Hyderabad

I just happened to go through my stash of photographs tonight. Well here are two of them which I want to share with you. Both are of the City of Hyderabad, a city which is more than 400 years old. The culture, languages spoken and the cuisine are unique to this city. This is a place which has a blend of both South Indian and North Indian cultures. But still it has evolved into a unique one of its own.

Actually Hyderabad is a twin city-Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

This is a lake which used to cater to the city's water requirement till some years back. But land grabbing and constructions obstructing the flow of rain water into this lake has drastically decreased the inflow of water , so much so that we had drought just two three years back.  This used to be a very famous and perhaps one of the few picnic spots we had. As a child we used to love to go there for picnics. Even now people do go there for picnics especially during the rainy season.  But it has lost its charm now and is much neglected spot.

This photograph was taken on a very cloudy day when we visited there. Every time I visit this place its quite nostalgic. I remember the picnics we had as children with our family, friends and relatives.

 

This is the lake man made, which connects the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad. This was developed by one of our late Chief Ministers, Shri NT Rama Rao. On a bright sunny day, one can see the little boats sailing in the waters from the local sailing club. At nights, its is beautifully lit with lights, and has two flotels. During the summer, this place is thronged by masses who want to escape the confines of their flats and also to relax in the cool breeze.They sell ice creams, corn cobs and other such snacks. One one side we have Eat Street, which contains some small eateries. We also have various exhibitions conducted here; like the book fair, arts and crafts, kite festival and so on.

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...