Colourful Indian Ragnoli-Style Murals Adorn Walls At Presentation Primary

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Jayapraba Seralathan, Anu Subramonian and Abirami Sakthivel presenting one of the murals they painted at Presentation Primary School. Photo by Dermot Crean

PRESENTATION Primary School saw some colourful additions to its yard recently with the unveiling of four new murals painted in the Indian Rangoli style by a parent of children in the school.

“We are thrilled that a parent was happy to paint Rangoli murals in our senior yard,” said School Principal, Mr. John Hickey.

“Jayapraba Seralathan, mother of Prisha and Samarjith, is a talented woman who is very generous with her time. She was ably assisted by her friends who helped her paint the beautiful artwork.”

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“We are very lucky to have parents who are helping us make the school a more beautiful, inviting space. The colours and images chosen reflect the fusion of cultures: the navy of the Presentation Order, the lantern of Nano Nagle, the green and gold of Kerry, the orange, white and green of Ireland, all expressed through this Indian artform.”

One of the murals at Presentation Primary School. Photo by Dermot Crean

Jayapraba Seralathan was the lead artist in creating the Rangoli. Jayapraba said: “Rangoli is a traditional folk art in India. We have a festival in the state of Tamil Nadu called a pongal and we celebrate it for four days. During those four days we draw Rongoli on our porches. It is a festival of thanksgiving, when farmers thank the sun, rain and farm animals for a good harvest. It is maybe a little like the Harvest Festival in Listowel, except without the horse-racing!”

“In fact, we are working in Ireland Tamil Academy Dublin as volunteers. Ireland Tamil Academy is an Irish-based non-profit and secular organization. The primary objective of ITA is to teach the Tamil language to interested adults and children of all ages in Ireland. Tamil is one of the oldest classical languages in the world and has been spoken since the 3rd century BC. Tamil is spoken by approximately 78 million people around the world.”

“I would just like to thank my friends Abirami Sakthivel, Anu Ganesh Kumar, and Ganesh Kumar Natarajan for helping me paint the Rangoli. We are very proud of our work and would like to thank the school for the opportunity to share something of our culture. It was great fun.”

The school intends to paint further murals reflecting traditional folk art from other parts of the world, with the help of parents and pupils.

This will include a tree mural incorporating Celtic knot-work and style to reflect the tradition of Irish folk art.

This ‘Tree of Knowedge’ will form a legacy project for 6th children to add to each year as they graduate from primary school.