Reverent Wall Art

Reverent — 35 museum-grade prints that set the mood. Ardhanareeswara — the half-Shiva, half-Parvati form — embodies the inseparability of the masculine and feminine principles, and it is a natural subject for bhitti chitra, Kerala's temple-mural tradition that flourished roughly from the 16th to 19th century and is still painted today. These murals use the panchavarna five-colour system — red, yellow, green, black and white over an ochre ground — in flat opaque fields bounded by a bold lamp-black outline, with the school's elongated lotus-shaped eyes. Ayyappa, also called Sastha or Dharmasastha, is the deity of Sabarimala, one of the most visited pilgrimage shrines in India, reached after a strict forty-one-day vratham. He is classically shown in the seated yogic posture with the yoga-pattam band around the knees, and his vahana is the tiger. Bhadrakali — the fierce form of the Goddess born to slay the demon Darika — is the presiding deity of countless Bhagavati kavus across Kerala, and her myth is enacted in temple rituals and in Mudiyettu, a ritual theatre recognised by UNESCO. In bhitti chitra, Kerala's temple-mural tradition (flourishing roughly 16th–19th century and still painted today), she is shown red-bodied with a flame crown, protruding tongue and skull garland.

Updated 22 Jun 2026