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
:
-
Earlier the base of this painting was from jackfruit tree
where as today we use ply-board.
-
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.
-
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.
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