Kalamandalam Bindu lekha, Mural painter and dancer. An iterview

She says that mural artists see their work as a divine act. "Shlokas are chanted while the deity is drawn. With the painter slipping into a mood of devotion, the work assumes the importance of a religious ritual."
Bindulekha, a graduate of Kerala Kalamandalam, took up mural painting, after having been attracted by the work of her brother-in-law, Sadanandan, a disciple of Mammiyoor Krishnankutty Nair. She got trained in the genre for six years. "I practised till my hands ached," she says

"Being a dancer , it helps me paint the mudras and invoke the rasas (moods) effectively," she says. Painting claims much of her time, but Bindulekha manages to find some for advanced lessons in dancing. "I cannot forgo one for the other," she says.

Some of her works sport new styles and unusual colours. Traditionally, bright reds, orange and yellows dominate murals, but Bindulekha introduces colours such as blue. And this gives her work an ethereal quality.