“The Father Of Modern Indian Art“, as he is rightly called, Raja Ravi Varma stands out to be one of the few painters who have managed to accomplish a beautiful unison of the Indian traditions with the techniques of European academic art.
Born on 29th April, 1848, in Kilimanoor, a small town of Kerala, Raja Ravi Varma is known for his amazing paintings which mainly revolve around the epics of Mahabharta and Ramayana. He is an artist who is credited with bringing about a momentous turn in the art of India.
On the 168th birth anniversary of Raja Ravi Varma, let’s reminisce the great artist that he was.
Shri Rama conquers Varuna from Ramayana.
Raja Ravi Varma was the first artist to cast the Indian Gods and mythological characters in natural earthy surroundings using a European realism. His dazzling oil paintings of India’s ancient glory delighted turn-of-the-century India and his mass reproductions through oleography reached out to the Indian populace on a large scale.
The Gypsies.
As a small boy, he filled the walls of his home with pictures of animals, acts and scenes from his daily life, which though irked the domestics, were noted by his uncle, Raja Raja Varma as the signs of a blossoming genius. Ravi Varma had been using the indigenous paints made from leaves, flowers, tree bark and soil which his uncle Raja Raja Varma prepared for him. His first set of oil paints was brought from Madras after noticing a newspaper advertisement. Excited and nervous, he handled the paints he had waited for a long time.
As Rukmangada prepares to strike his son, a distraught Sandhyavali swoons.
The small town of Kilimanoor was compelled to open a post office, as letters with requests for paintings arrived from every where. His paintings were categorized mainly into 3 types; Portraits, Portraits-based compositions and Theatrical compositions based on myths and legends. Lot of controversies were also a part of his career.
Jatayu wars with Ravana.
In 1873 Raja Ravi Varma won the First Prize at the Madras Painting Exhibition and he became a world famous Indian painter after winning in the 1873 Vienna Exhibition. In recognition of the immense contribution of Raja Ravi Varma towards Indian art, the Government of Kerala has instituted an award in his name known as the ‘Raja Ravi Varma Puraskaram’
Shantanu and Satyavati from Mahabharta.
Raja Ravi Varma had a bold and an artistic style and a powerful imagination and did not fear to show it in his work. He was the first painter to visualize Gods and Goddesses in a human form. He painted semi-nude paintings of goddesses and Apsaras like Urvashi, Rambha from the time of Mahabharata and Ramayana that got him into a lot of trouble on the grounds of hurting religious values. However he believed in his work and always had an eye for the unexplored.
A galaxy of musicians.
Raja Ravi Varma had started a Lithographic printing press in 1894 to reprint his artwork of Hindu gods and godesses from Ramayana and Mahabharta. However the press was eventually shut down after it caught fire mysteriously. No reason could be traced for the cause of the fire. Rumor has it that the people who opposed his work could have been the cause of the incident.
Randeep Hooda as Raja Ravi Varma in Rang Rasiya.
Four movies have been documented on the life of Raja Ravi Varma. The latest one being ‘Rang Rasiya’ starring Randeep Hooda as the lead and directed by Ketan Mehta.
Vivah Patu, the most expensive saree.
According to the Guinness World Records, the most expensive saree in the world is an 8 kg sari priced at Rs 40 lakh that pays tribute to his paintings. Named as ‘Vivah Patu’, the saree is flanked by 11 paintings by Raja Ravi Varma and is designed by the director of Chennai Silks, Sivalingam.
We can notice the nexus of human relations and Indian culture in his paintings. Raja Ravi Varma has been an inseparable part of the Indian history and a symbol of pride for the nation as whole. He is like the Leonardo Da Vinci of India!