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....

BATIK

Batik is a traditional dyeing technique. Wax is used to resist the colour(s) to form the design. Its quite laborious. But history reveals that there were proofs of using this technique by Egyptians as early as 4th century BC to produce cloth for wrapping mummies. This art is found in Java Indonesia, Malaysia, China Japan, India and Africa. But the most popular ones are from Java.

The word "Batik" is said to originate from Java. It is pronounced as "Bateek". It means written with wax.

The procedure involves use of hot wax. One has to work very quickly and efficiently since the wax keeps on solidifying.

But the beauty in this art depends on the fact that one need not be a great artist. Just  basic skills of drawing or sketching can be enough. First planning and making a sketch and then using the design is ok, but then many a time just being spontaneous produces some beautiful pieces.

Generally natural fabrics like pure cotton or silk cloth is used. Any natural fiber like jute or linen are also fine. The synthetic ones wont dye properly. The finer the cloth, the intricate the design. But silks are expensive and difficult to handle for the beginners. Fine cottons are there fore extensively used.

A mixture of Bee wax and Paraffin wax is used. Bee wax has the tendency to seep into the cloth thereby attaching itself to the cloth. Paraffin wax is very brittle and cracks easily, helps in producing the crackling effect for which the Batik so famous for. An ideal mix would be 30: 70, but it can be varied to suit the design and the effect.

The cloth is fixed to a frame to keep it taut. After tracing the design, hot wax is applied with brush in those areas where the colour to be dyed is not required. Once the areas in the design are filled, the cloth is wrinkled to produce the crackling effect. Then it is dyed, obviously in cold dyes as hot ones melt the wax. Once dipped in dye, its not squeezed but let to dry naturally. This process of applying wax in unwanted areas and dyeing is continued till required design is got. Then its is dipped in hot water to get rid of the wax.

In India, West Bengal is very famous for its Batiks. Wall hangings, bedsheets, pillow cases, dresses made out of these materials and especially saris and blouses are quite famous. Sometime ago I visited one of the exhibitions conducted by our textile ministry and happened to pick up some Batik blouses. I also have some saris, but need to photograph them. I just cant resist a beautiful Batik. These two here are blouses.

See this combination of green and black. this design is on the sleeves.

Here see the design on the neck. So beautiful.

This is a dark purple, and design is on the neck line.

These are the sleeves.

This one here is a long kurtha or tunic with mirror work. See the paisley design.