Jaipur’s own diamond in the rough 

Luxettipet: The paintings of Irigirala Tirupati of Jaipur in Mancherial district, who is being described as ‘Yuvakiranam’, are fast turning art-lovers delight. The figures in the paintings appear to be in conversation and reflect feelings that cannot be expressed by poets.

Tirupati, who works as a drawing teacher in Mahatma Jyotiba Phule BC Residential School here is known for his paintings in water colours, collages, acrylic, pencil and portrait work, particularly of persons and natural beauty spots.

Tirupati’s speciality is that he paints while dancing! He was able to paint ‘Sivasankhanadam’ in just five minutes even while dancing at the farewell function in Warangal TTC College in 2013, winning plaudits from many eminent personalities.

He has won many awards and prizes, including a gold medal in drawing competition in Vijayawada in 2001 and a silver medal in the events held in 2003 in Warangal.

Every year, Tirupati conducts free painting camps during summer here for the benefit of interested students, as part of his sustained efforts to give a boost to art and painting.

He has been able to train 40 students in honing their painting skills and finish remarkable works. Tirupati is equally good in sports. As a degree student in Mancherial, he participated in kho-kho national competitions representing Kakatiya University.

He was a participant in eight nationals, including that of juniors in Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab and Maharashtra, and 21 State-level events, bagging medals.

Talking to The Hans India, Tirupati expressed a desire to establish an art school in the district. “I will train those who are interested in painting, as many of them don’t know how to go about it. The school will help them sharpen their skills. I will also strive to bring a special recognition and laurels to the district,” he said.

Son of Mallayya and Rajeshwari, his calibre to become a great artist was recognised by them even as a child. Since then, they had encouraged him with sustained efforts. His teachers at the SW Gurukul School also gave his budding talent the much-needed push, resulting in increased enthusiasm to do well. Tirupati‘s work used to reflect his feeling as a student.

Now, he is able to win praises from people for his paintings depicting the country, the States and the national leaders, nature’s beauty and social interventions. He has already bagged prizes at various competitions.

Tirupati underwent training for sometime after completing his degree course. With the dream of taking up art work as a means of livelihood, he completed the Technical Teacher Certificate course in 2006. Although selected for the BFA course in JNTU, he could not pursue the studies because of poverty.

By P Satyanarayana