The Kerala state got its first Calligraphy Gallery for Malayalam (it was inaugurated in Thiruvananthapuram on August 2, 2022) thanks to Narayana Bhattathiri, better known as artist Bhattathiri, who is credited for taking Malayalam calligraphy far and wide. Bhattathiri studied painting at the College of Fine Arts, Thiruvananthapuram, in the 1980s. However, he uses the ‘form’ of Malayalam letters for his creative expression. “Forget about meaning. I’m least bothered about the meaning of letters and words as it comes to calligraphy. It’s the sheer beauty of the form that calligraphy seeks to explore,” says Bhattathiri. In that sense, calligraphy is also a piece of painting.
It’s the beautiful stylization and the expression it radiates that hold the key to appreciation of calligraphy. But calligraphy, an art form, appears to be alien to both ordinary art lovers as well as connoisseurs. It is so not just in....
