Kada in leather and silver

When I visited a silver shop saw this kada in leather with silver. It was very different so I bought it.

Simple design, reasonable price and very light.

Kumkum container

This is a kumkum container which is also called as "Kunguma chimil" in Tamil. The Kumkum or kungumam is a red color powder in our Tamil is predominantly used by women. They apply this in their forehead and this denote that they are married.

In olden days, it was important that women walk with their heads bent. Men who saw these women were supposed to understand that they were married if they had this kumkum on their forehead.

Sort of indicator that they are married.

Even now you can see a lot of women applying this on their forehead.

This kunguma chimil is available in different shapes, enamelled, repoussed etc. It is also available in gold and gold plated.

Very wealthy people have this in gold.

This is an important thing that is also used to invite people for weddings. When parents of the bride or the bridegroom visit people to invite them to their daugther's or son's wedding, they give this to the women at home and invite them. 

This kunguma chimil is an important gift that is given in weddings, receptions and wedding anniversaries.

Small silver vessels

I earlier wrote about using small silver vessels for the pooja purposes.  These are available in various shapes and sizes. This is almost like a leaf.

We either keep the holy white powder called "Viboothi" or  red powder called " Kumkum".

Repousse on Silver - Lamp

I have never seen any artist doing a repousse work. I visited a jewellery exhibition once. It was strictly B2B. But since we were students from the Jewellery school we were given special permission.

We were going through different stalls. Wonderful jewellery everywhere. I was like, no words to express. So much of jewellery all in one place.

Since it was a B2B, jewellers from North India also had exhibited. I was told that jewellers from big shops also visit the other shops and book unique designs for their shop. 

The experience was totally different. Many stalls did not allow us, as there were heavy purchases going on between businesses.

As we were going through, somewhere I heard a rhythmic sound. I had a hunch that should be a repousse work going on. When we went there, there were three artisans who were doing repousse work on a Sembu. (I had posted about this in another blog)

They just wanted to display the art of repousse. I got his address and then later visited his place.

You would be amazed to see their work in such a small place, with limited tools. 
I asked him if I could take a picture of just one repousse work. This was an order he was doing for a shop.

He did not show the full piece, but just the lamp stand. 

He did not allow me to take more than one.

This is a peacock design on stem of the lamp. If you google Indian lamps you might get images and you might be able to figure it out where it comes.

We consider lighting these lamps on auspicious occasions, like marriage etc.

There will be a sort of cup on top of this where we pour oil put cotton wicks and light it

At the bottom there is a stand to hold this stem.

You can make this is in all sizes, its according to people prosperity.

You get this from 2 inches tall to 6 feet tall and in silver and brass.

Amazing work. 

Silver for the festivals

When I write all these blogs I am myself surprised at the amount of silver and gold that we use in our daily lives. I think that we have taken it for granted and we dont even realise it.

As I wrote earlier, offering poojas is a major custom in India.

In TamilNadu, mostly we use silver utensils because we believe that it is in a pure form. Meaning we use stainless steel to eat our every day food. So we dont offer anything in that.

Big engraved, repoussed plates are used to keep fruits. Silver lamps are used in different sizes.

A small utensil called Utharani is used to offer the food to the God.

Even an incense-stick holder can be in silver.

Earlier I had written about the repousse in silver sembu. That is used for the pooja.

Food like payasam(made with jaggery and dhal and milk), or sarkarai pongal (a sweetened rice) all are offered in silver bowls.

Even the powder that we apply on our forehead after the pooja is kept in silver bowls.

Again as I said, all depends on one's financial status.

In some temples, I have seen dry fruits stored in big silver vessels.

Navrathna Ring

In our state TamilNadu, men also wear jewellery.  Whether they like it or not, most men wear the Navrathna ring. Nav means nine, and there are nine different gemstones in it. In Hinduism we also believe that there are nine Gods each representing a planet. Most of the temples have these nine deities and when we visit the temple we also worship these Deities.

The gemstones are Diamond, ruby,pearl, red coral, emerald, yellow sapphire, blue sapphire, hessonite, and Cat’s eye.

The settings of the stone also have to be in a particular order.

The navrathna stones are believed to bring luck, protect you against bad external forces and diseases.

The rings that men wear are usually big and they are done with a minimum of 24 gms of 22kt gold.

Melting silver - one of the traditional method

How Gold and Silver are melted in traditional methods.

Most of the times I feel the olden methods are always hassle free.

http://www.myidentityforwomen.com/gallery.html

Hand made jewellery

I went to the Commercial street again:) . I told you that I love to window shop there.

As usual went through the artery streets looking for something interesting.

Found an old lady selling hand made jewellery.

Its difficult to believe that you can buy such good designs on the streets. She does not have a shop. Just a wood stand that holds all jewellery.

In India, especially in our state Tamilnadu usually balloons and small toys for kids are found displayed in this wood stand. Its portable so the vendors usually carry them with their hands and balanced on their shoulders.
Mostly in festivals you will find these vendors, or outside temples.

I was surprised to see so many jewellery hanging out there:)

I asked her if it was handmade, she said in Hindi, yes hand made. Such creativity.

How to start a business?

This topic is written for women in India. But I think its a generic information so would suit others too.

http://www.myidentityforwomen.com/how-to-start-a-business-.html

Jewellery lane in Bangalore, India

I always love to visit the Commercial street in Bangalore. This has been a fashion street for many years. Though there are so many malls that have come all over Bangalore, I feel this street still holds its charm. You get all types of designer salwars and sarees etc. This street is also popular for footwear. These are sold on either sides of the street. And you will find such beautiful designs which very much attracts college girls crowd. These are available in latest designs and at very affordable cost. Quality check is in your hands. 

But what really lures me atleast once a week there is the arrival of newly designed jewellery on the street on either side. I have never seen this array of jewellery (as far as I have travelled) displayed on the street. You will find atleast 50 shops displaying different jewellery.

Especially Diwali time you should visit this street. Its chaos everywhere. Trending jewellery and clothes are everywhere.

Wire mesh bracelet

My friend wanted to get a bracelet in gold and we went to a reputed shop in Bangalore.

Generally I accompany my friends or cousins to the gold jewellery shops since I have technical knowledge to a certain extent.

We were shown beautiful antique designs. We were unable to make our minds up.

If the design is beautiful, the stone weight and their rate was high or the labour charges were very high.

We could not get all together. I know its asking too much. Beautiful design, less labour charges, less stone charges; we cannot get all.

So we decided on a beautiful mesh bangle. It had a very beautiful finish, a lovely design, very less stone so less charges for the stone, but the labour charge was more.

But we also had to see the budget. Others were exceeding the budget so we settled on this and bought it.

Long hair jewellery

These are jewellery that are worn on the plait of girls/ ladies, either when they attain their puberty or during their wedding or during their baby-shower function.

Small girls also dress up for festivals like this. These jewellery above are made of metals other than silver and gold. These are made of maybe copper or brass. Usually very affluent people buy this jewellery in silver or gold. Others all buy that are made in copper or brass.

Some Bharathanatiyam dancers also wear these.

I happened to go to a market in Bangalore, where they had these displayed on false hair. I requested the jewellery store owner and took pictures.

My first e-book on kindle on Terracota jewellery

Elated and excited about publishing a book on kindle. A long time dream come true.

It has been a dream for so many years to publish books. But I was ready with the manuscript on Technical writing. But somehow never had the guts to do it.

Last month, my son suggested that I publish on kindle. Immediately I started to write on Terracota jewellery. Was waiting to finish few jewellery. My friend Uma helped in completing the jewellery and we took pictures of it.

I would like to thank all my blog readers. Without your viewership I would not have had the confidence to write. Now more confident to write on silver jewellery too.


The title is " How Terracota (natural clay) jewellery is made in India." kavitha balakrishnan

https://www.amazon.com/Terracotta-natural-clay-jewellery-India-ebook/dp/B00TQZXP34


Kindly give me comments. And please email to vigneshkavitha@gmail.com

New website

A new website published that will talk about our training and services.

www.myidentityforwomen.com