Folk painting from Bengal

Today I am going to show you some folk painting from Bengal. Bengal is very famous for its Kantha work, beautiful cottons and silk textiles, Batiks and  terracotta among many. But very few know that it is also famous for its paintings specially on fabrics. The motifs and designs are of coarse folk, but have been beautifully adopted to suit the modern tastes.They are so beautiful, especially on silks not that the cottons are any less.

The fabrics used are basically silks and them fine cottons. These days they are using fabric colours or dyes for painting.


This sari was painted using fabric paints. I have used a fine cotton sari . I was apprehensive of using costly silks. Though I am passionate about painting, especially on fabrics and used to experiment  a lot, my   painting skills  are very limited and  I have picked up my brush again after a very long time. The design - I have shamelessly copied from one on my friends sari which she bought on a trip to Kolkotta. I could not come any where near the original one painted by the artist from Bengal. It was so beautiful that I copied the design, but I think I have failed to capture it as it was.

Here it is...

This is the pallu ...design showing Lord Krishna...with his beautiful lotus eyes and peacock feathers...

 

 Closeup look

 

 Another one

 

 Motifs worked on the other part of the sari

 

Different motifs.

With all my other obligations, I took a long time in painting this. It was  difficult since I was copying the design and wanted it to look like the original..LOL! I dont think I want to do any more of these elaborate ones..though I am passionate about painting...

Anklets

Indian women since ancient times like to adorn themselves with jewelery-whether made of precious metals like gold silver or gems. In ancient times the queens or princes or even the rich women had what we call "Edu Varala Nagalu". Edu in Telugu means seven, Varalu means day and Nagalu means jewelry. That is they had one entire set of jewelry for each day of the week. Apart from them, they had other special pieces which were worn on ceremonies or special occasion. Sathybhama, one of the wives of Lord Krishna had in fact so many precious jewels to wear. She was very proud of her riches and used to be very egoistic; so much so that the Lord had to teach her a lesson to be hum,ble. I will try to post separately on different pieces of jewelry that were worn.

Anyway we Andhra women also do not lag behind in adorning ourselves. One of the pieces of jewelry which is worn on the feet is the Anklets known as Gajjelu in Telugu or Payal in Hindi. These are chain type or flexible and are worn by sophisticated and rich women . Anklets are usually made of silver studded with precious/semi precious stones, pearls, beads etc. Gold is also used by the rich.

Another type is Kadiyalu which are stiff circular type. These are worn by the rural folk. They are very simple heavy but I love the authentic rural designs. I want to own one. But haven't got a chance to do so yet.

Here are a few of the ones I own. Photographing them was very difficult as they are shiny and dont photograph well.

This is one simple designed.

This is a bit broad with few sotnes.

This is studded with stones

This is plain gold one

This one has pearls though not so precious ones.


This is studded with stones and little Meena kari work-that is enamel painted green and red leaves.

I do have some more but photographing them is very difficult as they reflect light. But will try to share with you all some other time .

Hope you liked them...please post your comments...

26/11

Remembering 26/11

The day..26th of November 2008 ...can any Indian forget? All of us still remember the events as if it just happened yesterday. Terrorist attacks in Mumbai killing so many people and officers, the whole nation in fact the whole world watched the horror..we just could not sleep. All of my family friends, relatives, colleagues, neighbors were glued to our TV sets and  just watched through the horrific incidents unfolding in front of our eyes.

Unbelievable, agitated, frustrated, angered and what else? There are no words to descibe our feelings at that time. Even today, its a wound not healed.

May the souls of all those who lost their lives during the events rest in peace. Some of our best officers lost their lives fighting for the country on that day. May their souls rest in peace and May God give the stregth to their families in coping up with their losses.

My family, friends and relatives have assembled at my place to pray for all those people who lost their lives or lost their kith, kin or friends and are grieving.

In this hour we need to join hands across the various barriers of caste, creed, race, culture, languages, and countries and any other differences to stay united and pray for peace and happiness. We are all humans and thus ONE. We have a right to happiness and peace. Say NO to Violence be it any type, NO to Discrimination being any type and NO to Terrorism.  Let us all resolve our petty differences, being God's creation and stay together. We Indians believe in Vasudaiva Kutumbikam ie Universal family...after all world is but a huge family......

There are so many other issues like poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition, diseases, pollution, saving our planet and so many more against which we have to fight. Why waste our time, energies and precious resources in all other petty issues?

Let us join hands to make this planet a beautiful place to live in...just by doing what ever little we can every day every second....be it a small word of kindness..a small hand stretched forward to help the down trodden......a little smile to gladden a heart which is grieving, a little pat on the back ..a finger to wipe away the tears..a hug....just a little.... just a second ....but it can make a BIG difference....