From a letter Jocelyn wrote to me, answering my questions:
"Thanjavur - is the cultural capital of South India - the site of a great temple with a wall that is a half a kilometer long that was entirely covered with paintings depicting the Shiva Puranas and the ancient mystical lore of South India . About five hundred years ago a great king came from the North, and brought his artists and gods with him, including Krishna.
In Thanjavur the two great traditions of Shiva and Vishnu became the legend of its art. Thanjavur art has only been done on boards for the past two centuries, until then it was only to be seen in temples and palaces. The tradition now is known for its embossed paintings with gems and gold, using the traditional colors made from vegetable and plant pigment mixed with tree gum. The paintings and not chemical, not toxic, and are very radiant.
We are the first art studio to experiment with painting Mother and Sri Aurobindo in this medium. we have been working with Master Ganeson from Thanjavur for several years - and are having a very fascinating time with him exploring sacred art using this technique."
Additional information from the Web (External sites):
- Short story of the city of Thanjavur (former called Tanjore) in Tamil-Nadu.
- Good explanation of Thanjavur art on the site of the artist Mythili Ganesh.
- History and making of Tanjore Painting on the site of the artist Banu Krishnan.
- Very good article on Thanjavur and Thanjavur paintings, also in a modern way by the artist Vidya Sridharan.