The rich art heritage we have inherited from our illustrious ancestors is so extraordinary that a few dedicated lifetimes are needed to do a thorough reconnaissance of our art heritage. In stark contrast the scant respect that agencies as well as the common people have; barring a miniscule percent, is contemptible.

Each state in India has such an extraordinary variety of art forms. The state of Karnataka too has done itself proud in fine arts as in the other fields. Well known   handicrafts such as Sandalwood carvings, Ivory carvings, inlay work, Bidari work, extraordinary murals as seen in the caves of Badami, the Mysore school of painting called gesso work along with lesser or almost unknown works like chittara from North Kanara (very similar to Warli art), Kinhala art from Raichur district and  Kaavi from Dakshina kannada. The list will get longer if I add the village and folk arts to this. In this paper I would like to introduce to the reader the very interesting art form called Kaavi. Kaavi is a local name for Indian red mud (hurimunju) which is the only colour used in this art form.

 Kaavi Kale is an elaborate form of wall mural etching and painting. It spread along the Konkan coast of Dakshina Kannada when the Hindus fled from Goa around 16^th century and settled in this region. Kaavi art form was depicted in the form of murals on the walls of temples and geometrical designs, as well as floral designs   in churches and some ancestral homes in Goa. In temples, this art was used to depict mythological and historical themes on the exterior walls.

The renovation of these structures; churches, temples and heritage buildings across Goa and Karnataka, and the lack of interest in retaining the paintings spelt the death knell of this art form. Then as well as now  there does not seem to be any great interest either from the directorate of archives and archaeology nor any heritage institutions taking great interest in this beautiful art and preserving  it for posterity. It is only because of the singular interest Dr Krishnanand Kamath took writing about it and his vociferous campaigning for preservation of this art in some temples in and around the cities of Kumta and Honnavra that we still have some extraordinary paintings preserved. This essay is therefore dedicated to him whose work I lean heavily on and borrow from.

Laterite- What is it?

Laterite is not uniquely identified with any particular parent rock, geologic age, single method of formation, climate per se, or geographic location. It is a rock product that is a response to a set of physiochemical conditions, which include an iron-containing parent rock, a well-drained terrain, and abundant moisture for hydrolysis during weathering, relatively high oxidation potential, and persistence of these conditions over thousands of years.

Encyclopaedia Britannica says, that laterite is a soil layer that is rich in iron oxide and derived from a wide variety of rocks weathering under strongly oxidizing and leaching conditions. It forms in tropical and subtropical regions where theclimate is humid. Lateritic soils may contain clay minerals. Typical laterite is porous and claylike. It contains the iron oxide, minerals goethite; lepidocrocite, and hematite. It also contains titanium oxides and hydrated oxides of aluminium, the most common and abundant of which is gibbsite. The aluminium-rich representative of laterite is bauxite.

Laterite surface is frequently pea like in appearance. Exposed surfaces are blackish-brown to reddish and have a, lava like appearance. Commonly lighter in colour (red, yellow, and brown) where freshly broken, it is generally soft when freshly quarried but hardens on exposure. This is a commonly used building material in the coastal areas because of its immense durability. It is popular in Goa, Karnataka, and Kerala where it rains very heavily from June to September. It is calledjambittige in Karnataka.

 Composing  Kaavi paintings.

Temples and other buildings are made from cut-out laterite stones. Locally available materials are used for plastering. Monochrome is the preferred choice because the heavy rain in this region precludes the possibility of multiple colours. The walls of a particular building whether it be a temple or a place of residence has to be prepared in a particular manner for it to act as a canvas that receives the painting. Snow white lime, obtained by burning sea-shells and clean sand from river-bed, are mixed with jaggery and allowed to ferment for two weeks. Then it is hand pounded to obtain a homogeneous mixture which gets hardened when applied to the wall and allowed to dry. Kaavi pictures are to be etched on these walls when they are still wet, as in fresco paintings.

A butter smooth mixture of lime and hurimunju (a mixture of maroon or Indian red coloured earth pigments and natural binding material) ishand pounded to get a homogenous mixtureand applied on the white base with a steel trowel to the predetermined area. After that it is and applied on the wall. Then the figures are etched with a pointed instrument, while the base is still wet. This allows correction of any mistake while drawing. Etching the red base reveals the white background which is the most striking feature of the art form. After the drawing is done it must be kept for a day and should be watered every four hours before polishing with a smooth pebble to prevent it from cracking. This should be done for a week before the mural is finally ready. This art form is monochromatic because it had to withstand the torrential rains in this region, and the humid weather. 

 To cover a larger area, a wooden float is also employed. After an hour, engraving work is commenced. A well trained Kaavi art mason etches small murals without any aid. For geometrical designs he uses scales and compass. Large and complicated motifs are first drawn on a paper, perforated with pin holes and traced to the wall by dusting with dry lime. Kantha (steel bodkins) of different sizes and dimensions are used for etching. At this stage, any deformity in the murals could be repaired with ease. After a day's initial drying, water is sprayed on the murals at an interval of four hours and continued for a week. After each spray they are polished with smooth pebbles from river beds. These treatments prevent any cracks and ensure that murals last as long as the building itself. An artistically drawn and well executed, red ochre mural, against sand-blasted white, is as attractive as multi-coloured painting.

The kaavi murals are painted on different parts of a temple such as sukanaasi, mukhamanatapa, a niche in a corner etc. They differ in size from two feet by three feet right up to six feet six feet. The top of the mural is usually semi-circular with features like gopuras, and kalashas.(fig ) There is a plethora of geometrical shapes such as a circles, semi circles, triangles and hexagons. Curved lines are much more intricate. The details are drawn and painted very meticulously. Flora and fauna of the region are amply depicted. Decorations, costumes and ornaments hold a mirror to the contemporary scenario.

These murals vary from place to place and cover the entire gamut of mythological, historical and contemporary themes. The artist had to know not just the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagvata but also the puranas and the sthalapuranas (stories connected to the locale) too. For example shows a small window of the Ramachandra temple at Honnavar with two kaavi pictures on either side. If the viewer does not know this story it will be just two nicely painted figures but like any art, appreciation happens only when there is recognition by the viewer of the viewed. The two paintings are of   Parashurama and Kartiviryarjuna, a Kshatriya king of the land of Haiyhayas.

The story goes that, King Kartiviryarjuna of the Haihaya came upon the hermitage of Jamadagni. The visit happened at a time Parashurama was away in the forest gathering yagnya, and although the king had a massive entourage, the saptarishi was able to serve the king a grand feast. When Kartavirya asked how he was able to do so, Jamadagni showed him a blessed Kamadhenu calf, given to Jamadagni by Indra, which was able to grant wishes. Kartavirya was covetous and wanted the calf as his own. The rishi refused, and Kartavirya stole the sacred animal.

Returning home, Parashurama was infuriated and travelled to the royal palace. Brandishing his axe, he decimated its guards and killed the mighty King Kartavirya, retrieving the calf. When he returned home, his father was pleased, but seeing the blood stained axe of Parashurama, also concerned. He cautioned his son he must be aware of wrath and pride. Parashurama accepted the reprimand of his father, and went on a pilgrimage to holy places for one year of penance.

Meanwhile, the sons of Kartavirya discovered their father at the palace and knew that only Parashurama could have killed him. In revenge, they went to the hermitage and murdered Jamadagni. They surrounded the rishi and shot him to death with arrows like a stag. Afterwards, they decapitated his body and took his head with them.

 It is with this knowledge that the artist has painted these two warring figures on either side of the latticed window.

Sgraffito is a painting technique in which a surface layer is scratched to expose the colour or colours underneath. This style of painting is typically used on wall decor or ceramic works of art. Everyone from artists to home builders made use of the unique mode of artistic layering. The technique has a rich and diverse history, centred mostly in Italy and immensely popular during the 16^th century. Sgraffito's roots, however, stretch much further back than the Italian Renaissance. There is evidence of this type of work on many ancient African artifacts. The technique was often used by artists during the Art Nouveau period of the late 19^th and early 20^thcenturies, and it remains consistently popular and widely employed. The name is derived from the Italian word sgraffire, which means "to scratch." The Italian term is descended from the Greek word meaning "to write". Typically applied to paint and plaster, sgraffito can be performed on any number of surfaces. After applying the top layer, an artisan uses a simple tool — which can be anything from the handle end of a standard paintbrush to a sharp painting knife — to create a series of scratches through the exterior. The resulting cracks reveal the colours and surface of the layer concealed by the top coat.

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Dr Purnima Srikrishna trained at the Mysore University, qualifying M.A. in English literature in 1989. She was awarded a Ph.D in History, working on the Vidyashankara temple, Sringeri, in 2010 from the University of Mumbai.

She has worked as a lecturer in English at the Dr. B. M. N. college of Home Science, S.N.D.T. University, Mumbai.

She has been awarded a research grant by the Luigi and Laura Dallapiccola Foundation in the past as well as the Telang Memorial Scholarship for 2004-05 by the Asiatic Society, Mumbai.

Her main area of research is temple art, architecture and iconography. She has several presentations and publications to her credit, including:

Vidyashankara Temple and Sringeri – March 2006

-National seminar organised jointly by the Dakshinamnaya Sharada Peetham  (Sringeri) Kannada University  (Hampi) and J.C.B.M. College (Sringeri)

Art, Architecture and Philosophy of Vidyashankara Temple -January 2007

-International Conference on “South India under Vijayanagara. Recent research in art and archaeology” at Sophia College of women.

-This has now been published by Oxford University Press [2011]

Module on South Indian Temple Architecture- July 2007

-As part of the Certificate Course in Indian Art Appreciation organised by Heras Institute and L.S Raheja college of Arts and Commerce

Music and Dance under Krishnadevaraya and His Successors January 2012

Seminar on Krishnadevaraya and His Times—Cultural Perspectives at The K R Cama Oriental Institute, supported by The Ministry of Culture, Government of India.

This has been now published by the K R Cama Oriental Institute, Mumbai [2013]

Sri Rishyasringeshvara and Malahanikareshvara (The lesser known temples of Sringeri)

Published in the Research Journal of Jnana-Pravaha, Centre for Cultural Studies and Research, Varanasi.  volume no.xvii-2013-14.

'Meru' as Symbolised in the Vidyashankara temple ,Sringeri-20015.

Published in the book Art, Icon, and Architecture in South Asia, Essays in Honour of Dr Devangana Desai.