• Jan 25 2016
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Sri Chitra Art Gallery

Sree Chitra Art Gallery, located in the northern grounds of the Napier Museum at the Thiruvananthapuram Museum Compound, features a unique collection of traditional and contemporary paintings.  There are approximately 1100 paintings at the gallery including many timeless masterpieces. A large collection was gifted by the Royal House of Travancore and the Kilimanoor Royal Family of Kerala. The gallery was Inaugurated by Chithira Thirunal Balarama Varma in 1935, who was the last ruling Maharaja of the Indian princely state of Travancore, in present-day Kerala. Chithira Thirunal, who patronised the arts, appointed, for the first time, an Art Advisor to Government, Dr. J. H. Cousins. Cousins played a pivotal role in the establishment of the gallery by curating a remarkable collection.

Apart from the Travancore paintings, the diverse collection also includes paintings from the Mughal, Rajput, Bengal, Rajasthani, and Tanjore schools of art. It also has an oriental collection of Chinese, Japanese, and Balinese paintings, Tibetan Thangka, and Indian mural paintings from pre-historic times. The gallery also houses various miniatures including 400-year-old Tanjore miniature paintings as well as manuscripts of archival importance. This treasure trove of works of art, some of which cost millions, is a testament to the rich, artistic heritage of Kerala.

The gallery also pays homage to the Bengal School of Art that revolutionised Indian painting in the early 20th century, with a fusion of traditional techniques with modern sensibilities. Another highlight of the gallery is the collection of works by world-famous Russian painters Nicholas Roerich and his son Svetoslav Roerich, mainly depicting the Himalayas in their mystic grandeur.