Mattancheri Palace

Mattancheri in Kochi has a distinct smell of trade and commerce even today. The passage of the years has only retouched her trading face. Large godowns still stand in and around the quayside.

Mattancheri had also been a former capital of the erstwhile rulers of Kochi. When the ‘adventurers from over the seas’ came to Kochi seeking trade, Mattancheri also bustled as a brisk trading port. First the Portuguese and later the Dutch beguiled rulers with gold and gifts in exchange for spices especially black pepper.

Mattancheri is an artist’s delight. For here are some very beautiful frescoes. The walls of some of the palace champers are adorned with paintings done in the traditional mural style of Kerala.

Ramayana Murals
The paintings cover a wide range of themes from the Puthrakameshti Yagam to Rama’s return to Ayodya after vanquishing King Ravana of Lanka. The northern part of the eastern walkl crowded with scence from the early chapters of the story of Rama. The bearded king Dasaratha is seen conferring with his minister, Sumantra, Rishisringa the deerheaded sage performing the Yagam or ritual sacrifice, Dasaratha handing out the divine ‘Prasadam’ to his consorts are the other main paintings here.

Murals in the Staircase Room
The themes are several and various in this room which measures 18 feet by 17 feet. The paintings include a family portrait of Siva, Vishnu in his Sankarshana form, Adhanariswara or Siva as half-male and half-female, the coronation of Rama, Kirata-Shiva, Anantashayanam, few themes from the Devi Mahathmyam, paintings of the ten incarnations of Vishnu and also an unfinished painting of Vishnu.

Painting in the lower chambers
The most beautiful frescoes of Mattancheri are doubtless the murals in these rooms. The main theme is the nuptial of Shiva and Parvati. These paintings are only outline sketches in ochre.

The Bhagavatham paintings of the bed chamber of the bed chamber and the paintings in the staircase room werte in all probability done at the end of the 17 th century of later by an inferior artist.