Posted March 26th, 2010 by Sushant
The fame of Indian jewelry spread to all parts of the world. The history if Indian jewelry goes way back to ancient ages. Indian people have always been fascinated by the bewitching charm of gems and jewelleries. The art of Indian jewelry is segregated into three major parts of bridal jewelry, spiritual jewelry and temple jewelry. The last one, as the name suggests refers to the jewelry used to adorn the idols of Gods and Goddesses. It is a common tradition in India to adorn the statutes of the lords with attractive jewelleries and ornaments. During the earlier eras, chunky necklaces were used. These were either strung with beads or crafted with intricate filigree. Bangles, anklets, nose rings, earrings and gems were other pieces of jewelleries that are popularly used to decorate statues.
The tradition of Indian temple jewelry was very interesting in the way that, these jewelleries were later on worn by the temple dancers and that’s how they became a part of the Indian woman’s bridal jewelry trousseau. This practice continues even today. The designs of Indian women jewelry were made on the pattern of temple jewelry. They followed the same pattern. Having said that, it becomes easy to understand why temple jewellery has become one of the most popular crafts of India.
Temple jewelry is considered to be auspicious and that’s why during festivals and occasions of worship of Gods, Indian females like to wear temple jewelry. They are supposed to bring good luck to the wearer. Some of the popular jewelry items that are based on temple jewelry are brooches, pendants, belts and bracelets. Ganesha is the favourite pendent design as this elephant headed god is known to bestow good luck and good fortune. Sacred syllable OM also is quite popular amongst the Hindu masses.
Posted March 25th, 2010 by Sushant
Dance is one of the visually brilliant forms of art. Dance has a mesmerising impact on the spectators. Almost everybody loves to watch songs and dance sequences. A good dance can set the tone for the rest of the party. This physical art form immediately affects the viewers in a positive way. It is a treat to our senses. Dance is pure, aesthetic, sensuous and delightful. One can’t escape the magic of dance in any form. Talking about Indian dances, they have continued to thrive despite making a journey of thousands of years. Dance has always been an integral element of Indian culture. Any festival, social occasions etc are incomplete without dance presentations. It can be a formal or an impromptu dance sequence that can take your breath away. For instance, check Ganpati festival and you will find hundreds of people dancing on the streets in bohemian style. It is one such exquisite expression of emotions.
Indian dance forms manifest rich cultural reservoir of India. It is believed that all the art forms play a role in other realms of art. Dance is no exception. It has played a crucial role in poetry, sculpture, painting and literature. Looking back at history pages, earliest archaeological evidence of Indian dance dates back to 6000 BC. That tells us a lot about significance of dance in the history of India. Natya Shastra, the foremost and most respected literature on dance was written by Bharath between the 2nd century B.C. and 2nd century A.D. Not for nothing; Natya Shastra is also called as fifth Veda of Indian culture and mind it, that is no small sobriquet. Almost all forms of Indian dances owe their origin to Natya Shastra. There are different forms of Indian dances but classical ones are most popular. Some of the Indian classical dance forms are, Bharatnatyam, Kathak, Kathakali, Kuchipudi, Manipuri, Mohiniatam and Odissi.
