About the Archive
Documentation, Interpretation, and Open Access for Kerala's Temple Mural Tradition
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 dampness, 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.
Comparative analysis across sites and periods, iconographic reference, conservation monitoring.
Location, deity, narrative theme, and visual features — with ongoing additions as fieldwork continues.
Designed for classroom study and public engagement — no prior expertise required to begin.
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. The archive is an invitation to look more closely — and wherever possible, to look in person.
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 Field Record
Balarama Mural, Kadavil Thrikkovil Temple, Thrippunithura
This mural displays prominent signs of deterioration common to most murals exposed to Kerala's climatic conditions and sensitive to organic pigmentation. Fieldwork conducted in 2026 documented flaking plasterwork over the face and claws, and cracks across a legendary scene of Vishnu's emanation as the man-lion.
These murals are significant targets for preservation amidst Kerala's climatic conditions, which have an adverse impact on both sacred paintings and the organic pigments used to make them.
