Thota Vaikuntam Born in 1942, Burugupalli, Hyderabad State, India. Thota Vaikuntam is an Indian Painter. His paintings capture simple lifestyles of villagers like the paddy fields, toddy pots on shoulders of men, the household chores, temple rituals etc. His drawings range from stark charcoal on paper, transparent washes and pencil drawings. The love for women in his paintings can be traced back to his childhood fascination by the impersonations of women characters by the male artists of the theatre groups performing in his village. Vaikuntam started painting in the 70’s and improved his work under his professor, K.G.Subramanyam. When he moved to the city, he did landscapes, visited railway stations and painted people. In 1982, during a visit to his village to visit his ailing mother, Vaikuntam had an epiphany. He realized that he was greatly inspired by culture and pursued it. Thota Vaikuntam paints colourful and elaborately dressed Telangana region men and seductive women. He uses the brightest of reds and yellows. The simple women become larger than life as they fill the small format of his paintings draped in bright Sircilla sarees. He used rich primary colours which gives a sense to his paintings like red, orange etc. because they are Indian colours. He doesn’t like to use 2 colours, because they are not natural and they are not seen in our everyday life. He also worked as art director.