Tanjore painting is a traditional artform from south India, It is a celebration of the region’s vivid creative tradition, named after the city of Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu, India. Tanjore paintings are well-known for their extravagant deities using glowing colors and showy, commonly gold foil.
Tanjore painting started from South Indian artwork of the 16th century, when the Vijayanagara Rayas administered their great kingdom in southern India through the Nayaka Governors. The Nayakas were wonderful at art and classic literature.
Tanjore paintings are also named as palagai padam which means that “picture on a wooden plank” – as they are generally finished on boards made from teak wood. The use of |brilliant colours and gold leaf embellishments are quality of Tanjore paintings, with cut glass, pearls and precious stones also utilized for decoration.
Unique Features of Tanjore (Thanjavur) Painting
100% Handmade
Made by specialist artisans in Thanjavur, this painting is 100% handcrafted. The behavior of the Tanjore paintings are their awesome colour themes, decorative ornament with stones and cut glasses and exclusive gold leaf work.
Made with Real 22 carat gold foil
Tanjore Paintings are utilized to decorate gold foil leaves, which present a royal look to the painting. Real 22 carat gold foil is utilized which continues intact for years and gives youa shining appearance in the dark.
Made with Original Chettinad Frame
The following frames that are usually used for tanjore painting are
- Gold Ornamental frame
- Chettinad Plain frame
- Chettinad ‘V’ frame
- Chettinad Mani frame
- Chettinad V+ Mani frame
Made with semi-precious stones
Traditionally, diamonds and rubies were applied in tanjore painting. They are now replaced with semi-precious stones or glass stones. Moreover, vegetable dyes have been replaced by chemical paints.
