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Home > Kerala Temples > Carvings and Paintings > Sreekovil in Kerala Temples Sreekovil in Kerala TemplesSreekovil The Sreekovil of most of the temples in kerala fall either under eka thala or dwi thala and in rare cases thri thala. Wood is used in all sreekovils in one way or the other, in the structure above adhishtaana especially on outer walls, pillars and prasthaara (entablature over walls and pillars). In certain temples walls are made entirely of wood, but such temples are few. In these cases they may have many decorative elements like gaavaaksha, karma kutas, kudya sthhamba, Madhya saala, panjara, thoranas and doors (praasaada dwaara and Ghana dwaara) besides projecting mukha mandapa of triangular shape at the entrance and above the wall. The wood carvings on each of the above depend on the artistic talent of the craftsman. It is further noticed, according to Sarkar that “sculptures on the wooden wall have mostly been arranged in three vertical registers, while various scroll works and floral designs serve as bounding lines, placed either vertically or horizontally. It is worth noting that wooden temples, unlike the stone ones have some sort of deva koshta enshrining images. But the deities in the shallow niches do not follow any norm unlike the mature Chola tradition. Apart from the paneled reliefs and deities in niches, there occur, as a regular feature various kinds of minutely carved friezes, showing animal procession and other motifs. Excellent jaali works are also notable products of the wood carvings of the period, perhaps covering a time span of three to four centuries from the sixteenth century onwards”. In temples having more than one storey, wood carvings are seen on the wall of the second and third storeys. However, wooden dwaara paalakas and dwaara paalikas at the sides of praasada dwaara are not very common. The latest practice of colouring wooden figurines with modern paints is found to deprive these figurines of their enchanting beauty and original splendour. The wooden bracket figures in both thalas of sreekovil and wooden images on the griva koshtas are seen in some of these types of temples. The suka naasa or suka naasika (an integrated projection from the vimaanas (locally known as mukhayaama or kim purusha etc) has beautiful carvings of Gods and Goddesses in scenes depicting events narrated in puraanas. Generally, as stated earlier, temples having exqauisite wood carvings on the component units of sreekovil are seen all over the state. Sreekovil Important temples which have been acclaimed by all those having exquisite wood carvings .
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