Learning Tanjore Painting at Our Bangalore Studio: In Person
Written by
Vibha Raj
Learn Tanjore painting in person at our Basavanagudi, Bangalore studio: small batches, fixed class times, all materials provided, and teachers right beside you.
Key takeaways
- Our studio classes are taught in person at our Basavanagudi studio in Bangalore (#55 Surveyor Street, 560004), where you paint in the room with our artists.
- Classes run twice a week, 10:45 AM to 1:30 PM (about two hours forty-five minutes a session), with a weekday batch (Tuesday and Thursday) and a weekend batch (Saturday and Sunday).
- Batches are small, 20 to 25 students, with 3 to 4 teachers moving between easels. Vibha Raj takes the faces and the fine detailing.
- Your materials are laid out for you, and you also get the matching online course recordings on our app to revisit any step at home.
- Seats are limited: we run only two active batches, and new studio batches open just once or twice a year. Over 40 years we have taught 5,000+ students, and more than 95% finish their painting.
There is a particular kind of calm that settles over you when you sit down to paint in a room full of people doing the same thing. The smell of the gesso, the soft scrape of a palette knife, gold foil catching the light on the table next to yours, a teacher leaning in to show you exactly how much pressure the brush needs. For many of our students, learning Tanjore painting in person is not just about the painting. It is about the hours spent making it, somewhere quiet and unhurried, with people who want you to do well.
If that is the experience you are looking for, our studio course is where you will find it. You learn in person, in our studio in Bangalore, alongside a small group, with everything you need already on the table in front of you. Here is exactly how it works, so you know what you are signing up for.
Where we are: our Basavanagudi studio
Our studio sits in Basavanagudi, one of the oldest and most loved parts of Bangalore, at #55 Surveyor Street, 560004. It is an easy place to spend a morning. You walk in, find your spot, and the work is already waiting for you.
Learning in the room has a quiet advantage that is hard to describe until you feel it. When a teacher is standing beside you, they can see the exact tilt of your brush, the way you are holding the board, the spot where the gold foil is lifting, and correct it in a second. Nothing gets lost in translation. You also absorb a great deal simply by looking around, seeing how the person next to you solved the same tricky petal you are stuck on.
When the batches run
Studio classes meet twice a week, from 10:45 in the morning to 1:30 in the afternoon, which gives you a generous, unhurried stretch of about two hours and forty-five minutes each session. That length matters for an art this detailed. You are not rushing to pack up just as you find your rhythm.
We usually run two batches so you can pick the one that fits your week. There is a weekday batch, on Tuesday and Thursday, and a weekend batch, on Saturday and Sunday. The weekday batch suits those with free mornings, and the weekend batch is the gentle choice for anyone whose weeks are full with work. A course runs for several weeks depending on the painting you choose, with the simpler subjects finishing sooner and the more detailed ones taking a little longer.
Small batches, real attention
We keep our studio batches small, between 20 and 25 students, and that number is deliberate. It is small enough that every student gets seen, and warm enough that the room has a life of its own.
Each course is taught by three to four of our teachers, and they move between the easels through the session rather than teaching from the front. Different teachers lead the parts they know best. One will guide you through the embossing and the gold foil work, the stages that feel daunting at first and then become the most satisfying. Vibha Raj, who leads our teaching, takes the faces and the intricate detailing, the parts that bring a deity to life. So at any moment, the right person is beside you for the step you are on.
What a typical studio morning looks like
A session has an easy shape to it. You arrive a little before 10:45, settle at your spot, and take out the painting you have been building over the previous classes. A teacher begins by showing the step of the day to the room, slowly, with the board held up so everyone can see, and then you begin on your own canvas.
From there, the teachers circulate. One stops to fix the way you are laying the gold foil, another shows you how to keep the embossing even, and when it is time for the face, Vibha Raj sits with you for the lines that matter most. There is usually a short pause in the middle to rest your eyes and your hand, a cup of something warm, a look at how others are getting on, and then back to it until 1:30. You leave with that day's step done and the next one to look forward to.
Everything is laid out for you
You do not need to arrange a single material for a studio course. Everything is provided on-site and ready when you arrive: the pre-sketched canvas, the 24 karat gold sheets, the Arabic gum, the chalk base, the brushes, the kundan stones and the crystals. You simply come and paint.
That matters more than it sounds. Sourcing good materials is one of the quiet hurdles that stops beginners before they start, and in the studio it is taken care of entirely. You get to spend your energy on learning the art, not hunting for real gold foil or the right gum.
Miss a session? The recordings are on the app
Life happens, and you may miss a class now and then. When that happens, you are covered. We usually run the same painting as a live online course at the same time, and studio students get access to those online recordings on the Tanjore Collective student app. So if you miss a step, or simply want to watch it again slowly at home before your next class, it is there waiting for you.
The app is also where you will find the course sketches and useful reference material, so the learning does not stop when you leave the studio for the day.
A few seats, a few times a year
We will be honest with you here. Studio seats are limited. We run only two active batches at a time, and new studio batches tend to open just once or twice a year, depending on when our teachers have the time to give it the attention it deserves. We would rather run fewer batches well than many batches thinly.
What that means for you is simple: if an in-person batch is open and it suits your week, it is worth taking your seat rather than waiting for the next window. There is no pressure, only that the timing does not always line up, so it helps to plan a little ahead.
What you walk away with
You walk away with a finished Tanjore painting you made with your own hands, ready for your puja room or your wall. You also receive a certificate, both a digital and a physical copy, naming your course and signed by Vibha Raj.
And you walk away having actually finished, which is the part we are proudest of. More than 95% of our students complete their painting, and in the studio the whole batch tends to finish together. For an art with this many careful steps, that is rare, and it is a large part of why people trust us with their first painting.
Not in Bangalore?
If you cannot come to the studio, you have not missed out. The same painting, the same teachers and the same careful teaching are available in our live online classes, which run two evenings a week over Zoom, with every session recorded. You can read about what a live online class is really like, and if you are weighing the two, whether the studio or online suits you.
To see all three ways of learning side by side, start with our guide to online, studio and DIY classes. And if you are nervous because you have never painted before, read how complete beginners learn with us and why we teach in batches.
Why learn with us
Our students often tell us the studio itself is half the experience.
"I enrolled for the Gajalakshmi studio course and this was my first ever attempt at Tanjore painting. Vibha, her mom and the entire team is amazing. They are very patient and make sure you learn at your pace. The studio environment is also so beautiful and makes the learning a meditative experience."
You would also be in experienced hands. Tanjore Collective was founded by Vibha Raj, an award-winning artist who learned this art from her mother, the master artist Vani Bhaskar, and who still teaches the faces and the fine detailing herself. She teaches alongside Spurthy GB, trained at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath in Bangalore, and Yashaswini Jaishankar, a former student here who now teaches too. In four decades we have taught more than 5,000 students, hold a 5.0 rating from 450+ Google reviews, and our work has been featured in Deccan Herald, Hindustan Times, Deccan Chronicle and Incredible India.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the Tanjore Collective studio?
In Basavanagudi, Bangalore, at #55 Surveyor Street, 560004. The full details are shared with you when you enrol.
What days and times are the studio classes?
Twice a week, 10:45 AM to 1:30 PM. There is a weekday batch on Tuesday and Thursday and a weekend batch on Saturday and Sunday.
How many students are in a studio batch?
Small batches of 20 to 25, with 3 to 4 teachers moving between easels so everyone gets real attention.
Do I need to bring my own materials?
No. Everything you need is provided on-site, including the 24 karat gold foil, kundan stones, brushes and canvas.
What if I miss a class?
Studio students also get the matching online course recordings on our app, so you can catch up on any step you miss and rewatch it at home.
How often do new studio batches open?
We run only two active batches, and new studio batches usually open once or twice a year, so it helps to take your seat when a suitable one is open.
If you are in Bangalore and you have been waiting for the right moment to begin, this is it. Come and sit with us, and we cannot wait for you to fall in love with this art form.
More blog articles
Online vs DIY Tanjore Course: The Honest Comparison (With a Table)
Online or DIY Tanjore course? An honest, side-by-side comparison so you can choose structure or flexibility.
Inside Our DIY Tanjore Video Course: Lessons, Access and Real Feedback
A self-paced Tanjore painting video course with a bundled kit and real teacher feedback on WhatsApp. Here is exactly what you get.
Why 95%+ of Our Tanjore Painting Students Finish Their Painting
Most people who start a creative course never finish. Here, 95%+ do. The real reasons behind our completion rate.
What our students say
Hear from students who've learned the art of Tanjore painting with us.
