2018-04-29 Sun

The artist who brought about a momentous change in the art of India was born on 29th April 1848. Today is the 170th birth anniversary of Raja Ravi Varma, one of the greatest painters and artists of late 19th Century India.

Born in a small village of southern Kerala, Raja Ravi Varma belonged to a family of scholars, poets and artists. The art of painting ran through is veins. Being a famous painter of Tanjore, his uncle saw a spark of art in this young boy and decided to train him. Here is how India acquired such a fabulous painter.

His works are held to be among the best examples of the fusion of European techniques with a purely Indian sensibility. He was the first artist to cast the Indian Gods and mythological characters in natural earthy surroundings using a European realism.

He is particularly noted for his paintings depicting episodes from the story of Dushyanta and Shakuntala, and Nala and Damayanti, from the Mahabharata. Many of his fabulous paintings are housed at Laxmi Vilas Palace, Vadodara.

This excellent artist received many honours in his life. A couple of years before his death, Viceroy Lord Curzon, on behalf of the British King Emperor, bestowed upon Varma the Kaisar-i-Hind Gold Medal. The Government of Kerala has instituted an award called "Raja Ravi Varma Puraskaram" awarded to those who show excellence in the field of art and culture.

Government of India issued a stamp as a tribute, on his 65th death anniversary. This stamp of 10 Paisa features his portrait with his one of the famous paintings of “Damayanti and Swan” - a scene from the story of “Nala - Damayanti”.

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