Meet The Woman Keeping The Dying Art of Thanjavur Painting Alive

Beautiful, majestic and sacred. Just some of the words used to describe the enchanting hand-made Thanjavur paintings from artist Vibha Raj from the city of Bangalore. The craft is named after the town of Thanjavur and had it’s origins in the Maratha courts of the Royal families that resided there between the period 1676 - 1855. The paintings are characterised by luxurious, flat and vivid colours, simple iconic composition with religious meanings, 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 and usually depict mythological events, characters and or stories.

In an age where progress and technological advancements in digital art and design have shot into prominence , Vibha chose to follow in the footsteps of her mother and her tutor and help promulgate its importance. When asked why she choose not to climb the conventional ladder of graphical education, “ My mother is an accomplished Thanjavur artist and has taught more than 1,500 students, i have grown up seeing this art and that’s how my passion developed for it. I decided to follow this path as a career about 7 years ago.” The paintings can be best described as a labour of love and is has a high degree of difficulty not only in terms of the intricate detailing involved but also the patience and focus required.

The procedure just to make the cans for the paintings are a long-drawn process involving grinding tamarind seeds and soaking them for 2 days. The seeds are then ground finer until they have a paste-like composition. The paste is then applied on plywood with a special ‘Mal’ cloth. Once this dries and airs out , about five coats of limestone is applied on it along with a mixture of tamarind seed paste. “ We use ingredients like limestone, chalk powder and arabic gum for the embossing effect and 24 carat gold leaf on it.” Modern advancements also mean that poster pains are used for the paints rather than traditional vegetable dyes. “Since most of the orders that come in are custom and made to order, the margin for error is very small. Physically it also takes a toll on your spine due to all the hunching that one has to do, it took me a while to overcome this” adds Vibha when asked about the effort that goes into creating a finished product.

However, the art of Thanjavur paintings is slowly getting eroded over time as it is not getting the required attention and support that it deserves, especially from governmental bodies. A craft that withstood all the years of change that India witnessed over the years and that is stooped in so much tradition is in real danger of being lost. “The art needs to be recognised more and appreciated and also needs exposure through various forums like yours. The paintings made in India are adored the world over with and we do actually have a lot of foreigners who buy our work as they are intrigued and fascinated by Indian art forms” says Vibha vociferously echoing the need for a call to safeguard an ancient practise.