Saraswati

Description:

Here is a Tanjore painting of beautiful Saraswati who has has many names like Saraswati, Sharada, Veenapani, Bagdevi and Bani, Chaduvula in Telugu, Sharadamba in Kannada and She is popularly known as Kalaimagal in Tamizh.

She is usually depicted as young woman in white saree, she has a white swan called Hamsa to her left which is her carrier and peacock to her right. It is believed that the swan has a super power that it can drink only milk leaving the water aside. Therefore, the swan symbolises the capacity to discriminate between right and wrong. She always has a musical instrument with her called Veena. It is believed that she brought music to humankind. Saraswati is the Goddess of knowledge and wisdom, always associated with education, writing, speech, and other related disciplines.

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History of Tanjore Painting:

Tanjore Painting / Tanjavur Painting as the name suggests comes from Tanjavur in South India. This style of painting was inaugurated by king Ragunatha Nayakkar in 16th century AD. Untill 13 century, Tanjore was ruled by chozhas after which Tanjavur was captured by Nayakars from Vijaya Nagaram Empire. They ruled the Tamil country by dividing into three Nayakships i. e. Madurai, Tanjore and Gingee.

King Ragunadha nayakkar who reigned Tanjore from 1600 to 1634 is said to be the founder of Tanjore Paintings. He is considered to be the greatest of the Thanjavur Nayak kings. His reign is noted for the attainments of Thanjavur in arts, literature, art and carnatic music like in the times of Mahendra varma Pallava and his son Narasimhavarma Pallava during 600AD-668AD in Kanchi (Kanchipuram, Tamil Nadu) during Pallava dynasty.

In early days, they used metals to make Gods. After a point there was only war in the land of Tanjore by Portuguese, English, and Mughals. It was difficult to find metals as it was a key meterial for making weapons. So King Raghunatha nayakkar brought nayakar people and Rajus from Thirupathi. Who were already good at Kalamkari art form. So typically Tanjore Painting was adapted from Andhra.

Later Marathas captured Thanjavur and reigned from 1674 to 1799. Tanjore paintings kept evolving during all these period.

*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.

Here are some facts about early Tanjavur Paintings:

*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.

* 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.

*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.

*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. 

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Product Details:

SKU ID: PTP013

Product Name: Saraswati

Artist: Unknown

Dimensions: 18.5” x 23” x 2.75”

Weight: 4.9 Kgs

P. S. The products we sell are vintage and antiques and hence may have visible scratches and chip offs. We cherish them as they are reminders of the story they have been part of and hence we proudly display them in the product pictures too.

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We ship all over India and overseas. For shipments out of India, any custom duty levied will be borne by the customer.

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