Traditions

Jayalakshmi and her husband are the founders of Basavangudi based Asha Dollmakers which highlight tradition as well as creativity during weddings. According to old Mysore wedding traditions, it is considered auspicious to give dry coconut, roasted chana, jaggery and arishina-kumkuma (turmeric and vermilion) to the bride during Vara pooje, a function to welcome the groom to the wedding. Over the years, innovations have led to creative figurines dressed to look like traditional dolls.Wedding contractors and marriage halls place bulk orders with individuals or small-scale units producing such figurines. Although the price varies depending on customer specifications and quantity, the cost…

  Diwali is coming and lamps are being churned out in large numbers and available on street   corners for sale.Pic by Ravi Kaushik.⊕

 On Vijaya Dashami Day, the Casa Ansal Apartment Owners' Association (CAAOA) organized a Garba and Dandiya evening.    Several of the residents put up food and clothing stalls, at which the sales were brisk.  The effigy of Ravana...representing the powers of evil and darkness...was kept ready to set on fire at the end of the evening.   The ladies participated enthusiastically in the Dandiya ras, wearing traditional Gujarati garb.   Here are one of the apartment buildings senior residents, who are connoisseurs of music and dance, who were enjoying themselves that evening!  "The sense of community gets fostered by such cultural events," remarked Mrs. Alamelu, one…

Today's a day of acknowledging our dependence on our tools and equipment. Vehicles are cleaned and decorated with banana leaves, sandalwood paste and kumkum. The fire engines in the station at Sarjapur Road, were duly spruced and worshipped. Indeed they are life saving 'Ayudhas'. Fire engine. Pic: Meera K. ⊕

 I decided to visit my friends Ganu and Hema, and their daughter, Janani, who's recently come home for good, after having done her Masters' degree at Pittsburgh. They always put up a lovely display for Navarathri:A "kolu" or "golu" is supposed to be a representation of the universe, so anything you wish to can be put in....human beings, animals, gods, flowers....Here's an idol which is half Ganesha, half Hanuman, that I've never seen before:These dolls/figures are often sold in "sets". Here's a beautiful set of Mamallapuram, or Mahabalipuram, on the shores near Chennai:There is also a lovely seascape painting to…

It’s a busy time for Bengali Associations across Bangalore as they are in the midst of organising Durga Pujo. This is the time of Puja, new clothes and getting together with the community to share a rich heritage of performing arts and cuisine.  One such Pujo is being organised by Bengali In Bangalore (BinB), a non-residential Bengali community online. The theme for this year’s pujo is Awkal Bodhan which depicts a scene from the Ramayana of Lord Rama doing a puja before going to Sri Lanka to rescue Goddess Sita. Apart from this there will also be Dhunuchi Naach, a…

  Where does "kolam" or "rangoli" fit in? Art? Tradition? Culture? Hospitality? ...All of the above it seems to me!  Here's a lovely rangoli in front of my friend Alamelu Ramaswamy's home: It's such lovely patterns that invited the passerby to enter, and feel at home...Rangoli is one of the traditions that I love. ⊕

  Anju Sudarshan, who runs the Ranga Shankara Cafe very successfully, is serving Onam Sadhya on Sunday, the 11th of September, 2011, at the Cafe.Anju is well-known for serving dishes that often resonate with the theme of the play being staged at Ranga Shankara. The lunch is priced at Rs. 185, and will be served from 11.30am onwards.Happy Onam to all of you! ⊕

 WHITEFIELD DIARIES:Saythu and Jaaga Media Center present their latest project - Whitefield Diaries. This is a series of six short films that are each about seven mins in duration.Part of a larger idea titled "Neighbourhood Diaries", these short films aim at documenting personal histories as well as the neighbourhood's tangible and intangible heritage and socio-cultural centres that make Whitefield special.The current films are an outcome of Krupa's project to document Whitefield's intangible heritage. In turn this was a continuation of an earlier project to establish the significance of the settlement and its built heritage. The oral history project followed on…

A clay idol of Ganesha on sale at Malleshwaram. Pic By Ravi Kaushik. ⊕