Tanjore Painting (Part 1)

Tanjore or Thanjavur paintings originated from Tanjavur town in about 1600 AD. While predominantly distinguished by their famous gold coating, these paintings have a typical style of imagery that is unique to this art form.

They generally depict Hindu gods, goddesses and saints, or episodes from the Hindu puranas visualized and sketched. These are characterised by rich and vivid but harmonious colours, a simple iconic composition, glittering gold foils overlaid on delicate but extensive gesso work, and inlay of glass beads and pieces or (very rarely) precious and semi-precious gems, with meticulous attention to detail.

Traditionally, these paintings were done on a canvas pasted on a wooden plank. In the past, artists used natural colours like vegetable and mineral dyes, whereas the present day artists use chemical paints.

Contributed By :

Sai Lakshmi Murali and S. Murali