Thanjavur Celebrate arts

Tanjore Arts

Thanjavur is one of the chief political, literary and religious centres of southern India, known for its contribution to Carnatic music, it has produced many classical musicians and Bharathanatyam dancers. It has become the second most important site for the annual Natyanjali dance festival. Tiruvaiyaru, which is close to Thanjavur, is the place where the great musician Saint Tyagaraja lived. Here in Tiruvaiyaru every year in the Tamil month of 'Thai' (second half of January) Thyagaraja Aradhana will be held where musicians from all over the country will participate.Tanjore is well known for bronze sculptures and its unique painting style called Tanjore Painting, a percussion instrument called the Thavil, a divine classical string instrument Veenai and the Bobble head Thanjavur Dolls. The Tanjore paintings are very popular and are known around the world. The artists use a combination of canvas background with glass, metals, etc. to depict and decorate various scenes from Hindu mythology. Tanjore painting is an important form of classical South Indian painting native to the town of Thanjavur (anglicized as Tanjore) inTamil Nadu. The art form dates back to about 1600 AD, a period when Nayakas of Tanjavur encouraged art—chiefly, classical dance and music—as well as literature both in Telugu and Tamil. Tanjore Paintings are known for their surface richness, vivid colours and compact composition.Essentially serving as devotional icons, the themes of most of these paintings areHindu gods and goddesses, and saints as well. Episodes from Hindu tradition are drawn upon as elaboration to the main figure / figures placed in the central section of the picture. Tanjore paintings are in fact panel paintings (done on solid wood planks ) and hence were also referred to as 'palagai padam'( palagai - wooden plank ; padam- picture) in local parlance. In modern times, these paintings have become a much sought after as souvenir during festive occasions in South India; or as pieces to decorate the walls ; or as collectors' item by art lovers. The process of making a Tanjore painting involves many stages. The first stage involves the making of the preliminary sketch of the image on the base. The base consists of a cloth pasted over a wooden base. Then chalk powder or zinc oxide is mixed with water-soluble adhesive and applied on the base. To make the base smoother, a mild abrasive is sometimes used. After the drawing is made, decoration of the jewellery and the apparels in the image is done with semi-precious stones also known as Jaipur stones. Laces or threads are also used to decorate the jewellery. On top of this, the gold foils are pasted. Finally, dyes are used to add colors to the figures in the paintings.High quality gold foil is used to ensure the paintings lasts generations and becomes family heirlooms. They generally appreciate in value and are considered collectibles. Paintings come in three finishes, Classic, Antinque Style and Embossed. In the classic finish, bold colors and striking backgrounds are combined with high glitter gold foil, while in the antique style, the gold's glitter is more sober with more subtle colors and plain backgrounds. The emboss paintings are similar to the classic style but are super embossed to bring about more depth.Tanjore plates which are made of a brass plate containing an image of God at the center made with silver plates of minimum thickness adds to Thanjavur's glory.Thanjavur is also the home of the Tanjore painting, a painting style unique to the region. The town is an important agricultural center located at the heart of the region, known as the "rice bowl of Tamil Nadu". South Zone Culture Centre in Thanjavur is one of many regional cultural centres established by Indian Government to preserve and promote traditional cultural heritage of India.