Kodanda Rama Swami South Indian Tanjore Painting
Tanjore painting of Kodanda Ramaswamy in traditional style and antique finish. Tanjore Paintings of Tamil Nadu impart richness and royal look to any decor these are placed in. They have a warm, captivating quality that can engage even the onlooker with no interest in art. Thanjavur paintings or Tanjore paintings as these are variously called is one of the old South Indian painting styles dating back to 1600 AD. <br> <br>The Tanjore painting style, mostly based on Puranic themes and comprised of iconographical details of Hindu gods, goddesses and saints adorns the walls of many South Indian temples. <br> <br>Thanjavur paintings are strikingly coloured and have gold foils overlaid on detailed, delicate gesso work beautified with glass beads or even semi precious or precious stones. These are mostly painted after detailed scenes of events from Hindu Puranas or Sthala-puranas. In the hands of an expert Tanjore painter these paintings invariably turn out to be extremely beautiful and much sought after therefore, especially antique Tanjore paintings. <br> <br>This painting of Kodanda Rama Swami is a famous Tanjore painting theme, much like <em>Sri Rama</em> <em>Pattabhishekam</em> (Sri Rama ’s coronation), <em>Meenakshi-Somasundarar Kalyanam</em> (marriage of Meenakshi Devi with Shiva as Somasundarar), <a title="South Indian Tanjore Painting of Andal with Rangamannar Swami" href="https://www.cottage9.com/south-indian-tanjore-painting-of-andal-with-rangamannar-swami-sri-ranganatha.html"><em>Andal-Rangamannar Tanjore Painting</em></a> etc. <br> <br>While this is a new painting it still carries the same grace as that an antique Tanjore painting would. This is art created by a national awardee Tanjore painter who has very beautifully painted the theme of Sri Kodanda Rama Swami strictly adhering to all the iconographical details of this theme. <br> <br>Sri Rama is seen in the middle in dark green hue, standing in a graceful pose holding the majestic <em>Kodanda</em> bow. He wears golden armour and is draped in fine golden cloth that is also wrapped around his arms. Rich crown and jewels adorn the body of Sri Kodanda Rama Swami. He hold s an arrow in his right hand and a quiver on his right shoulder. <br> <br>He is flanked on either side by Sita Devi, his consort and Sri Lakshmana, his younger brother. Sita Devi in red saree holds a lotus delicately. Lakshmana is seen with folded hands. He holds a bow between his arm and shoulder. Hanuman, with folded hands, is also seen standing near the feet of Sri Kodanda Ramaswami. <br> <br>The trio stands on the backdrop of a beautiful South Indian style <em>mandapam</em> (arched pedestal) decorated with colourful garlands. Two celestial being are seen at the top, on the sides showering flowers on them. <br> <br>This is a semi embossed Tanjore painting with the mandapam in the background raised above the painting surface to achieve a small three dimensional effect in the painting. The stones used in the painting are all semi precious stones from Jaipur. Real 22K gold foil was used in the painting. <br> <br>As with all our Tanjore paintings this is created by an award winning artist of Tamil Nadu. A very beautiful Tanjore painting to own indeed.
