Thanjavur Big Temple - A timeless beauty

These are the photos taken long time back and present the beauty of the big temple even high resolution camera can not. I am not aware of who took the photos and when these photos were taken but I am damn sure these photos would blow your mind.

Thanjavur Big Temple

Thanjavur Big Temple

Thanjavur Big Temple

Thanjavur Big Temple

Thanjavur Big Temple

Thanjavur Big Temple

Tanjore paintings - Chola's or Nayak's?

              

             Tanjore Painting is a peculiar, ancient, miniature type of painting named after the place Thanjavur (called Tanjore in English) in Tamil Nadu, a Southern state of INDIA. The art form dates back to about 1600 CE, a period of Nayaks of Thanjavur. This art can be linked to Chola periods. Chola murals were created by applying lime plaster first and then drawing over the plaster. But in Tanjore painting of Nayak period, chalk powder or limestone powder was applied and then drawing was made. Natural colors from plants and fruits were used in Chola and Nayak periods. So, the only difference between Chola murals and Tanjore paintings of Nayak periods is Tanjore painting was decorated with stones and gold foils.Of course, Tanjore paintings can not stand next to Chola murals size. Historians can recollect that Nayak paintings were hiding Chola murals when the murals were first discovered. Is Nayaks of Thanjavur getting the glory for Chola art?I leave this question to people who are well-versed in this subject. Lets proceed further to know about Thanjavur paintings.

             Typical Thanjavur painting would consist of one main figure, a deity, with a well-rounded body and almond shaped eyes. The painting would be made by the gilded and gem-set technique. Gem-set technique is a technique where gold foils and sparkling stones are used to highlight certain aspects of the painting like ornaments dresses etc. The painting would be bright and colorful and breathtakingly beautiful. 

 Paintings were done on materials like wood, glass, mica, and exotic media such as ivory, murals and manuscripts.The early paintings were embedded with real Diamonds, Rubies and other precious stones. 

Over a period of time changes have occurred in the stylization - for example, the figures are no longer round. Presiding deities of various famous temples are also being depicted in the paintings. Real stones are replaced by semi-precious and artificial stones. 

“Religious paintings with a royal heritage” is the best definition for Thanjavur paintings. Tanjore painting ranks among the greatest traditional art forms for which India is noted worldwide. 

 

Chola murals - The Brihadisvara temple paintings

The Chola paintings in the Brihadisvara temple rank next only to the Buddhist paintings at Ajanta in Maharashtra. While the murals at Ajanta come under the tempera variety, those at the Big Temple are called frescoes. The artists at Ajanta applied a coat of plaster on the wall of the caves and did the paintings after the plaster dried up. The paintings survive to this day because the painting material holds together the pigment in it and the plaster. But the Chola-age artists used a more difficult technique at the Brihadisvara temple. They applied lime plaster on the wall and painted the murals on the plaster while it was still wet. This demanded that they should do the sketches and complete the painting before the lime plaster dried up. This might not be easy given the humidity conditions in Tamil Nadu. In this technique, the paintings formed part and parcel of the thin lime plaster. Both the plaster and the painting integrated together. The frescoes are, therefore, more durable but their execution would have been very difficult.

The murals, each 15 feet tall and 10 feet wide (4.5 meters x 3 meters), are about 1,000 years old. They are located in the narrow and dark passage around the temple's sanctum sanctorum. The great Chola king Raja Raja I built the Brihadisvara temple between CE 1000 and CE 1008 and the paintings were done between CE1008 and CE1012.

Most visitors now have no access to these paintings because of their location. But they can now visit the exact photographic reproductions at Interpretation centre on the temple premises.

The credit for photographing the murals in exact detail goes to the Archeological Survey of India team comprising Dr. T. Satyamurthy, P.S. Sriraman and N. Thyagarajan.

• Single frame of mural depicting Siva as Nataraja.

• The above Nataraja picture in the montage, accurate reproduction of Mural.

• Rishi and Rishikumara

• Village elders reading a document

• Royal ladies

• Vishnu
• A demon and his consort

• Siva as Tirupurantaka

• The Banyan Tree - There is a sudden change in the mood among the animals and birds as a cobra enters the scene.
• A Royal lady

Courtesy: Archeological Survey of India