St George church, Chakkarapparambu in Vyttila, is a unique structure in that it has a square look while most others have arch shape. And now, the church has a mural painting to add to its uniqueness. And the credit goes to Preethi Vinod Chellappan, a mural painting specialist from Bengaluru.
“I have been doing wall paintings for the last five years, but it was my first work in a church,” Preethi said. “The architect of the church, who had seen mosaic art with yellow colour at the famous St Fatima church in Portugal, wanted me to have a similar work done here.” The architect shared his idea with Preethi and wanted a wall painting on the altar.
Preethi wanted to introduce a fresh concept in the painting. “I wanted the paining to give out a message of heavenliness and the way to reach there,” she said. “I researched a lot before deciding on what I shall do here.” She visited several churches as part of her research. “What struck me was how easily the embellishments inside the churches distracted devotees.” Preethi realised the importance of capturing the attention of the devotes at a single point, and for that she worked on highlighting the cross. “We had discussed its theological aspects with the parish priest,” she said.
Preethi chose yellow to bring positivity to the atmosphere. Jesus was given a dark shade in the 35 feet by 28 feet painting so that it would stand out in the yellow background. She credits her colleague Sujit for the creation the group of saints on the portrait. One of the striking features she mentioned is the direct sunlight that hits on the painting. They took almost two months to complete the work which is in acrylic.
