Tanjore or Thanjavur Paintings as they are called are truly a reflection of the beautiful , rich , full bodied colours which vie with the exquisite filigree work to overwhelm the eye . The Art of Gold as they are appropriately called ,these Paintings mainly depict the themes with Gods and Godesses. These paintings today adorn the household drawing rooms, corporate office corridors , pooja rooms etc and are zealously guarded by those who have them . Truly a case of owner’s pride and neighbour’s envy mainly because of it’s uniqueness and technique among the various art forms and also in terms of its style.
Tanjore or Thanjavur as the place is called today gets its name from the ancient pronunciation of the place called Thanjavoor . The place is located in the rich delta of the river cauvery in the state of Tamil Nadu about 350kms from Chennai. The place was the capital of the mighty Chola empire and had been the centre of economical and cultural activities under the Chola empire and the Vijaynagar dynasty and lastly by the Maratha rulers. Even though Thanjavur was not the birthplace of these paintings ,this style of paintings developed during the Maratha rulers between the 16th and 18th century . The art was practiced by the two main communities namely the Rajus in Thanjavur and Trichy and the Naidus in Madurai. The artists from these communities who were originally Telugu speaking people moved from Rayalseema to Tamil Nadu in the wake of the Nayaks rule of Madurai and Tanjore . The paintings at that time were rooted in tradition , innovation was limited and the art was a sacred piece of work to those master craftsmen who maintained a low profile and remained anonymous . As is said , every little aspect of Indian art seems to have a reason and history behind it . It is said that the Original paintings were commisioned by the kings and the rulers to be placed in the temple shrines where the light was poor . It was in this context that the bright colours and gold covering were used to make the bright and breathtakingly beautiful painting visible to the devotee or in other words the dark shrines/places would give a glowing presence to these paintings. Considering their imminent setting the themes were purely religious either from the Ramayana or any other epic and most common of these paintings would depict Lord Krishna as a child and his various pranks or the various episodes of Lord Krishna. The technique of these paintings was shrouded in mystery because the artists kept it a close secret , but as years passed by and with the declining patronage from the Kings and rulers and with work hard to come by they were forced to relent and the technique used by them spread to others. With this the paintings began to adorn the walls of homes of the rich noblemen.
Tanjavur paintings flourished under the patronage of the
Nayak &Maratha kings between the 16th and 18th centuries.
Thanjavur district was famous for various arts &crafts in which these paintings ranked high among the other arts like Thanjavur plates,toys,etc. King Sarfogi who reigned Thanjavur from 1798 to 1832 played an important role in nurturing this form of art during his rule.
With the decline of dynastic rule,the artists (Rajus), divided into 3 groups one heading to "Vuyaioor , second group to Mysore, and the third stayed on at Tanjore.The styles developed were slightly different from each other.The emphasis at Tanjore was on studded gems & gold leaf ,at Vuyaioor was on decorative garland.In Mysore school of painting where they used no gems the emphasis was on intricate painting.
In an attempt to revive this dying art the artists have developed techniques where easily available materials have been replaced with the ones used centuries ago.
Over the centuries the changes that have evolved are enumerated below :
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Earlier the base of this painting was from jackfruit tree where as today we use ply-board.
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The old artists restricted their themes to only divine figures and used to mix their own natural vegetable colors for painting.Whereas at present the artists make use of the chemical paints which is widely available in the market to give the painting a better shade contrast .However , broadly the convention of colours has survived.
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Earlier the painting would consist of the figures which were with well rounded body and with almond shaped eyes but nowadays the figures being round is not strictly followed , however they are still plump having chubby cheeks .The presiding dieties of various temples are also being depicted today.
* Earlier paintings were embedded with real diamonds , rubies & precious stones.Now the gem stones are replaced with semiprecious and artificial stones like jaipur glass stones
* The Characteristic of earlier Tanjore painting were its brilliant colors scheme ,decorative jewellery ,fortunately these are maintained even today in the depiction of these paintings.
About twenty odd years ago the Government of Tamil Nadu in order to give an impetus and boost to this dying form of art started schools where master craftsmen could teach and revive the old traditional art.The Tanjore paintings have seen a great revival and today adorn the walls of several households , corporate offices etc. Today the artists are experimenting with newer subjects also like birds , animals , religious saints/figures of other religions etc. It is to be mentioned that the paintings seen today may not be even a few hundred years old , perhaps with the exeception of few held by some Government museums or Art gallery.
