3 months ago
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Layer by furniture and colour by colour, the past murals of Ettumanur Mahadeva Temple person yet stepped retired of the shadows of time, brought backmost to beingness by a year-long conservation effort.
The conservation works were undertaken successful accordance with an statement betwixt the president of the Travancore Devaswom Board and the enforcement manager of the Vasthuvidya Gurukulam, Aranmula. The task was carried retired by mural artists nether the enactment of Kadammanitta Sreekuttan, assisted by Mannadi Abhilash Kumar and Aranmula Jayakrishnan. The works were executed nether the supervision of Velayudhan Nair, erstwhile Director of the National Research Laboratory for Conservation of Cultural Property.
The murals, adorning the interior and outer walls of the temple operation connected the confederate and bluish sides of the gateway, are believed to day backmost to 16th period and had erstwhile drawn planetary attraction done the writings of European creation professional Stella Kramrisch. Over the years, however, neglect had dulled their colours and near them susceptible to vandalism and harm during repair works astatine the temple.
“In the archetypal phase, conservation efforts focussed connected the Ananthasayanam mural connected the interior partition beside the entrance, which covers an country of 142 sq ft. Other murals restored see Vetta Sastha Aghoramurthy, Vasthraparanam, Venugopalam, the duplicate Dwarapalakas and Veeralippattu. Together, they span 425 sq ft, with the conservation completed successful six phases,’’ explained an official.
The process began with elaborate graphical documentation by the Vasthuvidya Gurukulam, with each conception of the murals recorded done photographs and videos. In the 2nd phase, cobwebs and layers of particulate connected the murals and their surroundings were removed. The 3rd signifier progressive chemic attraction to destruct biologic residues, soot, grease, and lipid stains, successful adherence to the guidelines of the Archaeological Survey of India. During the 4th phase, extraneous materials were removed without causing immoderate harm to the paintings.
In the 5th phase, weakened lime plaster astir the murals was cautiously removed and reinforced utilizing freshly prepared lime mortar. The sixth signifier progressive further chemic cleaning and enhancement, followed by a last signifier successful which earthy pigments were applied lone wherever perfectly necessary.
A ceremonial dedication of the restored murals was held connected Tuesday, with Cooperation Minister V.N. Vasavan officiating the function. District Collector Chetan Kumar Meena and others were present.
