“This is the fulfilment of a long-cherished dream for me,” says Narayana Bhattathiri about ‘Ka Ch Ta Tha Pa’, a gallery for Malayalam calligraphy. Familiar to readers of Malayalam as Artist Bhattathiri, the master calligrapher has constructed the gallery on the top floor of his house in Forest Office Lane, Vazhuthacaud, Thiruvananthapuram.
“This might be the first-of-its-kind for Malayalam calligraphy. There are galleries in cities such as Mumbai and Delhi with exhibits in Devanagari script,” says Bhattathiri.
He has been on a one-man mission for over four decades to popularise Malayalam calligraphy. “It has not been getting the patronage it deserves. That is why I have been posting calligraphy works daily on my Facebook page (Bhattathiri Calligraphy) since 2015 and have also been conducting online and offline workshops. However, people would often wish to see the works in person. But it is not possible to hold exhibitions everywhere and that set me thinking about opening a gallery to exhibit what I have done,” says the 63-year-old artist. The number of designs posted on his page has crossed 3,700 and counting.
