An ardent devotee of Lord Krishna and a resident of Guruvayur, Mr. Vinod is an artist with a restless mind, one that is constantly seeking to experiment with different styles. The inspiration that he receives from the temple and his knowledge of the Vedas has led him to come up with many ways to portray the conventional creative art of painting. This splendid ability and the Lord’s blessings have earned him an indelible position in the world of art. Mr. Narayana Moorthy, Assistant Editor, Kerala Tourism Magazine spoke to Mr. Vinod about his experiences and experiments in the world of art.
Mr. Vinod was born in the village of Kidangoor in Thrissur district. His father was a Vedic teacher in the Sudha Vedanta School. He entered the colourful world of painting through Kalamezhuthu (drawings done as a part of temple ritual). He learned the Vaishnavite style of art of Malabar, Saktheya style of Central Travancore and Shaivite style of Travancore and created his own position in the art of Kalamezhuthu. Right from a young age, he worked on creating his own style in painting by doing sketches of ancient mythological stories with the assistance of the Natyashastra and the Vedas.
His ability to incorporate his knowledge in Tantric philosophy with the art of painting endowed Vinod’s paintings with a deep meaning.
“I developed a passion for reading when I was very young and this helped develop my skills in painting,” said Mr. Vinod.
A journey into the Advaita Philosophy of Adi Sankara and his constant contact with Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati has driven Vinod to try out different styles of art. To Mr. Vinod, the days he spent with Guru Nitya Chaitanya Yati at Fern Hill were very meaningful. His vision of painting is that while portraying a picture of a lotus, he realises that he is not drawing the lotus but the picture of a lotus.
“I was able to give a new connotation to the pictures of gods and goddesses by adopting this style of painting”, he explained. “One can create new styles of painting only by total dedication to the art”, he added.
Mr. Vinod was also a student of Guru Krishan Kutty Asan. According to him, his whole life merged with the world of art when he was with him and it was this that brought about a change in his concept about painting.
“Art is the completion of Karma through which one can attain moksha”, said Mr. Vinod. The art of Indian painting should not become an imitation of Raja Ravi Varma’s style, he said. The initiatives taken by veterans like
Mr. K.C.S. Panikkar to give Indian paintings a Dravidian touch also helped artists like Mr. Vinod to experiment in this field. He accepted a style that incorporates the styles of various regions while retaining the ancient Gothra style of painting. However, tt is quite natural that while creating a painting based on the principles of the three sciences Veda, Agama and Tantric principle, it became contradictory to the existing establishment. His youthful energy combined with condescension for commercialising art, pushed the artist into opposing the existing styles of painting. Mr. Vinod feels that modern paintings are a product of British School and that we need to develop our own traditional methods.
Mr. Vinod was invited for the work of restoring the mural paintings in the Madurai Meenakshi Temple. The work stopped, but is expected to resumessoon. Mr. Vinod said he would then dedicate his mind and soul to Goddess Madurai Meenakshi and not take on any other projects for the next ten years.