Some Ponniyin Selvan themed tarot card designs! In no particular order. And there will be more!
Some design notes under cut
The Fool : Chose Vandiyadevan for this one. The Fool Card I referenced had a dog in it and I chose to replace that with Semba. Instead of a traveller's bindle, Vandiyadevan here is holden a sheathed sword, symbolic of Aditha Karikalan's sword he received in the beginning of the story. Instead of snowy mountains, around him are green Nilgiri Hills and black basalt rocks, typical for the Deccan plateau.
The Magician: Chose Ravidasan for this. My train of thought was essentially = Sorcerer? Magician? Kinda?. Kept the left hand pose same as the original card but replaced the white wand with the fire in hand which is how the PS movies portrayed Ravidasan praying to Kottravai (I haven't read the books). Chose not to draw anything else from the original card, since it didn't fit Ravidasan's aesthetic and I also kinda liked the look of the card without anything 🤷♀️
The Hierophant: This one's Madhurantakan. It just fits him so well! My intention with this was to draw him sitting on a throne in a Chola style Shiva temple, but I found it more appealing to have a blurry/dark background with the lighting on Madhurantakan himself, which ended up making the background details kinda pointless. The two people kneeling are supposed to be Periya Pazhuvettaraiyar and his brother, though honestly, interpret it how you will. Original card ref.
The Hermit : Chose Alwarkadiyan Nambi for this. Replaced the lamp from the original card with one of those deepams that have a deity at the center and are throne shaped. The one my mom owns/ the ref I had in mind has Vishnu at the center so it sorta felt fitting, at least on a personal note. He's supposed to be standing on a beach but unsure if that's coming across (I'm not that great with backgrounds....)
Breaking my personally imposed rule of posting these in sets of 4 because 1) I've been slow, 2) I really wanted to post, and 3) I put too much work into The Death card and feel like half skeleton Death Aditha Karikalan deserves more of a spotlight.
All PS tarot cards
Design notes under the cut
The Death : The card I referenced shows death as a skeleton wearing an armor, riding a horse across what looks like a battlefield. Biblical interpretation of Death does categorize it as one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse, just like war. And well, Aditha on his white horse, bearing the Chola flag, brings both wherever he treads! The man kneeling in front of him with his crown fallen is the Rashtrakuta leader from one of the first scenes in the movie. While technically Aditha Karikalan doesn't kill him, the action itself adds up to Aditha's own eventual death.
The Devil : My reference for this once again has biblical themes though with this one, I chose not to particularly stay true to the biblical interpretation. Instead of Devil, its more like a devious antagonist. The person featured is Devaralan and he is chained to a Kottravai statue. You may have to up your brightness to get all details in this one (sorry) though Kottravai's mount, the head of a black buck, is completely hidden by Devaralan, as if the chained Devaralan is the one leading Kottravai instead of the goddess guiding him. The Devil's path is such, perhaps?
