Tanjore painting reflects the religious tradition and spiritual creativity of Indian art forms and is a unique visual fusion of art and craftsmanship; and is considered one of the most popular forms of classical South Indian tanjore painting. No other traditional art form can portray the Almighty as well as Tanjore.
Tanjore Painting Indigenous Art
Tanjore painting is an indigenous art form of Thanjavur, also known as Tanjore, a city in Tamil Nadu. It is one of the famous forms of classical South Indian painting. Thanjavur Painting, a classic art form in South India, also known as Tanjore painting, is honoring of the region’s rich artistic tradition and is named after the city of Thanjavur in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Tanjore paintings are known for their extravagant sketch of deities, vibrant colors, and elaborate ornaments such as gold foil. Inlaid with valuable stones and decorated with gold leaf and processed with bound and proven materials, they are dedicated to popular Indian deities such as Krishna and Lakshmi and depict birds and animals favored by the gods.
Tanjore Painting Characteristic uses vibrant colors and gold leaf ornaments, but also cutting glass, beads, precious and semi-precious stones are used for decoration. Artists used vegetables, minerals, and dyes for natural colors in Tanjore paintings in the past, but over time, chemical colors have gained the upper hand. Tanjore’s painting style uses towering gesso (white plaster filler) to absorb semi-precious stones and vibrant colors.
Mysore Paintings are Mostly Stone and Glass Balls
While Mysore paintings are mostly stone and glass balls, Tanjore’s artistic creations are rich in stone dots and other designs. In addition to iridescent color palettes, Tanjore paintings use bold reds, blues, and greens. The use of wealth and dense compositions in Tanjore paintings makes them stand out from other Indian art forms.
Tanjore paintings are created by a team of craftsmen consisting of experienced embossers, make-up impressionists, 22-carat gold leaf guilders, and master artists who concentrate on painting the face with the right expression. Tanjore paintings feature urban representations of Lakshmi, Lord Krishna, Bhagwanganesha, Shiva, Balaji, Veer, and Hanuman. A typical Tanjore painting consists of the main figure of a deity with a round face, body, and oval eyes. They are a great way to beautify the interior of your home as a gift or gift for a special occasion.
Tanjore paintings have been influenced by many modern art forms, such as C. Kondiah Raju’s calendar prints, Raja Ravi Varma, and Western naturalism. They work with reliefs and intense compositions with religious figures and motifs. Tanjore painting in its original form is a lost art that some state and private institutions are trying to revive and restore.
Paintings of Tanjore were distributed by the Chola Dynasty, which ruled the districts of Tanjore, Madurai, and Trichy in the 15th century and was protected by Maratha princes in Tanjores Tiruchirapalli and Naidus in Madurai during this time.
The Cholas were substantial lovers of art and sculpture, and when you touch Tamil Nadu, you cannot turn your gaze away from the colossal temples that illustrate the Dravidian architectural style. The jewel of Thanjavur features paintings primarily known for their originality and unique way of creating a 3D effect in a single work of art.
Promoted Indian Tanjore Painting
The unbeatable Maratha ruler of Thanjavur, Governor Nayaka, promoted Indian Tanjore paintings in the 16th and 18th centuries AD. Artists from the Raju community of Thane, Tiruchi (also called Jinigara and Chitragara), and the Nayudu communities of Madurai created Tanjore-style paintings. In the 1800s, Created Tanjore paintings to cater to Western British sensitivities and introduce a mix of religious and secular motifs to art.
Given the artificial gold coloring, gold and silver leaves decorate costumes, jewelry, and other decorative areas. The Tanjore-style figures of gods and goddesses stand in direct contrast to the delicacy of the miniatures typical of several Riyasats in Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Kashmir.
The painters of this ethnic art form attached great importance to creating relief works and portraits that give them a unique 3D effect. Rich, full-bodied colors vied with exquisite filigree work to overwhelm the eye. The artists preferred bright, bright colors for painting, which was supposed to keep the light in the rooms of temples, temples, and places of worship.
Golden Paper Painting
While people began to use golden paper for painting, Nagarajan continued to use only pure gold foil and semi-precious stones in his paintings. Real gold foil and 22-carat gold foil are used to glue the embossed areas.
It is believed that this art form arises in the 16th century during the reign of Chola. Let’s delve deeper into this traditional Indian painting in this blog post. The Thanjavur paintings get their name from a Sanskrit word and other Indian painting styles.
Nagarajan, one of the descendants of the Rajus, learned Tanjore painting at the age of 13 from his father, Guru Venkatachalam Raju. He then completed a degree course in mechanical engineering.
