Tanjore paintings in Chennai- Gurubaran
Tanjore paintings in Chennai is a very specialized art form . It has its origins in Thanjavur , also known as Tanjore , in the State of Tamil Nadu in India.
There is a great deal of influence of the Deccan ,Maratha and even European painting styles in Tanjore paintings .
Gods, goddesses & saints are the primary subject matter of Tanjore paintings. The subject matter of the paintings are inspired by religious texts and Hindu mythology. Most of the paintings focus on a picture of a God with his consort or a goddess with her friends . It is not common to find Tanjore paintings that tell a complete story with multiple characters or themes. By & large , a single theme is depicted in most paintings.
Gurubaran, in the Luz Shopping Market , is a well known shop for Tanjore paintings in Chennai.
The Luz area main road, where this shop is located , is a crowded one with several small shops on either side . Gurbaran ,in comparison ,is a bigger shop . In fact they have 2 showrooms on this road.
How the Tanjore paintings in Chennai is created
There are glass paintings that you will find on the ground floor of this showroom. If you are interested to buy a Tnajore painting, the staff will point you the way downstairs. In the fairly big basement area, you are likely to find artists working on new paintings. Some artists would be outlining the sketches for the paintings, while some others would be giving the final touches for the paintings. It is interesting to see the paintings at various stages of completion.
In another corner of the basement , you will encounter staff who are busy segregating the precious stones and gold foil that would be used in the paintings . The stones are typically imported from abroad. Red ,green & blue stones , mirror embellishments and gold foil papers are the raw materials that are used in Tanjore paintings.
While there are many paintings that are readily available in the store ,they do undertake orders for customization.
The prices range from Rs2000 /piece to Rs20,000/piece on average. The prices depends on the size and intricacy of the work involved in the paintings .
