Institute of Mural Painting

About the Institute

The Institute of Mural Painting was founded by the Guruvayur Devaswom in 1989, at a time when Kerala's classical mural tradition — once seen across temple and palace walls from Padmanabhapuram to Pundarikapuram — was on the verge of dying out. Only a handful of senior masters were still actively painting. The Devaswom\'s board, advised by scholar M. G. Sasibhooshan and the late mural maestro Mammiyoor Krishnankutty Nair, set up a full-fledged residential school just metres from the temple\'s east entrance. Three decades later the institute is widely credited with single-handedly reviving Kerala mural painting as a living, growing art form.

For visitors, the institute is far more than a gallery. Walk in during working hours and you will see students bent over wooden panels and prepared canvases, drawing impossibly fine outlines with brushes made from squirrel hair, sketching deities in the meditative dhyana-sloka postures, and applying the strictly limited five-pigment palette: red (kashayam), yellow (manayola), green (eravikkara), black (charcoal) and white (lime). Master teachers move quietly between desks, correcting a line here, suggesting a colour shift there.

What you can see

• Working studios where the diploma students learn iconography, pigment preparation and wall-priming.
• The permanent gallery displaying finished murals by faculty and senior alumni — Krishna Leela panels, Anantha Sayanam, Sri Rama Pattabhishekam and more.
• The archive room with reference photographs and tracings of mural panels from Mattancherry Palace, Padmanabhapuram and Triprayar.
• A small shop selling student work, prints and the institute\'s own book on Kerala mural technique.

The five-pigment palette

Unlike the Mughal miniature or Pahari schools, Kerala murals deliberately restrict themselves to five natural pigments — and the discipline this imposes is precisely what gives Kerala murals their unmistakable luminous quality. The pigments are still hand-ground at the institute from geru (red ochre), manayola (yellow ochre), neelam (a green made by mixing yellow with indigo), lamp-black and slaked lime. Binding medium is the sap of the marotti tree mixed with coconut water. Watching a student grind pigment for an hour to produce just enough red to paint a single Krishna garment is, in itself, an unforgettable lesson in patience.

Courses & workshops

The flagship five-year Diploma in Mural Painting is divided into a two-year foundation and a three-year specialisation. Admission is once a year through an entrance test (typically in May), open to candidates who have completed Plus Two (Class 12) with an aptitude for drawing. For visitors and overseas enthusiasts who want a taste, the institute offers short workshops ranging from two weeks to three months, often used by students from JNU, MS University Baroda, NID Ahmedabad and several European art schools. Workshop fees as of 2026 start at around ₹15,000 for a two-week module plus materials.

How to reach

• On foot from Guruvayur Temple — 5 minutes from East Nada. Ask anyone for the "Chitrasala" or "Mural Institute".
• Auto-rickshaw — ₹40-₹60 from West Nada or the Bus Stand.
• By car — Limited street parking on East Nada. Devaswom parking lot is a five-minute walk.
• By train — Guruvayur Railway Station is 1.5 km away. From Kochi Airport the institute is 90 km via NH-66.

Tips for a meaningful visit

• Time it right — Visit between 10:30 AM and 12:30 PM or 2:00 PM and 4:00 PM, when classes are in session and you can see actual painting happening.
• Be silent — Students are concentrating. Whisper if you must talk.
• Ask before photographing artists — Most are happy to be photographed working but please ask first.
• Allow at least an hour — A rushed 10-minute walk-through misses the point. The gallery alone deserves 30 minutes.
• Buy a painting — Even a small ₹3,000 Krishna-Radha panel directly supports a student artist and brings home an authentic Guruvayur souvenir.