Sri Chitra Art Gallery in Kovalam
On the coast of the Arabian Sea there is a pretty resort town of Kovalam. This former fishing village is today known as one of the most popular places for a beach holiday, and a distinctive feature of the local resorts is the abundance of Ayurvedic clinics and massage rooms. About fifteen kilometres from Kovalam is the capital of the state of Kerala — Trivandrum, with its magnificent palaces and famous temples. In the centre of the city, on an extensive park territory, spreads a museum complex, which also includes the Sri Chitra Art Gallery.
The Kovalam resort
The first Europeans appeared in the poor fishing village in the thirties of the last century, but hotels here began to be built only in the sixties, when the magnificent sandy beaches were favoured by hippies. Now it is one of the most «Europeanised» places in India.
The hotel staff, souvenir shop assistants, restaurant and café owners and even some itinerant traders can make themselves understood to visitors in passable English. The catering establishments are oriented towards cuisine familiar to Western people, but traditional local dishes can always be found in them too.
On the beaches there are plenty of beggars and petty thieves. Locals are not averse to being photographed with visitors, and sometimes to surreptitiously photographing holidaymakers on their phones, so it is worth being more careful.
The Sri Chitra Art Gallery
The building of the Sri Chitra Gallery is located next to the State Museum of Arts and Crafts. Here are gathered paintings of the Rajput, Mughal and Tanjore schools, as well as works by Chinese, Tibetan and Japanese masters. On display are canvases by the great Russian painter, philosopher and explorer of India Nicholas Roerich — among them «The Lake of Gennesaret», «A River in the Himalayas», «The Message of Shambhala».
But the most famous exhibits of the gallery belong to the brush of the renowned Indian artists: Raja Ravi Varma (1848–1906), his sister Mangala Bayi Tampuratti and his uncle Raja Raja Varma. Ravi Varma became famous for being one of the first in India to master the European technique of oil painting.
Photos of the Sri Chitra Gallery
Raja Ravi Varma
The Indian artist was born into an aristocratic family and already at a young age showed an outstanding talent for painting. His uncle Raja Raja Varma supported Ravi and encouraged his education: first the future artist took a course in traditional Indian painting, and then took lessons from a British portraitist invited to the rulers’ court.
Although Ravi Varma belonged to the ruling circles of the principality, he never bore the title of raja (prince). However, in Europe, after an exhibition in Vienna, he became known as the artist-prince — Raja Ravi Varma.
Nicholas Roerich
Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich (1874–1947) in 1909 received the title of academician of the Russian Imperial Academy of Arts. His legacy includes not only about seven thousand paintings but also almost thirty volumes of literary and philosophical works.
The artist spent the second half of his life travelling around Asia, organising expeditions to Manchuria and the Himalayas. From the mid-1930s Nicholas Konstantinovich settled in India. Art historians consider the Indian period of Roerich’s work the most fruitful. In 1940 the Sri Chithralayam gallery allotted a separate wing to the painter’s works.
Interesting places located near the Sri Chitra Gallery
Information for tourists
From Kovalam to Trivandrum you can get there on your own by bus or a hired car. Hotels and travel agencies offer excursions around the capital with a visit to the art gallery, but the services of a Russian-speaking guide are not always included in the price — it is better to clarify this question in advance to avoid additional expenses. The museum complex and the Sri Chitra art gallery are closed in the mornings on Monday and Wednesday.
Trivandrum is the capital of Kerala, from where an Ayurveda tour to India: the sights are easy to combine with a wellness programme.
