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PAINTINGS

Murals on temple walls and ceilings
Panchanadeeswarar temple - Thiruvarur, Tamilnadu

Photos: Lalitha Venkat

September 2007




Murals on temple walls and ceilings
Panchanadeeswarar temple - Thiruvarur, Tamilnadu
Photo: Lalitha Venkat
Murals on temple walls and ceilings
Panchanadeeswarar temple - Thiruvarur, Tamilnadu
Photo: Lalitha Venkat
Murals on temple walls and ceilings
Panchanadeeswarar temple - Thiruvarur, Tamilnadu
Photo: Lalitha Venkat
Murals on temple walls and ceilings
Panchanadeeswarar temple - Thiruvarur, Tamilnadu
Photo: Lalitha Venkat
Murals on temple walls and ceilings
Panchanadeeswarar temple - Thiruvarur, Tamilnadu
Photo: Lalitha Venkat
Murals on temple walls and ceilings
Panchanadeeswarar temple - Thiruvarur, Tamilnadu
Photo: Lalitha Venkat
Murals on temple walls and ceilings
Panchanadeeswarar temple - Thiruvarur, Tamilnadu
Photo: Lalitha Venkat
Murals on temple walls and ceilings
Panchanadeeswarar temple - Thiruvarur, Tamilnadu
Photo: Lalitha Venkat
Murals on temple walls and ceilings
Panchanadeeswarar temple - Thiruvarur, Tamilnadu
Photo: Lalitha Venkat
Murals on temple walls and ceilings
Panchanadeeswarar temple - Thiruvarur, Tamilnadu
Photo: Lalitha Venkat




One of the best displays of murals is the Chitrasabha or the hall of pictures. As the name Chitrasabha suggests, the very structure is a house of paintings. The Chitrasabha is a stand alone structure, that is located a few blocks away from the Kutralanathar temple at Kutralam in southern Tamilnadu.  It is a wooden structure , every inch of whose walls are lined with murals depicting scenes from the epics. From the outside, the Chitrasabha resembles mandapams seen in Keralite temples. The Chitrasabha or the hall of pictures is used for worship only during Margazhi Tiruvadirai where an image of Nataraja is brought into the sabha. Chitrasabha is considered to be one of the 5 sabhas, or the Cosmic Dance Halls of Shiva Nataraja in the southern state of Tamilnadu.
- Temple Murals, templenet.com