My country blog hop is a wonderful concept where handmade artisans from around the world come together to show people something about their home, their country via a handmade product. This year 25 people from 11+ countries are coming together in this blog hop hosted by Nan Smith of Nanmade – Handmade jewelry to narrate stories about their respective countries, states or provinces.
I thought that this would be a great opportunity to display one piece from my new- upcoming collection – The second season of my most popular collections of all times – Chithiram.
Chithiram is a tamil word that means art, painting, movie or even a story; Chithiram by Sayuri, is an art to wear collection. In 2012 my focus was on Raja Ravi verma’s (A great Indian artist who is well known for his portrayal of women in a classical way) paintings and I had used them on upcycled/recycled objects to create one of a kind wearable jewelry. Two years later, the entire line and concept being ripped off by dozens of jewelry makers and many requests from clients to bring back the original designs, I decided to bring it back with a twist.
This time around – the collection would be divided into two distinct lines – Chithira katha (Picture stories) and Ragamala (Garland of ragas or musical nodes). We Indians have a strong tradition of narrating stories using pictures, so the piece that I have chosen to showcase today – Purva Raga, falls under the Chithira Katha Category.
Purva Raga
Purva Raga is inspired by the Story of Radha Krishna, one of the greatest myths and Godly love stories of India. Its a glimpse of the eternal love story of Sri Krishna and Radha Rani which is filled with unconditional love and devotion. Theirs is a story of two soul mates forever separated yet together in their minds – a symbol of the purity of love.
Sometimes when we hear a person or catch a glimpse of them (in a dream, photo or even in real life) without really interacting with them or listen to somebody else talk about them, we might get attracted to them and/or fall in love with them. This is what “Purva Raga” means. There is indeed no rhyme or reason to it, it just happens due to connection between souls.
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| Purva raga – Painting by Vridavan Das |
The design is an amalgamation of both North and South Indian aesthetics which are extremely different from one another. But our love of gold and preference to auspicious colors like red, green and yellow bind us together.
As red is the color of love, I have chosen a red colored fabric to create the necklace stuffed with hollow beads. The focal is divided into two parts The first pendant is one half of a traditional South India hair accessory called Chandra prabha (meaning the moon, the other half is called Surya prabha meaning sun). The stones are artifical kemp (made from glass) and set in a plated copper setting, This style of jewelry is called Vadaserry or Temple (dance) jewelry or Simply as Kemp jewelry. It is worn especially during weddings and Bharatanatyam dance performances.
The second focal contains a decoupaged image of Radha looking at an image of Krishna on an acrylic base and has been rimmed with peal stone chain to coordinated with the wire wrapped pearls on the chandra phrabha. Both focals are wire wrapped together and then to the necklace.
Recommended reading
Bridal series- South India
Types of Indian Jewelry
What is Kemp
I hope you find it interesting
Cheers
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