Bommalu collection of jewellery

In October, during the festival of Navaratri, I launched Bommalu collection of jewellery on Instagram. There were three necklaces and one brooch, with a promise of more to follow. However, in the weeks that followed, there were 30+ hours of classes per week, a big event, a presentation and two deaths in my extended family. Therefore, I couldn’t fulfil my promise of creating more or blogging about it. So I am here writing about Bommalu which was an attempt to show figments of a huge project that is underway and involves the techniques of Tholu Bommalata or Shadow leather puppetry.

Tholu Bommalata

Tholu Bommalata is a kind of rural theatre and is popular in the states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra. The performers sing and manipulate translucent leather puppets while telling mythical stories. Tholu means leather in Telugu, Bommalu – doll or puppet and aata means dance. So Tholu Bommalata is the dance of leather dolls.

I have been working with Tholu Bommalata artisans for a pet project of mine called Jewelry in Narratives for the past few months. It will debut and feature as a part of New York City Jewelry week durational event exhibition! More about the project in a separate post.

Please RSVP for the event on Nov 19th for a guided tour of the project exhibition.

Bommalu collection of jewellery

Since Bommalu (Pronounced Bommaloo) means dolls, I took inspiration from the Navaratri golu dolls to create these pieces. They are all hand painted by Mr. Sinde Sriramulu, a Tholu Bommalata master craftsman, from Nimmakunta, Andhra Pradesh in India. They do have a few strokes of paint by my hand, particularly the eyes and those parts that involve shading.

Ganesha Necklace

Ganesha, is the God of beginnings in Hindu mythology. No festival, function or important work happens in a Hindu household without his name being uttered or his form worshipped. However, this particular image is rare as he is never shown in blue colour. This is where the puppet influence is visible through formal aesthetics. This Ganesha necklace is available for sale.

Krishna playing the flue

Krishna is admired as a playful child who performed miracles, a attractive-talented musician, a warrior and a brilliant strategist. In this necklace that includes a five inch pendant and beaded choker, two aspects of Krishna can be seen. He is a teenage boy, a musician and as a symbol of romantic love. However, the leaf at the back points to that iconography of Krishna as a baby lying on a leaf and floating in flood waters. Here, the image is a metaphor for a new beginnings, hope and survival.

Since these pieces were made towards the end of the design stage of the Jewelry in Narratives project, I asked Sriramulu to draw new and interesting forms of his choice to depict Hindu deities. This particular image is a result of his imagination. This Krishna necklace is available for sale.

Saraswati Brooch

Saraswati is the Goddess of knowledge and the arts in Hindu mythology. While I made this piece for myself, I put it up on Instagram on the day of Saraswati puja. It was not only snapped up in minutes, but I got an order for 2 more pieces. Finally, after three weeks, they are ready and off to their new owners now.

Durga Necklace

The last is Durga, a Goddess of all life and power which she derives and bestows to all beings – Gods, human and more than human alike. She is the equivalent of “Mother Goddess” in Western nomenclature. She is often depicted as being ferocious. However, I find her so kind and so I drew over Sriramulu painting and made her eyes, kind of dreamy. This necklace of red and maroon glass beads and leather pendant is available for sale.

That is the Bommalu collection of jewellery as of now. Please do share your feedback with me. There is one more that I made for my mom as a Diwali gift, a picture of which is no where to be found. As I conclude, I just want to say thanks for putting up with my absence. I will be doing some maintenance work later this week, moving my blog from Siteground, my current hosting provider to Bluehost. I hope that the site will not be down for long. But I apologise for any inconvienice.

Next time I write to you, I want to tell you more about Jewelry in Narratives. Until then, keep reading.

I hope you found it interesting
Cheers