Tanjore Paintings and Arts

Tamil Nadu is known for its traditional ornate paintings, known as Tanjore paintings. This unique art form has its origin from Tanjore in South India. The portrayal of figures in these paintings is breathtakingly brilliant. The early paintings were embedded with real diamonds, rubies and other precious stones. Presently, pure gold foils and semi precious stones are used to adorn the paintings. The Tanjore School of Paintings dates back to the 16th century. However, there are only a few paintings that date back that far. The fact remains that most of the paintings that exist today are not even a hundred years old. The creation of this painting involves a lot of dedication and several stages of meticulous work of art. The first step involves creating a base. The base is made of a cloth pasted over a wooden or a plywood base. Then a paste of chalk powder or zinc oxide mixed with some water-soluble adhesive is applied on the board. To create a smoother board a mild abrasive can be used. After this begins the image making process. A preliminary sketch of the God is made on the board. After the drawing is made, decoration of the jewellery and the apparel is done with semi-precious stones. Semi-relief work is done with a paste of chalk powder and gum. Arabic Laces or threads are used to decorate the jewellery. On top of this, the gold foils are pasted. Finally, dyes are used to add vibrant colors to the figures in the paintings. A decorbeautiful frame is then selected to accentuate the beauty of the painting. The paintings are mostly of Gods and Goddesses because this art of painting flourished at a time when fine-looking and striking temples were being constructed by rulers of several dynasties. The figures in these paintings are large and the faces are round and divine. However, with the rebirth of this art in the 20th century, artists in addition to recreating the original Tanjore figures are also experimenting with more proportioned figures, birds, flowers, animals, etc