Mural artist Manoj Mathasseril is painting a series of characters from The Ramayana. Starting July 17, the beginning of the Malayalam month of Karkkadakam, he has painted a character each, including Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharatha, Shatrugna, Dasaratha, Kausalya, Kaikeyi, Sumitra, Hanuman, Jambavan, Manthara and Ravana. 

The series would continue till August 16, the end of Karkkadakam, says the artist.

Executed in watercolour, the 10x14 cm canvases reflect Manoj’s distinctive style. The colour palette is warm and bold with varying tones depicting the peculiarities and nature of each character.

Manoj approaches water colour differently, breaking conventional methods of painting. He experiments with the opacity of colour. “I don’t exactly plan how each of these paintings should be. They evolve based on the character,” he says. He has kept the portraits simple – consciously avoiding an ornate persona for the characters. “They are kings and queens, princes and demons, alright. But I have drawn them as ordinary human beings. Because I believe The Ramayana is closer to life – the situations, the failings and triumphs of human beings…,” he adds. The facial expressions of the characters also convey their predicaments, says Manoj. “For instance, I have painted Rama and Sita with a look of helplessness, Kaikeyi with a hint of cruelty and Kausalya with a touch of grief.”  

Though he has relied on the descriptions of the characters given in the text, he has interpreted them creatively. For instance, Manthara, Kaikeyi’s maid, who influences Kaikeyi to demand Rama’s exile, is an elderly woman with a hunch. “While the rest of the paintings are all faces, here, I had to include the hunch as it is an important detail in Manthara’s characterisation,” he adds.

It is not just the human forms that find a place in Manoj’s series. The animals and birds that play important parts in the epic narrative, such as Jatayu the king of vultures who fought valiantly to save Sita from Ravana’s clutches, Mareechan, a demon in the disguise of a beautiful golden deer, Jambavan, the king of bears, who was also a mentor to Hanuman, then Hanuman himself, mighty and devoted to Lord Rama, all appear in the series. “There are easily over 50 characters that can be painted from The Ramayana,” says Manoj.

Manoj is also a cartoonist and illustrator and art educator, who has his eponymous studio in Kochi. He has been part of mural restoration projects as well.

He plans to organise an exhibition of the series once they are complete.

Published - July 31, 2026 11:15 pm IST