Kerala-style murals to adorn Rajghat

The Gandhi Smriti at the Rajghat in New Delhi will soon have three imposing Kerala-style murals depicting dramatic moments from the Mahatma's life.

Three pieces of mural paintings are getting finishing touches at the state-run Vasthu Vidya Gurukulam at Aranumula in Pathanamthita district.

The first three of the 12-piece series comprise the Mahatma's portrait, his historic Dandi march and Gandhi and Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan looking at a prosperous Bharatvarsha where people live in perfect harmony.

The paintings by Suresh Muthukulam are carried out strictly adhering to traditional mural technique, used to decorate the temple walls of Kerala for centuries.

Each work is of 6x4 feet dimension on lime-coated asbestos slab, using natural colours extracted out of leaves and mixed with finely pounded stones. They will be handed over to the Gandhi Smriti Darsan Samiti, for placing them at the gallery attached to the Rajghat.

It was former president KR Narayanan who inspired the Gurukulam to work on the series. "When he became President, we presented to Narayanan a mural portrait. Appreciating the work he suggested the idea of mural on Gandhi's life and work.

"We instantly agreed and offered to have a few pieces done to decorate the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Narayanan, however, said it would be more ideal to have them exhibited in a place where more people could enjoy them," the Gurukulam executive director PN Suresh said.

A project to execute the work was then drawn up and submitted to the Gandhi Smriti Sarshan Samiti, with an album of illustrations, Suresh said.

"We are trying to depict various facets of Gandhi's personality - as prime-mover of the freedom movement, apostle of peace and non-violence and above all his deep compassion and concern for humanity," Suresh said. One of the pieces in the series, for instance, would be Gandhi with leprosy sufferers.

Though other historic personalities and close followers of Gandhi also figured in the series, the focus would be on Gandhi with others submerging in the background, Suresh said.

The mural version of Jesus Christ, 'Last Supper,' executed as a present to the Pope by the Gurukulam, was expected to be handed over to the Vatican mission in Delhi during the Christmas week, he added.