Varalakshmi Viratham

This is a very important pooja that we do, especially in South India. This pooja is exclusively done by women to the Lakshmi Goddess. This Goddess bestows good health and prosperity and all other good things on people who do this pooja.

I personally love to do this pooja. It generally falls in August.

In some houses they draw the Goddess face on the wall and do this pooja. This was done predominantly in the villages. Here we get a ready-made deity of Goddess Lakshmi. Again you get this in Silver or clay.

I love all, but have got a Goddess deity in silver. The deity is already decked with some jewellery on her ears, neck and a crown, not to forget the nose ring.
But still we place this deity on a coconut, tie a silk cloth around her and place this in a vessel called  "Sembu" ( I have written about this earlier). The deity is also decked with flowers and jewellery.

The sembu is decorated with mango tree leaves, and the coconut is placed and on top of the coconut the deity is placed.  I have done it very simply. There are elaborate decorations also.

The entire sembu is placed on a banana leaf that is laid with raw rice. The sembu will contain water, in which gold or silver coins are put. Only one or two.

This time I wanted to get two new silver lamps. The pooja went on well and I could positively feel the energy in the house. The entire day is sort of fasting. And we made sweets and savouries and offered it to her.

We also invited our ladies friends over and gave them "thaamboolam" ( A gift which has a coconut, fruits, and a blouse material) This is a must and it must be given to all ladies that are invited home on the festival day.

Jewellery/Trinket boxes

Decorated these jewellery boxes today. All boxes are made of wood.

To place orders, please write to vigneshkavitha@gmail.com. Each box Rs.200

Miniatures - New crazy hobby

I know this blog is about jewellery. But there is a new hobby that I got hooked into.

Is there no end to unleash our creativity?

There are so many things that fade away with time. So many things that I have enjoyed in Indian villages especially in my state.

The above are the miniatures of such things. These are the equipments that  were used to grind, pound spices in those days when there was no electricity.

These were made out of stone and lasted long and no dependency on power. Not to mention the taste. When the masalas where ground or pounded in these, they tasted awesome.

They were called (from left to right) ural, aatukal and ammikal.

A tribute to traditional  equipments that gave us a good exercise plus a great taste when food was ground in them.

When buying Gold...

This applies mostly to the people in India. 

Many of us buy gold as an investment and also to wear it. When we buy gold none of us are educated about the value of the jewellery. Only when we go for an exchange or return, comes all the education. It has taken me years to understand this. :)

1. Ornaments with many stones will not have any value while reselling, unless they are precious stones. Keep this  in mind when buying gold for investment. And when you are told as original rubies and emeralds dont get carried away. Most of them are lab grown. Each original stone cost more than a lak. Ofcourse it depends on the number of carat each stone represents.
2. Check if there are precious stones in the ornaments, if so then they should be certified. I once bought a necklace full of emerald stones ( that is what they said), but when I gave it back they removed the stones and gave the stones back to me telling that they will not take it. Remember if they are originals people will buy it back.
3. When billing, check if the weight of the stones is mentioned.
4. Very thin filigree designs involve a lot of labour charges and wastage as the work is very labour oriented. If you are buying gold as an investment, please keep this in mind.
5. Enamels add weight to the jewellery. It looks very attractive and elegant. But again its like stones. Adds no value while returning.
6. Check for the Hallmark and purity seal. For example if it is 22k then 91.6k seal will be there. 
7. Ask questions to the sales person. You will be surprised how less they know about the facts. Atleast this is what I experienced. Once I went to a reputed jewellery showroom. One of the ladies asked the sales girl if the corals in the necklace were original. The girl said yes its original. The lady was satisfied and moved away. I asked the girl what does she mean by original and where does that come from? She was quiet, she did not have an answer and she went looking for her manager:)

The manager came and asked me what help I needed. I told that I wanted to know the source of the corals. He said they all came from Burma. I was like Oh!. But I have read that Burma is a place for rubies! 

Ask questions about your jewellery. You are paying a huge amount on this. You have the right to know more about it.