Kondiah Raju has an important place in the evolution of Indian Calendar art, which gained popular attention with Ravi Varma and continued on through artists such as S. M. Pandit, Mulgaonkar and others in the 20th century.
Kovilpatti Kondiah Raju was born on 7 November 1898 in a house at Malaiya Perumal Koil Street, Mylapore, Madras (now Chennai) to a family of traditional artisans.
Kondiah Raju initially learnt painting from several teachers, including Murugesa Naiyakar and N. Subba Naidu, a well known artist from Madurai.
[3] In 1920, he joined the Ramana Maharishi Ashram at Thiruvannamalai, further evidence of his spiritual trait that would characterise his near nomadic life and resurface time and again in him.
His Gajendra Motcham, Meenakshi Kalyanam and many other religious prints are considered unrivalled masterpieces and continue to adorn the puja rooms of South Indian households and smaller shrines across the Tamil country.
Though he had earned a fortune through his artistic commissions, he never married, distributed his wealth to others, and lived a simple life like a saint with one shirt, one veshti and one towel.
The Rajus along with the Naidus were also known for their paintings and portraits on wooden panels, glass and mica with delicate gesso work highlighted by gold foils and semi-precious gems.
Further it should also be remembered that Kondiah Raju like his forebear Ravi Varma was compelled to stick to not only the canonical iconography traditionally prescribed for the Hindu divinities but also cater to the tastes of the burgeoning Indian middle classes.