book project

last summers a few of us got together & spent time at the Crafts Museum,
the textile collection also product collections here are vast, inspiring & never ending

 the idea was to learn & doucment Indian motif vocabulary...

...maybe a book, maybe a story tale, maybe some other intellectual product, etc.

Ishanee took birds - Peacoc, parrot, etc. owls, egale, etc, did also show up occasionally
I took up beasts of burden - elephant, horse, camel & some random ones like deer, that show up often in artworks

So craft museum displays these two really LARGE pannels in Kalamkari roughly 8'X 25 to 30'long
they are enormus!
it is a shiva story, with a central shiva dedication
could also be the story of Ramayana

following are hand sketches (that took forever) of the elephant activities in the pannel 

happy elephant fetches water & lotus from pond

loved the happy expression in the eyes here

offering to shiva

war scene - at work with master/lord
loved the arrows in the background

& the anger(?) focus in the eyes here


another great reference was Textile Arts of India, Kokyo Hatanaka
the following image is said to be the oldest exsiting kalamkari fragment, the number of fauna in it is vast - deer, rabbit, pig (?), parrot & some two other birds

MONSOONS

Monsoons while travelling to Uttar Pradesh last year
the Carpet belt - Benaras, Mirzapur, Bhadoi, Sonbhadra

rain, trains, traffic, cycles, police, people - Benaras City

crossing on river Ganges

fresh sown paddy, on way to Sonbhadra

Kanwaria's Pligrame- a must do in Kaashi, the city of Shiva

Sawan - the monsoon month hosts the annual Kanwar Yatra, Shiva devotees trek by foot to fetch water from the Ganges to offer their local Shiva temple

??? is there a connection with Shravan Kumar, a water bearer who carried his blind parents on his shoulders for pligramage,

while he was intercepted by King Dasrath's arrow (unintentional) that killed him.

The milkyway & some costellations around it have reference to this story, that another time....

school off at rain, girls are quick to cycle off boys not to eager to get back

loved the movement in the Neem leaves, on way to carpet villages, Mirzapur

carpet loom

rain in carpet factory, Bhadoi

Poona - Architecture

Roadside view of architecture in Poona, while eating, shopping, walking, etc.
a yearly pligrame to my "native" birth place :-)

Detail Marble Jali, Jain temple Sachapir Street

the motif continues onto pillar

& entrance steps

interior Jali pattern

on the opposite side is the Hunaman temple

Hunaman Mandir is the begining of Centre Street, famous for its "hand crafted" / utilitarian produce -jewellery, woven cloth, Kolhapuri chappal, etc.
Also known for the very popular chatwala selling panipuri & SPDP(sev paapdi dahi puri!)
safe also during monsoons, as tested/tasted last week

Parallel to Centre street runs the Shivaji Nagar market - sabzi mandi, meat mandi & spice market
& the other end is Bhopla chowk leading to Phule gate Sabzi Mandi

residential quarter cum commercial gorund floor, Bhopla chowk Centre Street

mosque, off Bhopla Chowk towards Main street

DayaBhai & Sons Ladies Blouse maker. 231 MG road

East Street, off Main Street (Mahatma Gandhi Road) also houses the Maharaja Estat.
Within this compound 5 East Street is the famous THE MUSICAL MART, Pune's oldest musical instruments store & supplier's to Armed Forces bands.

residence, Maharajah's Estate off East street

loved the circular fish rangoli, Mrs. Baroucha also takes up crochet classes in two batches morning 10.30 to 12.30pm & an evening batch.

entering Taboot street from Mains