Barring themes like Shiva performing Tandava, Rama’s enthronement, Krishna lifting Mount Govardhana, gods in groups, performance of worship rituals and the like apart Tanjore paintings are neither illustrative nor narrative; they are rather iconic. Unlike a miniature, a painting on a tiny piece of paper rendered in colours, the Tanjore style’s distinction, visual effect, all its resplendence or rather its divine aura is born largely of its material mediums, gold and silver foils, leaves of other metals, and precious and semi-precious stones, beads, mirrors …, that it uses in realising a theme on a piece of board. As conditions its mediums, in its representative form a Tanjore painting better reveals itself when it consists of a single image, or just a few, in bold and large sizes.

Characteristic to a Tanjore painting the artist has used Lord Ganesha’s single image large in size and bold and elaborate in details. The tiny mouse, his mount, greedily looking at ‘modakas’ offered to Lord Ganesha in large golden baskets, is the only other image, besides the Master’s, that the artist has included in the painting. Representing this image of Lord Ganesha the artist, respecting his status as the supreme divinity, as well as the norms of iconography for divine imagery, has used only golden foil symbolic of gold – the supreme of metals, besides precious stones : rubies, emeralds, sapphires, peals and diamonds. White not the colour of gods, silver foil is rarely used in divine images except sometimes for defining ritual paraphernalia, seat or architecture. Along Lakshmi Lord Ganesha is also considered as the patron of riches, hence, in the painting silver has been completely excluded and the use of gold is in abundance. 

This benign image of the elephant god, a blend of at least two of his forms, Ekadanta – single-tusked, and Vakratunda – curved trunked, enshrines a gold-panelled ‘vedika’ – sanctum, inlaid all over with precious stones – rubies, emeralds, sapphires, diamonds, pearls … He is seated against a huge bolster made of velvet and worked with gold on an elevated throne consisting of gold and velvet cushion and embellished with precious gems of various kinds. Over the side pillars the ‘vedika’ rises to mid-height and from here onwards there rises over it an arched opening of the ‘vedika’; the pattern of the arches is shallow. These arch-recesses have been adorned with frills composed of flowers and leaves. The vedika’s superstructure consists of three domes, one in the centre being flattish horizontally stretching and topped by a number of finials, and those on sides, modelled like onion-bulbs. All three domes rise over well-defined necks and are fluted. The finials over them are typically Indo-Islamic, the base being pot-like, and apex, star-like. The central dome has under it a Kirttimukha motif, the symbol of auspiciousness. The vedika’s superstructure is typically characteristic of Dravidian temple architecture.

With both of his feet turned to left the four-armed Lord Ganesha is seated in abhaya-mudra – gesture of granting freedom from fear that his mere presence ensures; hence, he carries either no weapons or a very few. Here in this manifestation he is carrying just an elephant goad. He is holding his normal right hand in ‘abhaya’, the gesture of granting freedom from fear; in the normal left he carries a ‘laddu’, and another, in his trunk, symbolic of the accomplishment of all desired and the vigour of life. In the upper left the patron of entire knowledge and giver of right wisdom Lord Ganesha carries a pen. A magnificent piece of jewellery his crown made of gold and inlaid with most precious stones is in the South Indian tradition but not as towering as a Vaishnava crown. Besides a green sash richly worked with gold stripes Lord Ganesha is wearing an ‘antariya’ – lower garment consisting of yellow silk and gold zari. He is putting on various ornaments on his neck, breast, waist, feet, forehead, shoulders, arms, hands, a ‘vaijayanti’ of fresh flowers and a ‘naga-bandha’ – yajnopavit consisting of a snake.

Gilded Elegance: Unraveling the Artistry of Tanjore Paintings

Tanjore painting is a traditional form of art in the South Indian style and was started by the inhabitants of a small town known as Thanjavur of Tamil Nadu. This gives it another name called “Thanjavur painting”. This painting draws its figures, designs, and inspiration from the time when Vedic culture was prevalent in India. Certain remarkable features of a Tanjore painting distinguish it from other paintings. Some of these are pure gold or gold foil coating on gesso work, the use of rich and vivid colors, and the inlay of cut-glass or semi-precious and precious stones. The subjects of most of the Tanjore paintings are Hindu Gods, Goddesses, and saints. The main devotional figure is portrayed in the central portion of the painting and is usually surrounded by various secondary figures.

The process of making a Tanjore painting

The classic Tanjore paintings are done on wooden planks and hence are also referred to as Palagai Padam in South India (Palagai = Wooden plank, Padam = Picture). Creating a masterpiece is never an easy task but the skilled artists of Thanjavur have been following the tradition of making timeless Tanjore paintings for decades.

The making process begins with preparing the wooden board or canvas. The size of the board depends upon the choice of the patron. The next step is to paste cardboard over the wooden board and then a cotton fabric is stretched and pasted upon it using Arabic gum.

Now that the cloth is attached to the wooden panel, a rough sketch of the motifs and figure is drawn onto the fabric. After this, a paste of chalk powder and water-soluble adhesive is evenly applied over the base and smoothed.

Thereafter, the outlines which were made or traced using a stencil are now ready to be beautified and decked with various add-ons. The usual materials for decoration are cut-glass, pearls, semi-precious and precious gems, gold leaf, and laces. 22 or 18 Karat Gold leaves and gems of varied hues are especially inlaid in areas like pillars, arches, walls, thrones, and dresses. In the final step, the rest of the painting is filled with rich and striking colors such as shades of red, blue, and green. Formerly, the artists used natural colors like vegetable and mineral dyes instead of chemical paints. The entire painting is then cleaned and refined to give a flawless finished look.

Since the making of a single piece of Tanjore painting requires a complex and elaborate process, the artists usually take at least one or two months to complete it. The use of pure gold foil and gems for beautification is a characteristic of an authentic Tanjore painting. Due to this, Tanjore paintings last for generations without getting tarnished and are much more expensive than general paintings. Though the art form has undergone various changes and technique modifications over the years, it continues to attract the hearts of art lovers.