Sri Vedaranyeswarar Temple, Vedaranyam, Sri Parijathavaneswarar Temple, Thirukalar, Sri Rajagopalaswamy Temple, Mannargudi - Paintings and Drawings on the Walls,

25^th September 2017.

During our Heritage Visit to Chozha period Temples, we had seen some very old  paintings  done on  the walls and ceilings. Some of the paintings belongs to Vijayanagara and some are latter periods. Most of the temple mandapams and corridors  were constructed during Nayak period.

VEDARANYAM – SRI VEDARANYESWARAR TEMPLE

These paintings are drawn on the walls of the prakaram. It was told that the granite walls are plastered with lime mortar and  painted before the surface gets dried. These painting are very much similar to Thanjavur Periya kovil praharam walls. The materials may be of natural dye. The story of the Nayanmars are painted on the north side of the praharam wall. Also some of the paintings are done on the sanctum walls. ( The sanctum wall painting are covered with glass for protections, which was not done during my earlier visit. ) These paintings may belongs to Nayak’s period.
  

THIRUKALAR – SRI PARIJATHAVANESWARAR TEMPLE

The various forms of Lord Shiva were  painted on the lintel beams of the front mandapam.

  

MANNARGUDI – SRI RAJAGOPALASWAMY TEMPLE,

Paintings with frames  of Ramayana epic and 10 avatars of Vishnu are  hanged  on the  6^th and 7^th prakaram walls. These painting may be of 20^th century.  Also Vishnu’s 24 forms are painted on the entrance ceiling of a mandapam. The ceiling paintings are much more difficult to draw compared to wall paintings. The material used for these paintings may be of chemical.

---OM SHIVAYA NAMA---