Madurai Woman Creates World Record For Her Realistic Painting Of Meenakshi Amman Temple

One 22-year-old woman named Monisha K from the Puttuthoppu area of Madurai has created a record. She achieved the world record for the ‘youngest person to make a realistic portrait of Meenakshi Amman on an A3 sheet’. Monisha became one of those rare people who achieved this feat at a very young age and has etched her name in the International Book of Records. Her accomplishment stands as a testament to her exceptional talent, dedication and commitment to her craft. She drew the inspiration for the portrait from the architectural masterpiece of Meenakshi Amman and the annual 10-day festival of Chithirai Thiruviza. This festival has always been the cornerstone of her dedication to Meenakshi Amman. She drew the record portrait during this festival while she was in Chennai. After completing her BTech fashion designer course, Monisha K is currently working as a fashion designer in a private company in Chennai.

Monisha’s interest in art began during the Covid-19 period. She started painting portraits of celebrities and gods to the extent that she started taking orders from customers without going to any class. She made it into a business. She even painted the deceased family members of the customers so realistically that their participation in the family events appeared real to the visitors. Fond of Chithirai Thiruviza, Monisha K was disheartened as she could not attend this festival in her hometown due to work in Chennai. She thought that if she couldn’t go home during this festival, then she might as well bring home to her through her art. “I missed Madurai and Chithirai Thiruvizha dearly and wanted to show my faith through my artwork,” said Monisha K as quoted by a media portal.

Using graphite and charcoal pencil, Monisha K started drawing the portrait of Meenakshi Amman. On an A3 size piece of paper, she started drawing as if Goddess Amman was sitting in a temple. First Meenakshi drew the face, jewels and saree from the head of Amman with a charcoal pencil. Then using watercolour and paint, Monisha drew flowers like Tulsi, Sevvanti and lotus as a garland for the figure. She applied for the International Book of Records by drawing this painting meticulously in a total of 35 hours, separating the image, jewellery and garland separately. She applied in April and achieved the record in the International Book of Records in May.