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The Mansa Devi temple has just
not been the abode of Goddess Mansa but it was also a cultural center for the
expression of creativity too .The tradition of 
covering interior temple walls
with murals dates almost from the birth of
civilisation, and it can be seen as
the highest form of truly indigenous creative expression. Indian
mythology abounds in interesting anecdotes relating to Hindu gods and
goddesses, and their human incarnations. This is lyrically traced in the rich
murals which relate episodes from the great epics, the Ramayana, the
Mahabharata and popular puranas.
The Krishna legend, scenes from
the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, illustrations of the Durga  with all its
usual verve and exuberance, Shiva and Vishnu legends, the Ganesh stuti, etc.,
form the themes of these wall paintings. A large circumambulatory passage)
surrounds the main temple and is
bounded by corridor around the garbhagrihal
(sanctum sanctorum) and on this entire
stretch of the walls surrounding the garbhagriha the walls paintings are also there.
The murals embellishing the
walls of Mansa Devi temple depicts themes from the Puranas and epics as well
navgrahas and nakshtras.  These murals provided a brief over view of religious
tradition and mythology to the devotees young and old. And that over view is
just like a Picture book depicting the story of LordRama, Lord Krishna, Lord
shiva, Mother Goddess i.e. Durga,Kali and its other form to the devotees
visiting the temple. Murals depicting
important episodes from the life and character of popular Gods and Mother
Goddess decorate the corridors of countless temples across India and even
grace dharamshalas public halls and private homes reflecting these epic themes
throughout the land. The murals were painted between 1811-1817 by artist Angad, a painter from Sirmaur under the
royal patronage.
The Murals can be classified
in various sections as under:
Paintings related to Mother
Goddess: Shakti Durga:
The first such section depicts scenes, events and episodes from  the Markendya Purana like
the birth of demons from Lord Vishnu’s ear; trinity of gods
conferring their power and “astra-shastras" (arm & ammunition) to
Goddess like giving of trishul
(trident) by Shiva, veda by Brahma, Sudarshan Chakra by Vishnu, ,charirot from
Visvakarma; Durga slaying
the demons Sumbha and Nisumbha. Interestingly,
Lord Ganesha, the
elephant-headed Hindu God of Wisdom is also depicted in this section .
Paintings
related to Lord Rama:
Second
section depicts episodes from Ramayana
like that 
Sage Vishwamitra
visiting the royal court of Lord
Dashratha in Ayodhya
and requesting Lord Dasratha to send Ram and Lakshman with him to the
forest to destroy the wild rakshasas like Tadika,Marich who were
deliberately disturbing the quiet devotions of the holy hermits. Scenes
relating to the wedding of Sita and Ram-Lifting of
Shiva’s heavy bow and stringing it by Rama by entering in the contest
The Construction of
bridge and war between Ram and Ravana struggles
between Rama and Ravana
and the victory of good over evil depicting the triumphant victory of
Rama over Ravna by killing him. The magnificent scenes of
the royal palaces of Maharaja Dashratha and Janaka are also painted.
Paintings
related to Lord Krishna:
Krishna, an incarnation of the
god Vishnu, and his legends are  also depicted in another section of the murals.
The episodes from Krishna’s
life starting with his childhood with Vasudev,Devki and balram; his killing of Shisupal sent
by his maternal uncle Kamsa to kill him, and the romantic escapades of Krishna
with the gopinis of Braja also seem to have attracted the painters of these
murals. These scenes are set against flowery groves, idlyllic land of Braja
and the meandering river Yamuna flowing past it.
Paintings related to lord shiva:
Another section of murals in the
temple depicts  the marriage of Shiva with Parvati with the rites being
performed by Brahma and scores of other Gods like Vishnu attending the
marriage On the murals Siva is shown
standing in a relaxed regal pose, like a brideroom, holding his 'trishul'
(trident) and ceremonial pot, accompanied by Nandi, his faithful 'vahana'. His
matted hair is coiffured into a topknot and adorned with jewels, the crescent
moon and skull, the emblems of his conquest of time (measured by the moon) and
death (by the skull). It is
interesting to find scenes like Bhasmasur
a devotee of Siva showing immense faith in Siva by worshipping him
and Lord Shiva granting boon
to him as he was pleased by his
faith and worship ,and inviting great trouble for himself and running away.
Paintings
related to Navgraha planets:
All the nine planets and 27
nakshtaras along with their  vahanas are
depicted with great precision.
The style used was that of Kangra
School of Paintings. These murals were painted
with vegetable and mineral dyes and this coloring medium was one of the
reasons for its deterioration.
These
paintings are characterized by a balanced , and
effective colour scheme.
Environmental and human
factors have taken their toll in the last 100 years, and new restoration work
which was desperately needed to preserve the paintings has already been
started by Archaeological Survey of India.
Contemporary efforts towards
promotion of arts are also being made by the Shrine Board. The Board is
donating land for the construction of all the Sahitya academies and the theme
museum on Mother Goddess is also being constructed which will house various
facets of art and culture related to Goddess.
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