Madurai Veeran and His Two Lovers Pommi and Vellaiyamma

Madurai Veeran – the hero of Madurai, a warrior shown seated on a white horse with his consorts. Below the horse, is a warrior, the same hero, killing a tiger while accompanied by a dog. All of the figures in the upper section of the painting wear horizontal marks on their forehead, possibly ash, making them devotees of the god Shiva.
This is a representation of the popular hero Madurai Veeran, and his two lovers Pommi and Vellaiyammal. Veeran, according to epic narratives was under the employ of Tirumala Nayakkar (1623–1659), when he fell in love with the temple dancer Vellaiyammal. He was caught trying to elope with her from the Madurai Meenakshi temple, and his limbs were amputated, only to be returned when the Nayakkar prays to the goddess, but Veeran eventually beheads himself. Nayakkar then builds a temple for the hero, who is now considered to be the family deity of many backward and underprivileged castes in Tamil Nadu.
The iconography of Madurai Veeran is very similar to those of the deity Khandoba, who is worshipped in Maharashtra and Karnataka. During the rule of the Tanjore Maratha, some of the features of Khandoba iconography merged with that of Madurai Veeran, resulting in almost similar iconographic details.
The painting on glass is done in the same style and composition of a Thanjavur painting including the frontality and the relative size of the figures. Painting on glass continued in Thanjavur till the 20th century and was mainly to provide affordable devotional and religious images to middle-class households small temples and other religious gatherings.