Madurai Artist Paints Lord Shiva’s 64 Thiruvilayadal on PostcardsMadurai Artist Paints Lord Shiva’s 64 Thiruvilayadal on Postcards Thangaraj, an art teacher from Avaniyapuram, Madurai, has embarked on a unique artistic journey to depict Lord Shiva’s 64 Thiruvilayadal (divine games) on postcards. Inspired by his childhood fascination with cartoons, Thangaraj has honed his skills over the years, exploring various mediums including pencil drawings, portraits, sculptures, and watercolours. His innovative idea of painting postcards stemmed from his desire to revive the once-ubiquitous mode of communication. He meticulously visited Shiva temples, studied books in libraries, and crafted pencil sketches before using colored pencils and a black pen to complete the paintings. In 60 days, he captured the essence of each Thiruvilayadal on the tiny canvas of a postcard. Additionally, he has depicted stone sculptures and dance forms in his pencil and watercolour drawings. Thangaraj’s next ambitious project is to illustrate the meanings of Thirukkural’s 1330 couplets through his paintings, making the wisdom of the ancient text accessible to the younger generation. Through his artistic endeavors, Thangaraj aims to spread awareness about Tamil culture and tradition while inspiring others to appreciate the beauty of handcrafted art.
Painting is one of the oldest art forms. It has evolved over time. Through brush strokes, profound ideas can be conveyed. In this context, Thangaraj from Avaniyapuram, Madurai, has created impressive paintings on postcards, illustrating the 64 Thiruvilayadal of Lord Shiva (Tiruvilayadal Purana is an epic that describes the sixty-four divine games played by Lord Shiva). From a young age, Thangaraj developed an interest in painting by drawing cartoons found in Ambulimama books. Gradually, he moved from cartoon drawings to portrait paintings, sculptures, pencil drawings and watercolour drawings, and eventually became an art teacher in a private school. While exploring different types of painting, he wanted to do something innovative. He realised that postcards, once carriers of messages, were now almost redundant due to the prevalence of mobile phones, and decided to spread awareness about postcards by painting the 64 Thiruvilayadal of Shiva on them.
To achieve this, Thangaraj visited various Shiva temples to gather information and also studied books in libraries. He started with pencil sketches and then used colored pencils and a black pen to complete the paintings. The entire process took him 60 days, painting one or two Thiruvilayadal each day to complete all 64 in 60 days.
In addition, in the Meenakshi Amman temple area, where mobile phones are banned, he drew numerous stone sculptures, including that of sage Patanjali, the stone carvings around Swami Sannadhi and the statues in the dark mandapam, using pencil to accurately depict the historical period.
In the category of watercolours, Thangaraj has artistically depicted dance forms like Bharatanatyam, Poikkal Kuthirai, Karakattam and Parai Attam using pencil and watercolour. Till date, he has drawn more than 150 miniature paintings on visiting cards, depicting natural scenes and cartoon portraits using pencil, pen, sketch and coloured pencil. He has also skillfully painted natural landscapes and mountain scenes on palm leaves.
Thangaraj’s next aim is to illustrate the meanings of Thirukkural’s 1330 couplets through his paintings so that the essence of Thirukkural is easily understood by the younger generation.
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first print: July 6, 2024, 12:25 PM IST
