Mystical paintings

Tanjore paintings are deeply rooted in tradition and still innovative within limits, finds Anita Iyer.

Tanjore paintings can often be seen adoring our living rooms and corporate office walls and never fails to grab our attention for a minute. With their rich blend of bright colours, use of jewellery and larger-than-life figures, a Tanjore painting mesmerizes art lovers. As Ms. Indu Gupta, a Tanjore painter from Delhi says, “What makes Tanjore paintings unique is their colour combination, use of gold and precious stones and typical arcades. It is the hardwork and use of gold and stones, which raises the cost of any Tanjore paintings from Rs. 2000 to Rs. 2 lakh, but still there are takers for this art form”.

Tanjore Paintings are known for their surface richness, vivid colours and compact compositions. One amazing fact about Tanjore painting is that they were placed in dark temple shrines by the emperors. The reason for this was to enhance the presence of these bright gold paintings in the dim place.

Ms. Anandhi Rajan, a Tanjore artist from the past 15 years says, “In Tanjore paintings gaudy colours are used and much importance is given to the depiction of facial expressions and use of glittering gold foils instead of colours gives it s dramatic effect”. The subjects in Tanjore paintings are largely religious with depictions from mythological stories Ramayana or any other epic. The most common themes are the paintings that depict episodes from Lord Krishna’s life.

Exceptional attribute of Tanjore paintings is their shelf life. As stones and gold are used, the paintings do not tarnish and have a lasting life of about 80-100 years normally. It is a known fact that a red background is the distinctive mark of Tanjore paintings, but green is also sometimes used for an added effect. There are even fixed colours for Gods like Lord Vishnu is preferably coloured blue, Lord Nataraja chalk white and Goddesses are usually Yellow. Uniqueness of Tanjore paintings lies in the fact that all the figures have round bodies and almond-shaped eyes. The traditional Tanjore artists have a flair for ornamenting the figures with jewellery and ornate dresses.

In the primitive period, the traditional pandits of Tanjore drew Tanjore paintings on the walls of the temple in the Mughal era. Though Tanjore paintings get their name from Tanjore of Thanjavoor, a place in Tamil Nadu, it is not the birthplace of this art form. Tanjore style of painting developed between the 16^th and 18^th century under the patronage of the Maratha rulers when they occupied Tanjore. The art form achieved popularity during the rule of Sarfoji Maharaj, (the last Maratha ruler in Tanjore) who was a great patron of art.

With the decline of dynastic rule in Tanjore, the Tanjore artists (Rajus) were divided into three groups- the first headed to Vuyaioor, second to Mysore, and the third stayed on at Tanjore. The emphasis for painters at Tanjore was on studded precious gemstones and gold foils, at Vuyaioor on decorative garland and in Mysore school of painting on intricate designs and paintings. Apart from these, there were many artists who migrated to Tanjore from Mysore, Andhra, Bijapur, Maharashtra and Gujarat and their style of painting was slightly different and influenced by various Gharanas they emerged from.

The Tanjore paintings were deep rooted in tradition, innovation was limited and the artists kept the technique of making these paintings as a close secret. But as years passed and the numbers of artists for Tanjore painters were limited, the artists were forced to reveal the technique and soon these paintings found a place in palaces apart from the traditional temples.

The process of making Tanjore painting requires minute detailing and involves many stages. Firstly, a preliminary sketch of the image is made on the base, consisting of a cloth pasted over a wooden plank. Then chalk powder or zinc oxide is applied evenly on the base. After the drawing is made, decoration of the jewellery and the apparels in the image is done with semi-precious stones. The dresses, archs, pillars and thrones are adorned with gold leaves and stones of different colours. Finally, dyes are used for add colours to the figures in the paintings.

Today, there are many traditional age- old paintings, which are in a dilapidated condition. Mr. V.K. Iyer, a strong advocate of Tanjore art from Chennai says, “I remember reworking on a Tanjore piece, which was about 80 years old. The work doesn’t end with merely drawing the painting, there are certain steps to be taken to preserve the master piece like using anti-fungal on the drawing board, no organic paints are be used and precautionary steps are to be taken regularly. Today the problem is the materials needed to make the original painting are not easily available so we have to look out for alternatives”.

In an attempt to revive this dying art, the artists have developed techniques where easily available materials are replacing the ones used centuries ago. In the traditional method, the base for Tanjore painting was made from jackfruit tree where as today ply-board is used. “Earlier natural vegetable colours were used to paint the pictures but today acrylic chemical paints are used, which even offer better shade contrast. Also, instead of precious stones, substitutes like Jaipur glass stones and semi-precious ones are used. The figure shapes earlier were rounded body but now- a- days it has changed a bit”, concludes Mr. Iyer.

Although Tanjore paintings represent an era of golden art in Tanjore, a fact that cannot be denied is its resemblance with Mysore paintings. “What makes Tanjore paintings special are the intricacies involved in making the paintings. Tanjore paintings resemble the Mysore style of paintings but the shapes are conical instead of plump figures in Tanjore. Also, the use of jewellery is limited in Mysore style of paintings and colours are used in place of stones in the paintings”.

Undoubtedly, Tanjore paintings have a unique charm of their own and have created a niche for themselves among other paintings. The paintings were made for rituals and worship in the traditional period and not for display. However, today they have predominantly become display items, which adorn the drawing rooms as also the corporate offices.