Indian Jewelry

Eating on a banana leaf

2012-01-27T21:29:00.000-08:00

The banana leaf holds high prominence in the south Indian culture. A wedding ceremony, an auspicious pooja day, a birthday feast or any occasion that involves a gathering where food will be served, you cannot miss the banana leaves!

Using the banana leaf to serve food is a tradition that has been followed for centuries in South India, that no one really knows how it originated; however, the benefits associated with abiding to this practice are many.

First and foremost, on any special occasion, there are a lot of dishes made to delight your taste buds. Presenting all of them on a banana leaf is truly a feast for the eye and am sure, will completely succeed in kindling your appetite. Moreover, if food is served on a banana leaf, you have no other choice but to eat it with your bare hands, and so it also is a means to enjoy the food via your sense of touch!

It does not end with this… When food is served on a banana leaf, it also adds special flavor and the aroma is enticing. Tell me if there is a better way to relish a feast than by enjoying it through not only the sense of taste, but also other senses such as those of sight, smell and touch? Truly, a feast served on a banana leaf leaves the guests with the utmost satisfaction of having had a complete, sumptuous, wonderful and delicious meal.

Apart from its mouth watering appeal, food served on a banana leaf also has its own health benefits. Have you ever noticed that the color of this leaf changes from dark green to a light green or greenish yellow color after one completes a meal? It is said that this leaf has lot of antioxidants and a huge load of beneficial minerals. When hot food is eaten out of this leaf, some of these minerals also mix with the food and help us in easy digestion of a heavy meal.

Also, it is considered auspicious to serve food on a banana leaf and give it as an offering to the lord on certain holy days and festive occasions when special pooja is conducted with the Hindu pooja items.

Moreover usage of banana leaf for serving food is highly acclaimed for its ease of use and disposal. The leaves are thick, water-proof and long lasting. You can serve all the food in the same leaf instead of different plates and cups. The used leaves also decompose easily or they can even be fed to cattle, so it is completely eco-friendly. Most important it saves us from the hassle of having to wash a whole load of plates and utensils.

Coupon code for DanceCostumesAndJewelry.com

2011-09-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

Many of ourvisitors, who intend to buy Indian Jewelry, callus and ask for discount before they put items in their shoppingcart. Generally, we don’t offer any discount for retail buyers, butwe offer coupons codes which varies from 4% to 8% from time to time. Also theyrequire a minimum order value to get activated. These coupon codesare generated for the season according to the amount of business we do duringthat season. Most discount is given during the May/June months, because weare slow during those months and are trying to get more customers. During thatperiod most of the people will be travelling to India and will try to buy dance jewelry fromthere thinking that it is going to be cheap there.

Well let uscome to the point. Coupon codes – Ok, you can see our coupon codes in the retailmenot.com website.Please click on the link and search for dance jewelry. You will see our websitein their results. Click on it and scroll down to see the coupon code. Itmay save you upto 8%. But remember there is always a minimum order valueto activate the coupon.

You can alwaysbuy good quality dance jewelry atour secured website. No need to worry about shopping during your Indianvacation.
Thank you andhappy shopping…

Who gave you the right to abuse Indian culture in the name of culture?

2011-09-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

I have to share this incident with all people who are true art lovers and understand Indian culture in the real sense. Well, this happened just a couple of days back and I was witness to an unnerving night of celebration. When I came out of the door after the event, just wondered what was celebrated and what was propagated?

As children we grew up learning that our rich heritage, our way of life and Art is our culture, today where do we get to see them, it is certainly a rarity. I planned for about a week ahead to make sure that I did not miss this cultural event which celebrates and propagates Indian Art and culture, this is an event organized by a legitimate Organization as part of their cross cultural Initiative, excited all week long looked forward to it and finally the day came, they had a regular meet and greet gala and the program started at 4.30PM, which I am glad started on time. The program started with a welcome speech and the first inaugural program as per the brochure distributed said Indian classical dance form and there comes the compere announcing a brief version of the richness of this classical dance…wow what just happened, classical dance to a Amir khan Bollywood song, this is not culture my dear, this is Bulture straight from Bollywood. I had loads of laughter; I had more adventure coming my way. Next is again a classical dance form from India, what was it this time, not surprised and advertisement commercial straight from the TV promoting Indian tourism of Kerala…hmmm good job all in the name of culture, this is how one can get away doing anything without stuff and the only skill you need is just be “street smart”. Another aspect worth mentioning is about, choreography and clothes, both the C’s were nowhere close to aesthetics, this is a easier strategy to getting famous faster in today’s time, sad that this strategy is gone beyond movies….

The next part of the program got more interesting with sheer murder of our folk dance forms, thanks to Bollywood dance and music which is like one size fits all; the next piece was the highlight with the dancer claiming to have a legitimate qualification, but has no teacher name or institute to talk about both in her profile nor in her compere, more like an “Anonymous type”. Well the only thing we could figure out that she was trying to attempt a very famous classical dance form, but to a disgrace it turned to be a sad version of a YouTube video of a very famous dancer from India who is considered as a great artist from India and recognized worldwide. How desperate can one get to be in the face of audience? Copy wow…

After all this, I just lived thru and was alive, then came this performance of a good artist, she stole the show, her presence for 10 mins took away all the pain that I went thru for the last 50 mins. She is a true dance lover and we could experience that throughout her performance. Kudos to her but I also feel sad that she had to share stage space with a very substandard lot of performers. Hence she stands to be ‘Best in the Worst’.

Coming back to my question, who are we - an individual an institute, who has this right to abuse Indian art and culture in the name of Culture? I strongly believe that there is right and wrong to everything, then stand up and have the guts to say we promote Bollywood why Classical. The word classical is such a divine part of our rich Indian culture so closely woven to our heart through our Dance and Music, why does anybody want to showcase this in a wrong way on any platform?

I am so confused that we ourselves are bent upon damaging our identity and portraying this completely different from what it is, to other people leave alone people from other cultures what is happening to people from our culture who are day in and out either approving, acknowledging, witnessing, participating in such gruesome act of tarnishing our Indian Culture…

This is what I felt like inking to all of you as an artist, art lover, critic whatever if not anything just an Indian who loves her country and the core values of who we are and what makes us unique from others…

At the end I am left with no answer but one question are we so beyond anything that we believe “any crap can sell”? If yes, all those dear legitimate organizations/ committee’s, just sit back once to think what happens to all those people who worked, are contributing unconditionally in passing on this rich art form with at most humbleness to our future generations…do we have any responsibility at all??? Please realize that if you are not directly qualified to contribute to art and culture, we all can still make a small difference in this world in our own capacity, and so NO to anything that may cause a smudge to the glowing culture.

Dance Guru

USA

Bharatanatyam Dance costume stitching

2011-07-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

For Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Odissi, Mohiniyattam and Kathak dance forms

Stitching a Bharatanatyam dance costume or any other classical dance dress for your child has become such a cumbersome process nowadays. Especially if you live outside India, spending time to search for the correct color saree and finding a nice tailor is at least one full day’s work. The cloth shops in India are extremely crowded no matter what the season is and tailors are always busy. Unless you know the tailor personally, getting a dance dress stitched in couple of weeks is a herculean task. Needless to explain the process of taking measurement at the tailors place!

How about doing all this without leaving you house at your convenient time, and get the costume of your choice delivered to you within 5 weeks? This is exactly what you can do from our online store http://www.DanceCostumesAndJewelry.com. We have experienced tailors in Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Cochin and Delhi to make the costume of your choice at its own authenticity. Most of our Bharatanatyam dresses are stitched from Chennai or Coimbatore and the Mohiniyattam dresses are stitched at Cochin. We have tailors in Hyderabad and Delhi for making Kuchipudi, Odissi and Kathak dresses.

How does the process of stitching dance dress online works? Ok, we will explain the process of ordering your own custom stitched dance dress from beginning to end, in the following paragraphs. First you need to create an account in our online store. Creating an account is very important and has many advantages. Once you create an account and enter your shipping address, our store remembers it and you need not enter your address each time. However, for security reasons, we do not store your credit card number. You have to enter it each time you process an order with us. This gives you the flexibility to use any card for your order. We accept all major credit cards – VISA, Discover, MasterCard and American Express.

Before you place an order to stitch your dance costume, please open this page and see all the different types of dance costumes we stitch. Then click on the appropriate costume type. For example, if you want to stitch a Bharatanatyam dress, you would arrive at this webpage. You will see two pictures associated with this product - a line drawing and a photo of the dress. Open the line drawing and go through the measurements and the numbers associated with each measurement – for example the measurement number 8 is the sleeve size of your blouse. If you are the dancer, you need another person’s help to take the measurements. If your child is the dancer, you can take the measurements for her/him. Decide the color you want for the costume. We always ask for two choices because the sarees of a particular color and type may not be available all the time with our saree vendors.

When the dancer is ready, use a flexible tape to take the measurements and start in the order given in the website. Please see our YouTube video before you start. The first measurement you take will be height of the blouse. Please call us anytime if you have a question about how to take a measurement. You need to fill in all the columns before you click on the “add to cart” button. There is an option to mention the style of the dance costume. In this column, enter any comments you have such as – full covering blouse, 2 fans only, three fans etc…Also at the end of the page you will see the material type. The cost of the dress varies according to your selection. If you select the art silk material, the dress is less expensive and the Dharmavaram silk is most expensive. Make sure you selected the correct material and verify the price.

Once you completed all the measurement entries and clicked on “add to cart” the order will be placed on your cart. Nothing will happen until you pay. Since you are logged in, this will stay in your account, even if you log out of the system. You can come back next day and then place the order. When you are ready to place the order and have the credit card ready, go to your cart and “Proceed to check out”. You need to enter the credit card info in the next page. After entering all the necessary information, proceed to complete the order and you are done. Please make sure you have received an email from us confirming the order. If you have not received the email, check your spam folder. Please note the order ID and write down it in a safe place. You need to mention this number if you need to call us to enquire the status of the order.

As soon as we receive your order, our order processing staff in India will start looking for the correct color sarees and materials in our stock. We usually have the stock of most of the fast moving colors in Art Silk and Apoorva Silk. They will also see which tailor is suitable for this dance costume depending upon the type of the dress and how busy each tailor is. If we have the suitable saree, it will be given to the tailor immediately along with the measurement. The tailors will go through the measurements and check if everything is OK. If they see any discrepancies, they will call us and report the issue and will not stitch the costume until we give a green signal. Once cleared, they stitch the costume and send it to our shipping center. From that place your costume will be shipped to our warehouse in Indiana, US. Once it reaches here, we verify the costume for color and measurements again, before shipping out to you.

Thank you for reading and hope this will help you to make the order placing easier.

Treasure found in Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple

2011-07-02T15:44:00.000-07:00

Can you believe it? Sree Padmanabha Swamy Temple will the richest Hindu temple in the entire world !!! As of last week, while the stock taking was only 70% complete, the estimated value of thousands of precious stones, Gold necklaces, Gold deities and other valuable jewelry were about 11 billion US dollars. One more secret chamber is yet to be opened !!!

It was identified by a special committee appointed by Supreme court that temple has a total of six chambers. With couple of chambers yet to be opened and the first chamber accounting ending Saturday (2 July 2011), it is expected that the inventory process may continue for a few more days.

Other items found today includes several Gold statues each weighing almost 5 pounds and Gold Jewelry necklaces as long as 3.5 meters and crowns decorated with Emeralds, Diamonds and Rubies. They also found a 4 feet tall statue of Lord Vishnu made of Gold.

The list of Jewelry and other valuables in the treasure found in Sree Padmanabhaswamy Temple are:

Hundred thousand Gold Coins, Precious Diamonds like Indraneelam, Belgium Diamonds, Emeralds, Rubies,
Thousand Sarappoli Gold Chains, Rare Priceless Gems, Gold Crowns like Kulashekharaperumal Crown,
Kashu Mala Necklaces, 400 Gold Necklaces with Marathakam stone, Gold Plates (Swarna Thalika), Gold Chains of about 18 ft, Golden Idol of Padmanabha Swamy, Gold Dhanuss, Gold Pathakams, 4 Feet tall Golden statue of Lord Vishnu with precious emeralds, Golden Umbrellas, Gold Pots, Kumbheeyam, Gold/Silver Nilavilakku, Other Kerala traditional Jewelry of various kind.

Hope all the wealth is used for good purpose / growth of the state and the polititians do not steal it as usual.

Differences between classical Indian dance styles in terms of Natya Shastra, Tantra, calligraphy, mechanical engineering and psychiatry

2011-02-08T19:23:00.000-08:00

By Ashwini Shankar, Chennai

The topics touched in this article will be:
Padma Subrahmanyam's elucidation of Natya Shastra's Recakas

    * Role of Recakas in producing Rasas
    * What makes the dance attractive, beautiful and interesting
    * Kaisiki vs. robotic movements in terms of mechanical engineering
    * Why classical Indian dance proper is a solo dance
    * Laya and 22 Sruthis
    * Why Bharata Muni didn't allow men to sing (and the proof that most dancers and rasikas are actually deaf)
    * Why Anita Ratnam is fond of her Tai Chi classes
    * Anga Suddham, modes of movements and calligraphy
    * The Tantric explanations of everything in terms of 3 gunas, 5 elements, the vrittis and more
    * Difference between true art, factory-produced merchandise, and garbage

In her book on the Karanas, Padma Subrahmanyam boldly attempted to pinpoint what is dance and what is not. She builds much of her explanation around the term Recaka. To give you an idea of what the mind-boggling variety of, for example, the Pada (feet) Recakas alone include, these "may utilize the space on the sides, move forward, slip or glide, waver, quiver, shake, proceed, turn away, swerve, sway, get pushed, jerk, slide, raise, lower, draw, release or whirl." Padma Subrahmanyam says, though, that Recakas "cannot be enlisted or enumerated." She also uses the terms Prthagbhava (clearly / sharply outlined) and Valana (smooth / blurred) components of movement saying that a performance that makes use of both masterfully "can never be boring even for the uninitiated." All this makes sense, while I am yet to understand her identification of Anga Suddham with Prthagbhava alone.

Alathur Vijayakumar, the founder of Kalavardhanis, thought he discovered America when he said that he arrived at a formula that detects the "presence of grace" (or rather, the presence of life) in a particular dance sequence. Any robotic movement (which the break dance or army soldiers marching seeks to emulate) can very accurately be described in terms of velocity (V) and acceleration (V²) and jerk (V³). Padma Subrahmanyam says, "...if the intensity (of movement) is constant, the actions suffer a lack of variety. The lines may be defined, lucid and distinct in every action with clarity even in the divergence of the movements. In such a convoy of actions, every movement follows disconnectedly, without getting dissolved into one another. Hence there is a danger of killing grace." She says that the word Valana signifies that "each movement glides into another in a graceful manner."

Any psychiatrist or graphologist will tell you that if the letters in your handwriting are not connected, it means you think incoherently, and you have a good chance of becoming a schizophrenic in the future. Exposure to the schizophrenic dance performances is tantamount to eating food full of chemical pesticides. The organic movements full of life, especially the kaisiki (graceful feminine) type movements, are extremely complex and each is unique (just like every live flower is unique) as the expression of the dancer's manodharma. Their presence in dance can only be approximately described in terms of infinite number of components: V, V², V³,..., V∞ , and the speed graph will be way too complex.

The slight deviations from the impeccably "perfect" computer-generated standard are inherent in classical Indian dance. The deviations that create beauty are predominantly Sattvic, though, depending on the character, they may contain a good dose of Rajas. The ugly deviations are the results of the dancer's laziness or inability to follow the proper trajectory (Anga Suddham). These are the Tamasic deviations (look at the 3 words "Dance" again).

Now, there are some politically incorrect and undemocratic conclusions that the senior dancers who hate Bharata Muni will abhor. Even if you are born with the Sattva as the dominant component of your ("Brahmin") nature, your body, emotions and mind will be more Rajasic in the teenage years, and will be gradually more and more Tamasic as you grow older. (Yoga is the only method of changing this tendency). Our ability to understand, to remember, and to learn something new depends on the amount of Sattva in us.

I find it very amusing when the "senior" dancers dare to say that they somehow "explore the Sringara rasa" even though their recitals are devoid of many of the 10 kinds of grace of the Sahaja type and of most of the 7 of A-yantaja type, all of which are part of the Valana-rich Kaisiki and all of which, according to Bharata Muni, can be found in the movements of young women only. A very interesting element of beauty is among the 10 Sahaja graces: Vicchitti (dishabille) is "the great beauty that results from the slightly careless placing of garlands, clothes, ornaments and unguents."

Why is the classical Indian dance proper a solo dance? Factory-produced latex flowers can be compared with the dance styles that are suitable for group performances where the dancers perform identical movements at the same time. To achieve the perfect "synchronization," the movements have to be as plain ("perfect-shaped") as the latex orchids (or one of the 3 words "Dance" on the right). Live flowers are never perfect-shaped and never have "geometric" appearance. If you are half-blind, the easiest method of detecting latex flowers is to smell them. No fragrance, no rasa. (Make sure the smell is not coming from your own hair where you had poured half a bottle of expensive perfume). "Recakas impearl the Nritta, make it shine and cause complete aesthetic satisfaction," says Padma Subrahmanyam. Recakas are like spices in food. Well, the food has to be bland enough to please the western palate.

In Tantra, the square represents the angular, robust and firm element of earth and Muladhara chakra. The rounded silver Moon crescent represents the element of water: cohesion, smoothness and life and... sexual energies of the Swadhisthana chakra. Swadhisthana is associated with emotion, which means that the dance without Valana is devoid of emotion. And because one of the 6 vritti petals of Swadhisthana represents affection, it means that the dancer who does not develop the Swadhisthana will have a big problem attracting the rasikas, especially the young rasikas of the opposite sex. As Swadhisthana is positioned higher than Muladhara, it means that the movements, before being expressed in the physical body, have to follow the movements of the subtle body (this is why Anita Ratnam is fond of her Tai Chi classes and will explain to us how body movements are supposed to spring from Tan Tien). The western (earthly) materialistic culture considers only the physical (sharply defined) body (sthula sharira), so their reliance on the muladhara techniques is obvious.

Padma Subrahmanyam compares the Recakas with Gamakas of Carnatic music, and says that the "Gamakas are the very life of the Raga." Referring to Bharata Muni's 22 Sruthi (microtone) system, she says that the "Gamakas are caused through a webbed state of the microtones, built on the semi-tones and tones of the musical notes." Have you seen many dancers whose laya is so good that their Recakas follow the microtones too?

If body movement can be described by a speed graph, the music is represented by its sound wave graph. Before you read on, you should define the distinction between music and noise, and between singing and shouting. (hint: analyse the sound wave graph). The graph for the violin will be much more plain than the graph for veena, the instrument essential for learning gamakas in vocal music. If Saraswathi holds a veena (not a violin, electric guitar or sax) in her hands, it's because it is the veena that is most suitable for accompanying the Recakas. The arrival of the budget electric amplification greatly reduced the popularity of the veena, as the sound coming from even the best loudspeakers in the Chennai sabhas blurred the music beyond recognition. After the age of 40, normal people become so Tamasic that they can't hear anything above 14 kHz. The ageing rasikas (except the ones who daily try to exercise their ears!) grew hard of hearing and came to prefer the Italian violin.

While there is software that can impeccably mimic any male voice, there is no software that can analyze and generate a female voice. If the male voices relate to the consonants, and the drums, the women's relate to the vowels, are far more complex, loaded with far more subtle nuances and shades of feelings. After all, isn't the world of emotion the woman's world? Bharata Muni explains that "Though men know the rules of singing in their traditional characteristics, their songs being devoid of sweetness, do not create beauty." (XXXV, 35-36). "Generally, songs are suited to women, and recitatives are suited for men... The good quality in women's recitation and sweetness in men's songs should be considered as an acquired skill, and not part of their nature. If men lead (in songs) and the songs possess good characteristics, but have no sweetness, then these impart no beauty... There may be (allowed) a loss of proper note in women's songs and playing of musical instruments. But this will not be sweet to the ear in case of men" (XXXII, 503-511). Sounds quite discriminatory, doesn't it? Note, Bharata Muni keeps saying that "The singer should be of a young age."

Ashwini (a pen name) is a young dance critic in Chennai who embarked on a long journey of recovering the celestial dance of the devas and apsaras from its pale and distorted reflections occasionally seen in the best Bharatanatyam and other classical Indian dance recitals.

Bharatanatyam dance dress color selections

2011-01-30T20:45:00.000-08:00

At http://www.dancecostumesandjewelry.com/ you can submit the measurements accurately online and select the color of dance costumes as you wish. There is no limitation. In fact you can even upload a photo of the sample dance dress you have in mind too. We have tailors in different states in India. Most of our Bharatantyam dresses are stitched in Chennai and the Kuchipudi dresses are stitched in Hyderabad. Here are some samples of fast moving dress colors we do. This is to just give you an idea. We do not limit the color combination or style of the dance dress as we mentioned earlier. We have skirt style and pant style Bharatanatyam dress. Also we have 2 fan and 3 fan Bharatanatyam costumes. In our online store, you decide the color, style and the material.

Below we have shown some art silk material Bharatanatyam costumes.

Many thanks for looking at our sample pictures. Now please visit http://www.dancecostumesandjewelry.com/ and place your order. Please remember, all our costumes are stitched in India and so you have to wait at least 4 weeks to get them delivered to you if your are in US. Outside US delivery dates may vary depending upon the shipping method you have selected.

We will post more pictures soon.

Till then - have fun dancing ....

Kuchipudi dress and Bharatanatyam dress

2010-10-11T19:17:00.000-07:00

Both Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam are originated from southern states of India. Kuchipudi is the traditional Indian classical dance of Andhra Pradesh whereas the classical dance Bharatnatyam is originated from Tamilnadu. Bharatanatyam was formed from the ancient art of Cathir which were revived in the 19th century. Cathir was the traditional performing art of the temple dancers (Devadasi) portraying ancient dance forms. Kuchipudi as a classical dance form achieved excellence during the rule of Abul Hasan Qutb Shah of the Golconda Dynasty. The King was very much impressed with this dance form and he gave 600 acres of land to the Kuchipudi Brahmins for the grand presenting of this art form.

Cathir and Bharatnatyam are dance forms primarily inspired by the sculptures of Chidambaram Temple. The name Bharatnatyam denotes BHAvam, RAgam and TAlam. BHAvam means expression, RAgam means Music, TAlam means Rhythm and Natyam meaning dance.

Bharatnatyam is known for its elegance, grace, softness, clarity and sculptured poses. On the other hand, most of the poses in Kuchipudi are brisk, flat-footed, dazzling and overall curved having more rounded poses.

Bharatanatyam Dance dress
The commonly used styles in Bharatanatyam Costumes are the the Skirt (Saree) Style or the Pyjama Style with two or three fans. Dancers wear costumes made of silk sarees with gold kasavu (zari) designs. The pleats in these costumes, which are known as fans, opens beautifully when the dancer forms a particular posture ara-mandi (half sitting) and muzhu-mandi (full sitting). Since the real Silk saree costumes are very expensive, art silk material is also used for making the dress. Art Silk material looks like real silk but is not as delicate as the real silk fabrick. The artificial Silk is a mix of synthetic silk and real silk.

Kuchipudi Dance Costumes
There is not much of a difference between Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi costumes. The cross pleats and the Katcham that comes at the back are the main differences in the Kuchipudi costume.

In short:

1)Bharatnatyam - Classical dance from Tamil Nadu and Kuchipudi - classical dance from Andhra Pradesh.

2)Bharatnatyam represents and brings out inner fire within the human body wheras Kuchipudi expresses mankinds desire to unite with God.

3)The Bharatnatyam costumes have two/three fans of different lengths, the Kuchipudi dresses have a single fan.

Dance make-up

2010-09-08T20:50:00.000-07:00

The Indian classical dance makeup should have a graceful look and should be suitable for stage light rather than day light. It also should be equally suitable for dancers with dark or fair skin colors.

Make-up may smudge! Keep your face oil-free. Some dancers become very emotional just before the dance – but don’t cry!!!

Below is the list of Items you need for Indian Classical Dance makeup. This is applicable for Bharatanatyam, Mohiniyattam, Kathak and Kuchipudi.

Note: All the items except the items in the first line are available in any makeup kit available from Wal-Mart or Target

Altha, Sindoor, Kumkum, Bindi (preferably Maroon color)

Black eyeliner or Kajal

Blush
Eye shadow
Facial powder / Talcum powder (inhaling or swallowing talcum powder is dangerous)
Light foundation
Indian dance makeup – step by step procedure:

1. Using a gentle soap wash face and wipe with a soft lint free cotton cloth
2. Apply an oil-free moisturizer. We recommend you to use herbal moisturizer. Remember, chemicals are harmful !
3. Apply a light coat of facial powder
4. Apply the foundation. This can be a nice thick (just noticeable) coating. The foundation color should be little bit lighter than your skin color
5. Over the foundation, apply a coat of facial powder
6. Now apply blush
7. Draw the outline of both eyes using black eyeliner. Make sure the end of the outline is curved so that the eyes appear like a lotus petal.
8. Apply multiple coats of black mascara
9. On the nose, especially on the sides, apply dark foundation to the sides of your nose.
10. Select an appropriate color lipstick with some gloss and apply
11. Place a maroon sticker Bindi in the middle of your fore-head. For round face, use a rain drop shaped bindi. For a long face, use a round bindi

Hair makeup is a different topic and it varies depending upon the dance style. However, irrespective of the dance style, all uses false hair and hair kunjalam. We will cover the hair makeup in a separate blog.

Dance Ankle Bells from IndiaMartInUSA.net

2010-06-25T22:26:00.000-07:00

Have you ever looked at the different models of Ghungroo we have in our online store? We have almost all the best quality ankle bells available in South India in our website. The Ankle bells are known as “Salangai” in Tamil and “Chilanka” in Malayalam. Basically they are two types – Leather and cloth. There is one more less popular type made of Rexin also. As you know, the quality and confort of these are not well known.
Ankle bells made of genuine leather are very comfortable to wear and knwon to last long – you may get bored with them before they start tear apart. These have cushion pads behind, where it comes into contact with your ankle and so are very comfortabe to wear during hours of long practice or performance. The buckles, once fastened won’t come apart and are worry free. Some dancers prefer cloth type and would like to tie the Ghungroos instead if buckle them up.
The size of the Salangai depends upon the number of bells in each of them. It is appropriate to wear a two line Ankle bell for a seven or eight year old dancer, while adults prefer to have a four or five line Ghungroo. Based on the size, the number of bells in the Ghungroo will change. A good quality Ankle bell will have atleast 10 bells in each line. There fore, a 4 line Ghungroo will have about 40 bells in one pad. The quality of sound depend upon the size of the individual bell. The small size bells make less sound since the ball inside the bell is also small and its movement is lesser than that of a big bell.
Ankle bell coming off from the dancers leg during a performance is considered as a bad sign. Also it is dangerous and may injure the dancer. So it is important to select a good quality Ankle bell and one should make sure it is fastened or tightened properly before the dancer goes to the stage.

Dahthri Real Slim Oil

2010-06-06T04:24:00.000-07:00

Dhathri's all new Obesity control oil :

Dhathri Real Slim Oil is a unique preparation emerging from ancient Ayurveda.
Dhathri Real Slim Oil is formulated with rare Ayurvedic herbs which gives a beautiful look and shape to your body.
Dhathri Real Slim Oil acts by reducing unwanted cellulite, tightening of slack tissues and reducing water retention.
Dhathri Real Slim Oil makes the skin smooth and supple.

Ingredients:
Devadaram (Cedrus deodara),Kurumthotty (Sida retusa), Chittaratha (Alpinia galangal), Kaduku (Brassica juncea), Chukku (Zingiber officianale), Jadamanji (Nardostachvs jatamansi), Manchatty (Rubia cordifolia), Irittimadhuram (Glycyrrhiza glabra), Kolarakku (Coccus Iacca), Gulggulu (Comiflora mukul), Mathalam (Punica granatum), Karimgeerakam (Foeniculum vulgare), Lemon (Citrus aurantifolia), Sesame (Seasamum indicum), Inthuppu (Potassium chloride), Sathakuppa (Anethum graveolens), Karukapullu (Cynodon Dactylon), Castor Oil, Velichenna (Coconut Oil).

How to use:
• Massage Dhathri Slim Oil on your hips, thighs & upper arms / swelling areas for 15-20 minutes and allow it to remain for 30 minutes.
• For better result: Cover the area with hot bag or towel for 10-15 minutes. Apply oil twice a day.
• For measurable result: before applying oil
        A) You just measure the circumference of your fatty area, tummy, hips & arms.
        B) Check your body weight
        C) If possible check your fat percentage & water retention after applying herbal oil.
        D) Check your weight and fat percentage three days onwards and feel the real success.

Bharatanatyam dance dress rental

2010-02-04T19:49:00.000-08:00

Dear reader, We have discontinued the costume rental business. You can order your custom made costume from http://www.dancecostumesandjewelry.com/

Sorry for the inconvenience!!!!

There are two different types available for rent - the four piece art silk bharatanatyam costume and the six piece art silk bharatanatyam costume. The six piece set is only available for Indian sizes 32 and below. There is a deposit you need to pay after you place the order. This deposit will be returned after we receive the costumes from you after your use. We collect this deposit to make sure the costumes are received back in a good, clean condition. It is your responsibility to return the costumes clean. You may only hand wash the dress if there is some kind of stain got on the costume while its in your custody. Please DO NOT put the dress in a washer or dryer as this may damage the silk material. We don't expect you to iron the costume before you return it, but please make sure to return it clean.

There is a price difference between the two types of costumes we rent. The six piece set is expensive because it is the traditional Bharatanatyam dress and you can even use it for your child's arangettram. This is the two fan pattern. Please see the pictures below. This has a pyjama style pant, blouse, two fans, arapatta and dhavani.

Also have a look at our temple jewelry sets. Our dance jewelry sets have all the necessary ornaments for the complete make-up. We have complete imitation dance jewelry sets with belt, long chain, necklace, bangles, jimiki, nath, head-set, mattil and Rakodi for price ranging from $49.00 to $89.00

Natural Herbal Beauty Care products from IndiaMartInUSA.com

2009-11-29T12:23:00.000-08:00

Ayurveda is a sanscrit word meaning “science of life”. Ayurvedam is the traditional way of treating disease in India and the system has been in practice for almost past 6000 years. Historians agree that the ancient authentic texts for Ayurveda were written before BC2500. The beauty care products offered by IndiaMartInUSA.com are made as per Ayurvedic formulae and procedures using fresh herbs from traditional herbal gardens and forests of Kerala, a southern state of culture rich India. These Ayurvedic natural herbal essences are the best way to relax your soul and rejuvenate your body. Say good bye to harmful chemicals and use our 100% natural herbal beauty care products to maintain a healthy and beautiful skin and hair for several years! Dhathri is one of the leading Ayurvedic beauty care product manufacturer in India and they have been in business for past several years with quality products and proven track record.

New Bharatanatyam costumes added to our product line !

2009-10-26T15:37:00.000-07:00

This week we have added two different types of Bharatanatyam costumes to our product line at the online store of http://www.indiamartinusa.net/. One is made of Dharmavaaram type silk saree and the other one is made of art silk saree. Both will be stitched in India as per the measurements provided by the customer. The delivery time is around 4 – 6 weeks. Please download our costume measurement chart, fill it up with correct measurements and fax to 240 241 5171. We already have dance practice costumes which can be used for Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi or Mohiniyattam dance practice lessons. The cost of our Bharatanatyam costumes are very reasonable. Please check out our website for more information. Apart from the Bharatanatyam dance costumes, we also have imitation temple jewellery and dance make-up accessories including false hair, Kunjalam, hair bun etc…

Types of Bharatanatyam jewelry

2009-10-11T08:20:00.000-07:00

Most of the online stores selling Bharatanatyam jewelry has usually three different types of ornamants. The jewelry with red and white stones, imitation temple jewelry, and real temple jewelry. Out of all these, the cheapest is the first catagory. The base metal to make these and imitation temple jewelry are the same. Only the color and type of the stones are different. The real temple jewelry is made of silver and coated with gold. The stones used for this are the kemp stones imported from Srilanka.

New stock arrived !

2009-09-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

Today we have updated our website with many fast moving items. Many of the "out-of-stock" items are now available. Have a look at the site. The temple jewelry set model IT TR75 is available now. We also have the 4 line long chain for Bharatanatyam as well as the fast moving Elakathaali.

Kerala Sarees and Set Mundu

2009-09-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

Set mundu is the traditional dress of Kerala Women. Set mundu is also known as mundum neriyathum. It is the oldest raw form of the saree which covers only the lower part of the body. In the set mundu, the basic traditional piece is the mundu, the lower garment worn around the waist. The set or neriyathu forms the upper cloth. Looking back to the Kerala culture, it is very evident that the neriyathu is added very recently, may be after 1960s to the mundu. The set mundu, in recent years, is worn in the modern style with the neriyathu placed over the blouse. Typically it is worn diagonally from along the right hip to the left shoulder covering the blouse and upper part of the body. The remaining loose end of the set (neriyathu) hangs freely from the left shoulder like the pallu of any Indian dress. Because the material is pure cotton, the set mundu or mundum neriyathum is starched and thoroughly ironed before wearing.The set mundu is originally cream in color has a colored strip at the border known as kara. This is usually known as kasavu kara because this border is always in golden color made of kasavu material. The kasavu kara is usually artificial material which looks like gold strings. Mostly this is fine copper strings with gold plating or similar coating. The pure gold kasavu kara is used in expensive Kanchipuram silk sarees and even in expensive set mundu. Until recent years the mundum neriyathum was only woven by handloom. Now these are made in power looms in various parts of Kerala. Still handloom woven set mundu are in high demand and they cost slightly higher when compared to their power loom counterparts.At different parts of Kerala the set mundu is known in different names and the style varies slightly based on the local culture and life style. Though mundum neriyathum is the most common name, set saree, kasavu mundu, mundu saree, Kerala saree are few other names for set mundu. On festive occasions like Onam and Vishu, set mundu is the preferred costume of all Malayalee women irrespective of where they live. Thiruvathirakali and Kaikottikali are two traditional dances, Malayalee women perform in groups during Onam. The costumes for these dances are always set mundu or Kerala saree. Another big advantage of the set mundu or Kerala saree is that it can accommodate any color for the blouse. The plain golden jewelry always goes with these costumes. Mohiniyattam, the classical dance originated from Kerala also has costumes similar to set mundu with more fan and pallu.
As mentioned, the set mundu is the traditional and cultural costume of Malayalee women and often referred as Mundum Neriyathum. The beauty, elegance, grace and appeal of the kasavu kara contrasting with the otherwise plain white set mundu has become symbol of malayalee women.

Mohiniyattam Dance

2009-08-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

Mohiniyattam is one of the classical dance forms of Kerala. It was mainly performed in the Temples of Kerala. It is also the heir to devadasi dance heritage like Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Odissi. There is a story of Lord Vishnu taking on the guise of a mohini to enthrall people, both in connection with the churning of the milk ocean and with the episode of killing Bhasmasura
Mohiniyattam is based on the themes of love and devotion and more often the hero is Vishnu or Krishna. The audience can feel His invisible presence when the heroine or her maid details dreams and ambitions through the circular movements, delicate footsteps and subtle expressions. The movements are graceful like Odissi and the costumes sober and attractive.
The repertoire of Mohiniattam follows closely that of Bharatanatyam. Beginning with Chollukettu, the dancer performs Jathiswaram, Varnam, Padam and Thillana in a concert. Mohiniyattam like many other forms follows the Hasthalakshana Deepika as a text book of hand gestures. The style of vocal music for Mohiniattam is classical Karnatic.

MUSIC FOR MOHINIYATTAM

The vocal music of Mohiniyattam involves variations in rhythmic structure known as chollu. The lyrics are in Manipravalam, a mixture of Sanskrit and Malayalam. The Mohiniyattam dance is performed to this accompaniment by the subtle gestures and footwork of the danseuse. The performer uses the eyes in a very coy yet sensual manner, the purpose being to enchant the mind without enticing the senses.

THE MOHINIYATTAM JEWELRY AND COSTUME

The costume in Mohiniyattam dance comprises of a white ‘kasavu’ saree, a decorated blouse and a waist garment. The edges are embellished with golden fabric know as kasavu kara. The makeup is simple. The face is treated with yellow and pink colored paste. The eyes are given a lining of black color. The lips are reddened. The hair is tied up and adorned with jasmine flowers.
Mohiniyattam jewellery is marked by its use of gold or gold plated jewelry. Usually Mohiniyattam jewellery set consists of necklaces, ‘vanki’ (armband), ‘oddiyanam’ (waistband), nose stud (Nath Bullaku) and ‘jimikki’ (swinging ear ornaments). Necklaces are basically of two types: ‘maangamala’ and ‘Kaasumala’. The ‘mangamala’ is made by linking together gem studded mango shaped pieces. The ‘kasumala’ is made by attaching gold coins together.
The pendants for the necklaces are shaped like swans, peacocks and parrots. Similar to mangamala or kasumala, the elakkathali is another famous traditional ornament in the Mohiniyattam Jewellery set. The oddiyanam is also gold plated which may sometimes have the picture of Goddess Lakshmi engraved in it. This particular type of oddiyanam is known as Lakshmi Belt. This plain Lakshmi Belt is very popular and often Bharatanatyam dancers use it as part of Bharatanatyam jewellery.

Bharatanatyam Jewellery

2009-07-19T19:19:00.000-07:00

Temple jewellery belongs to the tradition of India, especially southern part of India. Olden days, Temple jewellery was worn by only Devadasi girls who perform dance in temple and in Darbars. Now a days, it is not uncommon to see south Indian brides wearing Temple Jewellery for their weddings. So today, one can say the Temple jewellery is traditional South Indian jewellery. The origin of Temple Jewellery dates back to 12th century. This was the period of famous Dravidian Tamil Dynasty known as “Chozha kulam” who ruled southern part of India. All the chozha kings gave very importance to cultural development and most of the of the temple jewelry today are similar to the designs in the heavily ornamented pillars with accurate details and rich sculpted walls of many south Indian Temples, especially ones in Thanjavur.

Today temple jewelry is prepared in a variety of metals. Originally it was made of gold with ruby, emerald & pearls and was used by the devadasi girls who danced in Temple and Darbars. Today Temple jewellery is mostly associated with Bharatanatyam dance. There are different types of Temple Jewellery manufactured today. Three of them are widely sold all over the world. Real Temple Jewellery, Imitation temple Jewellery and Stone type Temple Jewellery. Most of the real temple is made in Nagercoil, a southern city in Tamilnadu. These designs are quite unique which makes them more popular and adorable. These are made with silver and have a heavy coating of 22Ct gold over it. These are expensive and so imitation of expensive jewellery is also available on the market.

The most common Imitation Temple Jewelry set has 11 different ornaments. These are Long chain, Short necklace, Sun/Moon, Nethichutti, Mattal, Jimikky, Belt, Vanki, Rakkodi, Nath/Bullakku and bangles. Dancers also wear chilangai/salangai in the ankles during dance performance.

New stock update

2009-07-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

Today the online store was updated with many new products. The favorite necklace and the JADA were added to the stock. They were out of stock for a while.

Also working with domestic shipper to reduce the shipping cost. We have now added UPS also.

Dance practice costumes included

2009-07-11T08:36:00.001-07:00

We have added dance practice costumes to our product catalog. Presently, the delivery time is 4 weeks (for costumes only), but we are working on to reduce it to 4 days. Please visit our practice costume section for the price details.

IndiaMartinUSA Blog Spot

2009-04-19T21:31:00.000-07:00

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