Zardosi & Kundan Work - Durga Mata !!

Durga Mata came to our house embellished in Zardosi Thread and Kundan Stone.

It gave me so much pleasure creating her and I treasure this valuable piece of my art work more than anything in this world !! Many of my friends too had the opportunity in creating her for their homes !!


She continues to bless everyone ever since she came to our house and my day begins by taking her darshan in the morning.

NAGALAND - a land of UNTOUCHED BEAUTY !!

My Holiday in Nagaland

I am sure you all had a lovely time travelling with me virtually through Assam, so let us proceed to Nagaland……….the untouched virgin state of the Naga tribes !!

We left in the wee hours on 25^th October from Majuli Kamalabari Ghaat by ferry to reach Jorhat Nimatighaat which is an upstream ride of one and half hours and journeyed towards Nagaland.  You need to get border pass duly signed from the Government of India and show it to the border police in TULI….the border village for JORHAT and NAGALAND.

We reached MOKOKCHUNG on 25^th October afternoon after passing through some smooth roads, some bumpy roads, the first town in Nagaland. The place is so rich in greenery.  Here the AO TRIBE live.

ONE THING WE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT NAGALAND IS THAT IS THIS STATE HAS VARIOUS TRIBES WHO ARE DIFFERENT FROM ONE ANOTHER AND THEIR SHAWLS PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN IDENTIFYING THE TRIBE !! THERE ARE VARIOUS TRIBES LIKE THE AO, CHANG, SANGTAN, SUMI, POCHARI, REGNMA, PHOM, LOTHA, KHIMNUINGAN, KONYAK, ANGAMI, CHAKHESONG, ZELLANG, YIMCHIUNGRU. THE MEN FOLK ALL WEAR BEAUTIFUL HEAD GEARS,BEADED GIRDLES AND NECKLACES.

We reached around mid afternoon and had great difficulty enroute getting vegetarian food. Being a Vegetarian myself had a tough time !! They look at yo strangely when you ask them for curds/yoghurt/dahi/buttermilk !!

Our first view of this small town was from the tower when the SUN was ready to disappear for the day !! What a beauty !!

I must tell you here….. the shops open by 10ish and close by 3.30ish since the SUN sets early. By 5.30, the town is almost in darkness and nobody ventures out due to thugging or fear for being mugged.

We just enjoyed the scenic beauty of this town and celebrated DIWALI EVE in our rooms with HALDIRAM’S SONPAPDI !!

The next day we proceeded in the jeep towards WOKHA another town.

We passed through UNGMA village comprising the AO TRIBE where the old man of the village (the only person who spoke Hindi / English) directed us to 3 MONUMENTS that has statues of Naga warriors, the MORONG HOUSE.

Their houses are so unique ie, the roof is shaped like a NAGA (snake’s) hood !!

I have to compliment the State of Nagaland and the tribal villages for maintaining a clean habitat. It is a hilly country where water and electricity is so precious but our NAGA friends definitely need a standing applause for maintaining this.  

The below pictures depicts this !!

This is a dustbin and the crafter in me prompted me to click this too !!

We reached WOKHA on 26^th October, which is 80 km from MOKOKCHUNG !!

You can see all the army jawans from various states of India staying in Nagaland as border security forces. I take this opportunity to salute them not only for protecting our Mother India but also offering us accommodation during or trip…….THANKS SO MUCH MY BROTHERS !!

WOKHA is where the LOTHA TRIBE live and every year on NOVEMBER 7^th, they hold the harvest festival TOKHEMONG FESTIVAL !!

We reached the State Capital KOHIMA on 27^th October. I must say here that the traffic is so congested but the traffic police control it so well and the drivers are also very responsible driving here.  This is also a town which has roads going up and down.

DON’T underestimate the tribal girls and boys in their dressing !! They wear ULTRAMODERN clothes and in the latest hairstyles !!

KOHIMA is famous for the WAR CEMETRY, the CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL, the STATE MUSEUM, the BARRA BASTI  holding the ANGAMI TRIBE, the second largest village in India.

TRAGOPAN is the state bird and is an endangered species !!

We were fortunate to see some Model villages like TOUPHEMA, KHONOMA AND BENREU. We spent 2 days in Kohima looking around the market, the town and the villages.

On 29^th, we reached DIMAPUR, the commercial capital of Nagaland.  This was the ancient capital of KACHARI RULERS. 

30^th was spent in exploring DIMAPUR local sights like the KACHARI RUINS, the State handicraft emporium and the local area.

On 31st, We visited DIEZEPHE CRAFT VILLAGE where one can see the local weavers making shawls, cushion covers, bags etc for export !! The weaving is so unique and very beautiful.

On 1^st we looked around the HONGKONG MARKET which has so many shops that sell shoes, bags, clothes, perfumes and all items imported from CHINA and BANGKOK.  The best part of this market and my favourite is the wholesale BEAD shop wherein I bought so many lovely stuff that one do not find anywhere commonly (will make my stuff and present them later once I settle down) !!

We visited INTANKI to see the wild life but were unfortunate to go in since we did not have a pass but saw the lovely DHANSRI RIVER separating ASSAM on one side and NAGALAND on the other side.

OUR JOURNEY OF NAGALAND ENDS HERE FROM WHERE WE PROCEEDED TO MANAS NATIONAL PARK.

HOPE YOU ALL HAD A LOVELY TIME EXPLORING THE UNTOUCHED VIRGIN LAND OF THE NAGAS !!  



The Beginning

Hi all,


This is my blog. Now you can look forward to seeing my creations, my writings, and my tips on all topics that I share.

Ganesha Toran

This Ganesha Toran is completely hand stitched and embroidered using various stitches like Chain, Buttonhole, Stem etc. and embellished with sequins, kundan stones, zari lace and beads.

Embroidered Chariot

It gives me immense pleasure in presenting this 'completely hand embroidered CHARIOT'.


I was so bored one day and dug into my treasure trove of embroidery threads, bits of left over cloth, zari laces and other fancy embellishments and came up with this.........A CHARIOT !!

This is the first treasured piece of my art work !!

SIMPLE & MODERN LOOK - Temple Jewellery Collection

Presenting herewith my Temple Jewellery Necklaces – simple and modern!!

How do you like them ??

Four Strand Haaram - A Temple Jewellery Collection

Finally completed this Four Strand Temple Jewellery Pearl Haaram for my niece who is in Chennai and learning dance........oh god !! It was very tough and a lot of strain !! Had to do it string by string counting the pearl beads, the connecting gold bead (from Michaels) and finally the 4 holed temple jewellery connector bead common for the 4 strings....

 

Thats how I feel now after finishing it........whew !

The STATE where BRAHMAPUTRA is KING !!

My holiday in Assam

My husband and I decided to take a holiday before retirement and so on arrival in India, the first thing that we did was join the tour with SIL who was going on a trek to Mizoram.  Their plan was to see Assam and Nagaland before joining their group in Mizoram.  We were both eager to join them too at least to see a part of the North East if not for the trek!!

So here’s how we went……..

Took Rajdhani from Mumbai to New Delhi on 20^th October and stayed at a friend’s place.  Delhi was gearing up for the cold winters and it was lovely there.

The friend was so good and her hospitality is unbeatable. 21^st flew past with the trio doing local sightseeing and walking in the gardens.

22^nd (also happens to be our WA), we flew to GUWAHATI and stayed at the Circuit House which is on the banks of the Brahmaputra.

23^rd – we reached JORHAT. It was a lengthy 6 hour drive and enroute we passed through so much greenery….Arica Nut, Banana, Coconut trees, Tea gardens, Bamboo and each house house has a pond to cultivate fish.  Fish is common food along with rice being a rice eating state.

24^th – MAJULI…..a small island in the Brahmaputra river and very famous for SATRAS.  SATRAS is the place of worship and there are as many as 100 there. The most famed ones are the KAMALABARI, DHAKSHINPATT & SAMAGUDI satras. There is no idol worship and they worship the BHAGAVAD GITA.

The island is getting grants from UNESCO who helps the islanders to maintain the ethnicity and culture.  The tribe living here are the MISHI tribe. 100 different rice is grown here. KOMAL CHAULA- rice cooks fully in 15 min if soaked in warm water and BAO DHAAN- rice grown underwater.

Another interesting fact in this island is POTTERY made by hand and wheel not being used.

Attaching some pictures clicked of ASSAM for your eyes only !!

                                 

Brahmaputra as seen from our room in Guwahati

Loading of vehicles, cattle and of course passengers on the ferry !!

Brahmaputra as seen from the ferry

Satra where they worship Bhagavdgita as god !!

Satra where Lord Krishna’s story is sculpted on the walls !!

The 80 year old master with his hand made masks

Assamese local women weaving

Assamese local girls in their dance costume





A panoramic view of the BRAHMAPUTRA