rediffmail.com,
artistkks@hotmail.com.
Ph :04885 285565.


PROJECTS AND OTHER CREATIVE WORKS:


CEMENT MURALS :

CHITRAMATHIL(1200x5FT) : THIS 1200x5FT LONG
CEMENT MURAL WALL
IS DONE AROUND THE
CAMPUS OF SREE
SANKARACHARYA UNIVERSITY OF SANSKRIT, KALADY,
KERALA .IT DEPICTS VARIOUS THEMES
FROM INDIAN PURANAS
AND MYTHOLOGY.
SELECTED SCENES FROM
LIFE HISTORY OF ADI
SANKARA, 108 KARNAS
FROM BHARATMUNNI’S
NATYASASHTRA, SCENES FROM KALIDAS’ SAKUNTHALAM, MEGHA SANDESA ETC. ARE DEPICTED. IT IS THE LONGEST CEMENT MURAL WALL IN THE WORLD.

MURALS ON THE WALL OF
RISHIMANGLAM TEMPLE,
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM (500x5FT) : IT IS DONE ON THE CHUTTAMBALAM
OF THE TEMPLLE AND
DEPICTS VARIOUS THEMES FROM THE
PURANAS.

MURAL AT CHENGAL BHAGAVATHY
TEMPLE, CHENGAL, KALADY (70FT) : IT IS DONE ON THE
OUTER WALL OF THE TEMPLE AND THE STORY RELATED TO THE ORIGIN OF THE TEMPLE.

MURAL AT THUNJAN PARAMBU,
THUNJAN MADOM, THIRUR. : THE THEME IS
BASED ON RAMAYANA.

MURAL PAINTINGS:

SRI SANKARA CHARITAM (16FT) : IT IS WORKED AT
SREE SANRACHARYA
UNIVERSITY OF SANSKRIT, KALADY.


SRI SANKARA CHARITHAM (270FT) : IT IS WORKED AT SRI SANKARA
JANMABHOOMI KSHETRA, KALADY.

MURAL PAINTING : ON THE
SREEKOVIL OF SREE KARTHYANI
TEMPLE, AYYANTHOLE.

MURAL PAINTING : IT IS DONE AT
NARAYANALAYAM,
GURUVAYOOR.


SANGEETHA SADAS (52x4FT) : MURAL PAINTING AT
MUSCAT
HOTEL (AN UNDERTAKING OF KTDC, GOVT.OF KERALA). IT DEPICTS THE CULTURAL LIFE AT THE COURT OF HIS
HIGHNESS MAHARAJA SWATI TIRUNAL.

MURAL WORK (24 FT.) : DONE AT THE
BRANCH OFFICE OF
BANK OF INDIA,
GURUVAYOOR.

MURAL WORK (48 FT.) : DONE AT THE
BRANCH OFFICE OF
BANK OF INDIA,
CALICUT.

MURAL WORK (48 FT.) : DONE AT THE OFFICE
OF INFO PARK,
KAKKANAD, KOCHI.

MURAL WORK : DONE AT ‘GURU
KRIPA’
AYURVEDIC
TREATMENT
CENTRE (THRISSUR),
A BRANCH
OF COMIBATORE
AYURVEDIC
PHARMACY.

MURAL WORK (40 FT.) : DONE AT THE
OFFICE
OF BANK OF INDIA,
OTTAPALAM.

MURAL WORK (65 FT.) : DONE AT THE
OFFICE
OF BANK OF INDIA,
CHELAKKARA,
THRISSUR.

MURAL WORK(24FT.) : DONE AT THE
ALANGAD BRANCH
OF BOI, ALUVA.

MURAL WORK (80 FT) : DONE AT THE
UDYOGMANDAL
BRANCH OF BOI,
KOCHI.
OIL PAINTINGS:

WORLD PEACE (83x4FT) : THE CREATIVE
WORK STARTS WITH
THE ORIGIN OF LIFE AND EXPLAINS THE MISERIES OF WAR. THE PAINTING ENDS WITH THE MESSAGE OF HARMONIOUS LIFE ON EARTH.

MAHAPRASTHANAM (107x4FT) : THE LIFE HISTORY
OF SRI BUDDHA
AND HIS PREACHINGS ARE NARRATED THROUGH IT.

SAUNDARYALAHARI (116x4FT) : THE
SAUNDARYALAHARI OF ADI
SANKARA IS DEPICTED THROUGH THIS PAINTING. IT IS DONE IN TWO PARTS. THE 1ST PART ILLUSTRATES THE TANTRIC SLOKAS IN 25 PAINTINGS. THE 2nd PART EXPLAINS THE SPIRITUAL WORKS IN BLACK & WHITE.


RUKMINISWAYAMAVARAM (100x4FT): THE ROMANTIC LIFE
OF SRIKRISHNA AND
RUKMINI ARE DEPICTED THROUGH IT.

KUMARASAMBHAVAM (100x4FT): THE FAMOUS WORK OF KALIDASA IS
PICTURISED THROUGH THIS PAINTING.

SANTHIYATNAM(16x10FT) : THIS PAINTING
PAVES LIGHT INTO THE
HARDSHIPS AND SUFFERINGS CAUSED BY WAR. THE MESSAGE IS TOTAL ELIMINATION OF WAR AND PEACEFUL HARMONIOUS LIFE ON EARTH.

MANASPOOJA : THIS FAMOUS
PAINTING
ILLUSTRATES THE
STORY OF BALAKRISHNA.


MOUNAMUDRAKAL : IT IS A COLLECTION
OF PAINTINGS BASED
ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS.

KANALUKAL (100x4FT) : IT IS A BLACK
& WHITE PAINTING
BASED ON THE
INDIAN INDEPENDENCE MOVEMENT.

RANDAMOOZHAM : THIS IS A
COLLECTION OF
PAINTINGS
BASED ON THE NOVEL ‘RANDAMMOOZHAMBY JNANPITH AWARD WINNER SRI M .T. VASUDEVAN NAIR.

YAYATHI (5000x4FT) : THIS PAINTING IS
BASED ON AN EMINENT
CHARACTER FROM THE PURANAS.

NARAYANEEYAM (1200x4FT) : THIS DRAWING IS
BASED ON THE
SANSKRIT LITERARY WORK ‘SREEMAD
NARAYANEEYAM ‘, A CONDENSED VERSION
OF SREEMAD BHAGAVATAM BY
NARAYANA BHATTAPADER.

CLOTH SCULPTURE (118 FT.HIGH) : AN 118 FT. HIGH
CLOTH SCULPTURE
DESIGNED BY THE ARTIST WAS CONSTRUCTED AT
ADI SANKARA JANMABHUMI KSHETRA, KALADY ON THE OCCASION OF 1217TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF JAGADGURU ADI SANKARACHARYA.

OTHER PARTICULARS:


ART CONSULTANT : OF KALADY AREA
DEVELOPMENT
AUTHORITY (KADA).

PRESENTED MURAL WORK : TO SRI A.P.J.ABDUL
KALAM ON HIS
VISIT TO KALADY
ON 29TH JULY 2005.

LIMCA BOOK OF RECORD : RECEIVED TWO ENTRIES
IN THE LIMCA BOOK OF
RECORD 2006. ONE FOR
LONGEST OUTDOORS
CEMENT MURAL WALL
(PG.93), FOR TALLEST
CLOTH SCULPTURE
(PG.96)


EXHIBITIONS : ONE MAN SHOW
CONDUCTED AT
PALM
BEACH HOTEL, ABU DHABI IN APRIL 2003.

: ONE MAN SHOW CONDUCTED AT ASHOKA HOTEL, DELHI IN JUNE 2004.

: ONE MAN SHOW HELD AT
KUALA LUMPUR AND MALACCA IN DEC 2004.

: ONE MAN SHOW HELD AT
HOLIDAY INN, KING CROSS ROAD, LONDON,
IN NOV.2005.