South Indian Arts & Crafts - Tanjore Painting.

Radhakrishna. Image source: Ajantha Arts & Crafts

Origin: Thanjavoor, Tamilnadu, India – 16^th century.

From lush green and prosperous Thanjavoor comes a vibrant and rich school of art, renowned for its gorgeous surface embellishments, striking use of vivid colours, tight compositions and breathtaking beauty. Crafted with meticulous care, Tanjore paintings are unique and captivating. The most distinguishing feature is the use of pure gold foils, precious and semi-precious stones, pearls and glass pieces. This form of art uses a combination of skills such as painting, embossing, metal patch work and overlay work. Being a complex, time consuming, laborious and expensive form of art, the rewards for such art is usually handsome.

Primarily depicting Hindu Deities, it is no wonder that the art flourished in an era when dynastic rulers built marvelous temples and patrons promoted classical traditions. The figures in these paintings are large and the faces are round and divine. Nowadays, Tanjore paintings can be seen on the walls of puja rooms and adorning drawing rooms.

The process, in brief: 

Tanjore - Vinayagam

Image source: Wikimedia Commons

♦ A cloth is pasted onto a wooden base.

♦ Chalk powder or zinc oxide is mixed with an adhesive and is applied on the base and smoothened out.

♦ A preliminary sketch is then drawn.

♦ Layers of paste (muk) made from Arabic gum and limestone are moulded and applied on the sketch to create a three-dimensional effect.

♦ Gems of varied hues, are inlaid onto this layer of paste

♦ Non-fading gold leaf is added for the dramatic effect.

♦ Colour dyes are painted on.

Contribution - SY (Team - The Indian Me)

Rivers in Indian Literature 3 The Ganga.

The mighty Ganga has a history rich in legends and myths and forms an integral part of India’s terrestrial, cultural and spiritual life. Ever since the belief that Ganga was the mother of Bhishma, the pillar of Aryan culture, she became a symbol of fertility and a Mother Goddess that nursed, reared and sustained life. Such a river, therefore, struck a chord with Indian writers. 

In Sanskrit literature, the epics and the Puranas she has been portrayed in her most magnificent form. Even though she’s referred to as a mother, she is seen as a young, beautiful and sparkling maiden, vivacious, wayward and sometimes unpredictable. While the Padma Purana mentions her as a lovely-eyed maiden, the Pranatoshni Tanta describes her as of sixteen years.

The Ganga easily lent herself to glorious poetry. There’s a flood of them – Ganga Lahiri by Jagannath Pandit, a court poet of Shah Jahan. Ganga-Varnan by Bhartendu. Ganga Tharanga by Padmakar. Nand Kishore Mishra’s Gangabharan. Ratnakar’s Gangavatra. Surdas and Tulsidas have referred to Ganga for her scenic beauty, religious fervour and symbolic reflection of life. Similies and metaphors acredit rainbow attributes to the river. This magnificence of description is not only a literary marvel but also a fitting tribute to the Holy Ganga.

Writers from different regions have hailed the Ganga too. Tukaran, amongst others, in Marathi. Subramanyam Bharati in Tamil. Vallathore in Malayalam. Bindre in Kannada. Maya Dharam Singh in Oriya. Rabindranath Tagore in ‘Jiban Smriti’ and ‘Rabindra Rachanabal’ considers the river as the sacred thread of Indian Yajna, a thread connecting memories of wisdom, religion and meditation. The flow of the Ganga in itself is an introduction to India. 
Kenya-born G.V. Desani bursts into rhapsody, “Blessed be her stars and the little crescent moon, caressed by her waves, the deathless spirit of the beautiful Ganga too sleeps.”

Contributed by Suresh Yesuthasen

Rivers in Indian Literature 2 RigVeda

Just like the seven seas, the Rig Veda refers to the seven rivers or Sapthasindhu. It is believed that these are the five rivers of Punjab (Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej), Indus and Sarasvati.

The liberation of sapthasindhu by Indra, the God of Rain, through the slaying of Vritra (literally, the obstacle) has been gloriously encapsulated in verse – Book 1, Hymn XXXII. Indra. 

Here’s a translation by Ralph T.H. Griffith:
1 I will declare the manly deeds of Indra, the first that he achieved, the Thunder-wielder.
He slew the Dragon, then disclosed the waters, and cleft the channels of the mountain torrents.

 10 Rolled in the midst of never-ceasing currents flowing without a rest for ever onward.
The waters bear off Vrtra's nameless body: the foe of Indra sank to during darkness.

 12 A horse's tail wast thou when he, O Indra, smote on thy bolt; thou, God without a second,
Thou hast won back the kine, hast won the Soma; thou hast let loose to flow the Seven Rivers.

 It should be known that there is an entire ‘Hymn of Praise of Rivers’, the “Nadistuti Sukta”. Book 10, Hymn 75, is important for the reconstruction of the geography of the Vedic Civilisation. 

 Sindhu (the Indus) is addressed as the mightiest of rivers and mentioned specifically in verses 1, 2, 7, 8 and 9. Verse 5 enumerates ten rivers, beginning with Ganga and moving westwards:

 O Ganga, Yamuna, Sarasvati, Shutudri (Sutlej), Parushni (Iravati, Ravi), follow my praise! 
O Asikni (Chenab) Marudvridha, Vitasta (Jhelum), with the Arjikiya (Haro) and Sushoma (Sohan), listen! 

 The Sarasvati is hailed as ámbitame nádītame dévitame sárasvati, "best mother, best river, best goddess" (2.41.16). Praise for her is succinct: "is pure in her course from the mountains to the sea" (7.95.2) and that she “poured milk and ghee” (8.21.18).
Contributed by Suresh Yesuthasen

Rivers in Indian Literature 1

Historically, it was flowing water sources that made ancient civilisations thrive, not merely human intervention. All the great civilisations and human habitations were located along the rivers. Agrarian and artisan communities needed them for sustenance and traders, for transportation. Very early, these rivers proved highly inspirational to the writer. While inspiration brought about glorious fiction and fantasy, facts gave us detailed historical works.

Right from the Vedas and Epics, Indian Literature has found ample space for rivers. It’s not just the metaphorical usage of riverine characteristics that have inspired writers and poets, but river as central to narrative. To life, conflict, romance and more.

Rivers have offered tremendous narrative scope. The strip of water has provided effective division between communities in bitter conflict; building up to angry waters rising and swallowing up people, in the climax. Love never used other geographical features as effectively as the river. Crossing a river meant hope; especially when the protagonist took a boat across to a distant city, to earn and fend for his impoverished family. The river brought in good cheer, through the trader - the harbinger of news, while he sold trinkets to giggling little girls. Right from the legendary Saraswati to the mighty Ganga to the scenic Bharathapuzha, in Kerala to the fictional Chevathar (David Davidar’s The House of Blue Mangoes), Indian writers have found in rivers a grounded reality for all ages and sexes unlike the narrative the mighty ocean offers.
The river...
...She flows through Indian Literature with such ease. And, we’ve all experienced the glorious use of several river settings.

 Contribution by Suresh Yesuthasen