My first stint at Tanjore paintings was in 1990, when I attempted it without attending classes. The net did not offer as much information then as today and my knowledge was all tips that I got from friends & relatives who were practicing the art. I made a brave attempt, and these are some of the paintings that I made around that period from 1990 - 2000.

My re- exploration of the art began in 2011. Mrs.Gowri ("Vetri" Manian for all her artistic endeavors).

I have put up a section on Illustrations in Tamil publications. Gowri being a great fan of artist Maniam, she had written to me sharing her joy in seeing the pictures online. Over the next few communications, I realised she is an artist, self taught in sketching and water colours and put up her images in my site. On hearing that she teaches Tanjur painting at her residence in T.Nagar, Chennai, I arranged to have classes with her to learn the intricacies - the proportion of the muck, the extent of embossing, neat pasting of gold foil, exposing of stones, etc.

Here, Iam sharing with you the step by step process of creating a tanjavur painting.

Board preparation
The board thickness depends on the size of the painting. It is best to use atleast 8mm thick board so that it will not bend under the weight.
Make a thin paste by mixing water to white glue (4:1 ratio). Paste one layer of newspaper or brown thin paper. Then paste a layer of thin brown board. These two steps are followed by Gowri as taught by her master in Tanjavur.

And then paste a layer of gada (unbleached) cloth which is free from starch. The cloth is soaked in the white glue water mixture & then squeezed to remove excess glue. This cloth is then stretched on the board. At least a cm of cloth is folded over to the reverse of the board. The cloth is gently smoothened from centre to the edges making sure there are no wrinkles. The excess cloth is pasted firmly on the reverse side using white glue.

Mix chalk powder with white glue and water (2:1:1 ratio, neither too thick nor too watery). Apply three coats of this mixture on the board using a flat 2" brush If the first coat is applied in the horizontal direction, the second can be in the vertical direction. In between each coat, allow time to dry and smoothen the board with fine emery paper. After the final coat, allow the board to dry for a day. Smoothen the board with emery paper and then with a glass bottle or paper weight to get the smooth finished board.

Std sizes: 10x8 ; 15x12 ; 16x15 ; 20x16 ; 18x24 ; 24x30 ; 24x36 ; 36x48 (inches)
Wood used: Wooden planks such as Teak, jackwood (palaa maram) or water proof, termite proof plywood

Tracing the pattern
Trace the pattern on the board leaving 1 cm border. This allowance is to make space while framing.
Then allow space for a border – gold lines - of dots, stones or mirrors.
Then trace the selected picture on the board using yellow carbon.

Pasting stones

Paste the stones using white glue at the required spots.

Muck preparation
Muck is the paste that is used to create the embossed effect in Tanjur painting - the gold foil is later pasted over these raised areas.

The muck is prepared using arabic gum & chalk powder. It is best to prepare the muck a few days ahead of use to make it pliable for use.
Soak the crystal gum in water to make a paste. Filter the gum to make a clear solution. It should be neither too watery or too thick.
To 1 cup of gum, add half a cup of fine chalk powder / french chalk powder. This paste is usually applied to the board in 3 consistencies. The first level when applying over stones is thin – you should be able to drop it on to the board to form a smooth round sphere. At the second level, when applying on plain areas without stones, it should be thicker & finally when doing the intricate design work in thin lines, it should be even thicker.

Applying Muck
Apply the first level thickness of muck over the stones.

For convenience, straight borders and big designs can be given outlines by using a twine. Muck is applied in between the two layer of twines. Or we can create the entire border base with muck without the use of twine.


Once this is dry, the muck is gently wiped off the stones, ensuring that the surrounding area is not damaged.


Then create the second level of embossed designs with the medium muck – dots big & small. They should be rounded at the tip and not sharp.


When this is dry, make the third level of designs with the thickest muck – the thin lines around the stones & other designs.


A layer of german yellow mixed in water is applied over the entire muck area. This could act as a protection against insects and also may form a yellow base around the stones.

Now stick gold foil on all the necessary areas. Place the gold foil on the area, press, take impression & cut out the right size of the foil with a few mm allowance. Apply thick gum on the required surface, paste the gold foil & press lightly with a thin polyester cloth, making sure the gold foil does not move out of position or tear. Then press well so that the impressions are clear and there are no gaps or air pockets. When all the muck has been covered with foil, allow to dry for a day. Then cut off all the excess foils around the design. Scrape out the foil on the stones with a sharp needle or pin.

Paint the design.