Parvathi, Ganesh and Hanuman - Tanjore Painting from Tamizhnadu, South of India
My eyes got jelled to this particular Tanjore painting when I saw it for the first time. Something was very unique about this particular painting.
“Parvathi with Ganesh and Hanuman”! Look at the combination. I have seen Tanjore paintings with just the Parvati, Shiva & Parvati, Parvati & Ganesh, Parvati & Murugan, Parvati with Murugan & Ganesh and even the whole family ( Shiva Parivar) but I have not seen this combo before. So it was special to me!
Few facts about early Tanjavur/ Tanjore Paintings:
1. In early days, they used metals to make Gods. After a point there was only war in the land of Tanjore by Portuguese, English & Mughals. It was difficult to find metals as it was a key meterial for making weapons. So King Raghunatha Nayakkar brought Nayakar people & Rajus from Thirupathi. Who were already good at Kalamkari art form. So typically Tanjore Painting was adapted from Andhra. Later Marathas captured Thanjavur & reigned from 1674 to 1799. Tanjore paintings kept evolving during all these period.
2. There was no gem stones in the Tanjore paintings during the Nayakkar period (Vijayanagar Dynasty) but used only real gold leafs. During the Maratha period they started adding Gems, Emeralds, Rubies n other precious stones to the paintings to add more beauty & grandness to the paintings. Hence Tanjore paintings were very expensive & was meant only for rich & royal families those days.
3. The Nose rings on deities seen in Tanjore paintings are relatively new. Tanjore painting artisans say, the earliest paintings had no nose rings on women and it’s a way to judge the age of the painting. We understand that there was no nose rings on the Devis until the Chozha period. But we can see the influence of Mughal period on the Tanjore paintings, with the introduction of Nose ring in those paintings.
4. The Early Tanjore paintings were painted on Jackfruit wood as they could withstand all weathers and were framed in teak wood but with no protection glasses.
5. The color medium used in the Tanjavur paintings were made of Organic Vegetable dyes. Hence they were of lighter shades unlike our modern day Tanjore paintings. These Colors weren’t affected by the light exposure as the lamps were dull n not too bright. Invention of electricity made them hard to survive.