Under the latest and popular online series of Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya entitled Exhibit of the Week’, the "Tanjavoor Kal Ovium (Tanjavoor Painting) – Tanjavoor painting depicting the image of Lord Krishna, collected from the Nagarthar / Chettiyar community of Karikudi, Shivganga, Tamil Nadu was exhibited on Monday.
Its measurement is -Height -158 cm, Width-127 cm. This is the last Exhibit of the month of September. 2020 through official website, Facebook, Instagram and twitter page of the IGRMS.
In this regard Praveen Kumar Mishra, Director, IGRMS said that this Tanjavoor Kal Ovium (Tanjavoor Painting) depicts Lord Krishna seating on a couch flanked by two female attendants; one holding a chouri of peacock feather and the other is portrayed with a bowl of butter offering to lord krishna. Tanjavoor Kal Ovium (Tanjavoor Painting consists generally of vivid red, deep-green, chalk-white, turquoise-blue and the lavish use of gold foil and inset of glass beads. Sometimes precious stones are also used in the paintings. The Raju community of Tanjavoor and Tiruchi, well known as Chitragara and the Naidu community of Madurai are the traditional artists who skilfully execute paintings in the Tanjavoor style. It is said that the artists originally migrated from “Rayalseema” region of Andhra.
Paintings were made on different themes and the qualities of which differs according to the patron’s interest, urgency and most importantly influence and financial capacity. However, the art was by and large a sacred task to be performed with a reasonable degree of ritual purity and humility by the master craftsmen.
Generally, Tanjavoor Kal Ovium (Tanjavoor Painting) was made on a canvas, pasted over a plank of wood (jack-fruit or teak) with Arabic gum. In the past, artists used natural colours like vegetable and mineral dyes, whereas the present day artists use chemical paints.