LORD GANESHA IN TANJORE ART
Lord Ganesha, the Hindu God is the son of lord Siva and Parvathi Devi. Ganesha has the elephantine countenance with a curved trunk and big ears being his speciality. He is popularly known as the God of knowledge and wisdom. He is also called as “Mooshika Vaahan”. People initially pray to Lord Ganesh before they start with any work as he is considered to be the first God of Hindu religion. He is also considered to be the lucky God of people. Kids also find Lord Ganesha to be very attractive as his face resembles that of an elephant face.
Ganesha in Tanjore painting is very special as it is not of a printed one but full of hand work. Artists work on these tanjore paintings and they use Gold in it and this adds on to its speciality. Tanjore painting is a very god option for gifting as he is a god for all religion. be it north, south, east, or west people worshipping Ganesh is huge.
Ganesh can be on many forms in Tanjore paintings. To quote a few, we have Dancing Ganesha, Side face Ganesha, Walking Ganesha with umbrella, Bal Ganesh, Leaf Ganesh, five face Ganesh etc.
Ganesha is considered to be the most important God and any house will have Ganesha as its deity and people will give preference to Ganesh first place. Ganesh Chathurthi is also celebrated in a very grand and auspicious manner throughout India.
People who begin with new business or ventures initially pray to Lord Ganesh for their venture to go on smooth and successful. That too if it is bought in Tanjore paintings it is equal to buying in Gold as it is made of 24ct Gold foil. In Tanjore paintings, many forms can be made in Ganesh. namely, Semi emboss, Fully emboss and Flat work.
Flat work is the traditional form of tanjore art work. In case of semi emboss, a projection pops out from the painting giving you a milder emboss effect. But in case of 3D emboss, it gives you a complete projection and 3D effect of the lord viewing to be realistic. The depth of the painting is high and unique. The demand for Lord Ganesha is high and can be decorated well with mandapams, his Vaahan mouse and ladoos.