About the Archive
Preserving Kerala’s sacred visual heritage through documentation and open access. Launched in 2026 as an independent digital humanities research initiative, this archive systematically integrates high-resolution fieldwork photography and standardized metadata curation to create a sustainable, query-able resource for Kerala’s sacred visual heritage.
The Origin
The Kerala Mural Archive began with a face.
During a visit to a temple I had known since childhood, I noticed that the face of a goddess painted on the wall had been damaged — not by time or damp, but deliberately. That moment clarified something that years of looking had only suggested: these murals were not safe, and no one was systematically recording what existed before it was gone.
What began as a personal response to that loss became a doctoral research project at the Indian Institute of Technology, Jodhpur. What began as a research project became this archive.
What the Archive Does
The Kerala Mural Archive is a systematic documentation of mural paintings across Kerala’s temple and palace sites. Each entry contains high-resolution field photography, site history, iconographic analysis, conservation status, artist attribution where known, and scholarly references.
The archive is designed to support multiple kinds of use — comparative research across sites and periods, classroom study, iconographic reference, and conservation monitoring. It is organised by location, deity, narrative theme, and visual features, with ongoing additions as fieldwork continues.
What the Archive Is Not
This is not a comprehensive survey. Kerala’s mural tradition spans twelve centuries and hundreds of sites — many inaccessible, many damaged beyond documentation, many still undiscovered. What the archive holds is a fraction of what once existed, documented with care and with full acknowledgement of its limits.
It is also not a substitute for the murals themselves. These paintings exist in specific spaces, in specific light, in specific ritual contexts. No photograph fully captures what it means to stand before them. The archive is an invitation to look more closely — and wherever possible, to look in person.
Balarama mural in damaged condition, Kadavil Thrikkovil Temple, Thrippunithura.
This mural at the Kadavil Thrikkovil Sree Krishnaswamy Temple at Thrippunithura displays prominent signs of deterioration, common to most murals and paintings exposed to Kerala’s climatic conditions and sensitive use and maintenance of organic pigmentation. As is clear from the images captured during fieldwork conducted in 2026, there are prominent signs of deterioration like flaking plastering over the face and claws, and cracks on the surface where the legendary scene of Vishnu’s emanation as the man-lion has been spontaneously painted. These murals have been significant targets for preservation and protection amidst Kerala’s climatic conditions, which have an adverse impact on both these sacred murals and paintings and organic pigmentation used for them.
