Thanjavur Painting

Thanjavur paintings are devotional icons painted on cloth pasted over a wooden board and coated with a ground of chalk and gum. Raised gesso relief is built up around the figures, overlaid with gold foil and set with glass or semi-precious stones before the figures are painted in bright, flat colours. The style flourished under the Nayak and Maratha rulers of Thanjavur between the 17th and 19th centuries and was registered as a Geographical Indication in 2007.