My native is tanjore, but born and brough up in different parts of tamil nadu. Recently when I had been to tanjore saraswathi mahal, they have a place where they are selling all the tanjore paintings. I wanted purchase one which costed me rs.2500, but the beauty was, that they cant accept cards.
There were also paintings which were costing more than 10k, where in there are no chances that it would get paid by cash, unless they come to the shop tiwce and purchase the same.
There were many who were not able to purchase the paintings because of the same reason, and i too had to cut short my purchase to the amount which i had in my hand.
The person who sits and sells the items in the shops also refers to the same thing.
If something could be done about this, it will be of great help to the bussiness there.
You could also try gurubaran gallery - its just after the mylapore tank ( as you approach from santhome side) - dont take the turn to the temple but keep going towards luz - its the third or fourth stop on the right. they have an excellatn collection, accept cards and also arrange shipping /delivery.
in case you are more adventurous you could try you hand at tanjore painting - but trust me, its back breaking work - if you do it the traditional way - i tried my one and only work - and it took close to two months ( not continous work but almost three nights a week).
the store sells the base boards, stones and foils as well. if you want to take an easier route, you could buy the pre designed boards - ( the plaster is already laid along with the semi precious stones) - you just need to paste the gold foil and apply the final paint and frame.
but its a lasting work - a normal picture could cost you approx inr 2000 to make ( discounting labour cost ofcourse) - and would retail at close to 10k....but its a work that will stay with you for over a century with some basic care...