Happy Deepavali !

Wishing you all lovely blogger friends a very happy and bright Deepavali! A festival which brought me back many shiny memories. Deepavali is the time to celebrate new beginnings.

Today let me take you around the festivities at home. I always look forward to let my creativity flow as I set about decorating the house with rangoli, flowers and diyas.

Welcome to our sweet little home, where we lit 108 Diyas. Those were the lights of faith and worship lit towards welcoming the Goddess.

The day is very special as the entrance gets adorned with colourful rangoli.

All Urulis and small brass vessels get filled with floating flowers and floating fragrant candles.

I wish you all a very happy Deepavali and I hope it brings all of you joy ,laughter and wonderful memories.

Hope you all liked the series from my house to yours.Thanks for the love and affection showered on me and encouraging me.I thank you all once more and hope you will be on my side in further endeavours.

(Images and Ideas by Lakshmi Arvind.Please do not copy them .Please dont use them without prior permission.)

Shubh Deepavali

With just a day to go,I wish you a joyous Deepavali and add sheen to your celebrations with all ideas.Let the Deepavali season be all about" prayers diyas, candles, mithais and pathakas".Dress your idols in red,adorn the entrance of your home and worship room to welcome Goddess Lakshmi.

A simple arrangement with candles and rose petals in a wooden tray.This can be the centre piece of your dining table.

Enjoy the season.Enjoy Deepavali .See you all in a while after Deepavali ,while I accumulate the festivities from my home.Thanks for the lovely comments and wishes.

(Images and Ideas By Lakshmi Arvind.Images are subject to copyright.Dont use them withour prior permission)

Shubh Deepavali

Its festive mood.Festivities start with "Dhanteras" today.An auspicious day when you buy something,need not necessarily be gold or silver or ornaments.We are already in the mood for Deepavali just round the corner.

An arrangement with Lakshmi Vilakku(Lakshmi Brass lamp),supposed to be lit everyday in the house ,that itself will bring prosperity and gold coins and some ornaments in the thali.May this bring prosperity to all homes..May all be blessed..

Hope you are all getting ready for the festival.

(Images and Ideas by Lakshmi Arvind.Please do not use the images without permission and images are subject to copyright)

Shubh Deepavali

Air is thick with the joyous preparations for the festival.Aroma of the ghee and savouries wake your senses up.Love and laughter is in the air.Flowers and diyas make their way into houses.Prayers fill the house.All good wishes for a prosperous New year.

Deepavali pooja starts with Ganesh Pujan.Floating flowers and candles and the ghee lit peacock brass lamp add to the decor of the pooja.Let that add to the occasion of offerings of prayers to The God.

(Images and Ideas by Lakshmi Arvind.Please do not use the images without permission and images are subject to copyright)

Shubh Deepavali

Diwali is of light and laughter.Wonderfully lit night sky and beautifully lit house are the dream come true things in Deepavali.Decorate your home in a traditional way.Let the brass diyas shine.The fragrance of lit lamps, marigolds,kumkum and turmeric refresh your inner spirits.Let the Diyas dazzle it all..

A simple idea yet traditional with many brass lamps and marigolds.Arrange this in the Pooja room and feel the vibrations within...

(Images and Ideas by Lakshmi Arvind.Please do not use the images without permission and images are subject to copyright)

Shubh Deepavali

The festival of lights is all about welcoming the Goddess of wealth.A festival for thorough spring cleaning and wearing new clothes.Enjoy the best. A flurry of activities at home for me,cleaning polishing the brass and bringing out the diyas and of course some last minute purchases.

Its fun as dusk settles at the time of Deepavali and the whole house gets illuminated by the bright little diyas and my favourite Kerala Lamps.Memories at home do bring tears,but they do get wiped by the bright diyas and the halo surrounding them.

A simple idea from the kitchen utensils finds a way in today's Deepavali inspiration.The brass utensil used is the one used for making small sweet balls called "Unniappam".The wooden utensil is nothing but an antique wooden utensil used for keeping aside spices while cooking with cup shaped depressions in it.You can float any flowers and diyas alternately in the small holes and place it before the god,in front of the entrance and make a 'kolam' (rangoli design) to the side of it or around it.Here i have used rice grains and masoor dal in the shape of Diyas and placed diyas alternately in the patterns.

Hope you all enjoy the design and will watch out for more...

(Images and Ideas by Lakshmi Arvind.Please do not use it for any purpose without informing.Images are all subject to copyright)

With Indian Gods and Godesses

The month of Festivals,October is the perfect time to introduce you to the Indian "God prints," also known as Indian prints of Hindu Gods and Goddesses .Hindu gods and godesses are everywhere in India.But there are differences in style and printing technique. Ravi Varma (1848-1906), a painter, and probably India’s most famous artist, set up a lithography workshop (Ravi Varma Press) which published God prints, printed from limestone blocks, from 1894 until the 1930’s (switching over to the photo-offset technique sometime in the 1940’s).

Taxi,Calcutta
Sweetshop,Calcutta
Potato seller
Shekawati
Flower seller,Calcutta
Tea stand,Calcutta

Barber shop,Calcutta

In this section let me introduce you to a unique couple,Mark Baron and Elise Boisanté who became hooked on their first trip to India:"...it all started when they desperately wanted to find a beautiful old print of Lakshmi, and of Ganesh, that they could hang in their home. That’s how it began.Mark and Elise's collection now consists of over 400 prints, most of which are from the 1880's to the 1920's, but they also have some of the "best of the 1930's and early 1940's."

Three quarters of their collection is for sale (to fund their yearly trips back to India), prices range from $30 to $2,000 with most between $100 and $400, and they have a great website and fine catalog (which they'll send only if you're really serious), but you have to come see them in person to buy a print.

I urge you to take a look at their site OmfromIndia.com and check them out in NYC if this peaks your interest. As far as compelling collecting stories go, this is a great one. Enjoy!

Image courtesy:apartment therapy

Pichhwais;"Decor Heritage"

Decor Heritage:Keeping Culture Alive

*A devotional backdrop;cloth painitngs that put the 3D display of deities within aconceptual framework-"The Pichwais"

*Krishna,the eight incarnation of Vishnu one of the trinity of Hindu gods is Shrinathji,venerated and defied in the picchwai painitngs,primarily for the temple in Nathdwara in Udaipur.

*Pictorialisation on cloth remains outstanding in quality and has a living custom of passing the expertise down the generations,unadulterated and with purpose of purity.

*The Picchwai was hung behind the deity much like a backdrop,a scene paint

ed on cloth which put the three dimensional representation of the object of worship within a conceptual framework.

*Myth has it that Vallabhacharya discovered the icon of Shrinathji on Mount Govardhan near Mathura,the land of Krishna and the gopis.The diety was worshipped ,because emperor Akbar,Jehangir and Shahehan were tolerant of all forms of Hindu worship and the sect flourished under the reign of those monarchs.

*But with the  advent of Aurangazeb,he compelled the custodians of Shrinathji to flee to safety carrying thier diety and finally the cart carrying the image got stuck in aquagmire(wet earth) while crossing the Banas river,North Udaipur.

*Taking this adivine Omen,the devotees constructed atemple at the spot,installed the Shrinathji and the village was called Nathdwara,doorway to the lord.

*It is here that the picchwai became sanctum sanctorum of the holyplace.

*Mughal court pratices may have influenced the use of elaborate textiles like canopies and hangings.

*Albeit influenced by Mughal miniaturists,the painters of picchwais drew their inspiration and style form the Rajasthani ones.The skill is passed on to the guru shishya tradition of learning and the paint medium is a pure and real revival of the centuries old,tried and tested method of creating an authentic palette.

*It can take months to years to make a Picchwai.

*This formidable tradition continues even today with a new generation of painters devoted to the service of Lord.

An initial drawing of the Govardhan picchwai
Completed work

Preliminary drawing of the Varsha Picchwai

Courtesy:Elle Decor,Summer 2006

Text Courtesy:Malavika Singh,Image courtesy"Udaipur Plus,Mapin Publishers formt he publication Picchwai painting Tradition of Rajasthan by Desmond Lazaro