Tant sarees of West Bengal

Tant sarees are another form of handloom sarees from West Bengal. These don't have intricate thread work like Dhakai Jamdani or beuatiful embroideries like Kantha Sarees. But these sarees are very popular because of the bright colors used and unique color combination. 

"Tant", means thread. Tant sarees are hand loom sarees. These are manufactured in West - Bengal of India, especially in Hoogly and Mushirabad area in West Bengal and Tangail region of Bangladesh . 

Tant sarees are woven to create some stripes or motifs. The borders are woven with zari or simple threads.Here are some Tant sarees.

Traditional Tant saree

Traditional Tant saree

History: 

The industry of manufacturing Tant sarees flourished during Mughal era. The Tant weavers started weaving Mughal designs and motifs in the sarees, which  termed as Tant Jamdani. The motif weaving gave richness to the saree.But during the British rule, Tant saree manufacturing was almost destroyed.

Tant saree with motifs

Zari woven border of Tant saree

Zari woven Tant saree

Now the Tant sarees are woven by power-looms. Still the sarees have not lost the beauty and charm.Now the weavers are using different techniques like embroidery , patchwork , hand painting etc to make it more beautiful. Here is a tant saree with applique work:

Tant saree with Applique work

As I know, almost all Bengali women own Tant sarees. Tant sarees are worn during on special occasions in West Bengal. These sarees are very economical and the fabric is comfortable. These factors make Tant sarees very popular.

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Patterns used in Mughal Art and Architecture

Indian architecture and arts are influenced by Mughal architecture, during Mughal rule in India. Mughal architecture flourished in India by Mughals in 16th to 18th century. Mughal art and architecture use some patterns which make the art very attractive. Dome is one of the those. The carving and crafts in the Mughal architecture are very pleasing. These we can observe in many famous Mughal monuments, one being the world famous Taj Mahal. Recently I visited Qutub Minar in Delhi. There also I could capture different patterns of Mughal Architecture.Sharing about some the major patterns used in Mughal Architecture in India.

1. Jali patterns :

Jaali means net. Jaalis are carved on red stone or white marbles.Jaalis are extensively used in Mughal Architecture for windows , edges of the platforms and terraces. 

Jaali- Windows

 

Here are some more information about Jaali in Mughal Architecture

2. Geometrical patterns  

Another design pattern used in mughal architecture is repeated geometric pattern. Even Jaalis have geometric patterns.

Repeated Geometric pattern

Repeated Geometric Pattern

  3. Arabesque: 

Arabesque are the patterns made by interlacing lines and curves. Arabesque is another major design used in mughal architecture. These looks quite complicated designs.

Arabesque patterns

Arabesque patterns

4. Calligraphy Designs

Calligraphy is another defining charecteristic of Mughal architecture. The Qutub Minar has the calligraphy designs running  around the Minar. These are in the form of bands. This has the text from Quran. 

Calligraphic designs

5. Floral Designs:

Floral designs are major patterns in almost all the art and architecture. Mughal Arts and Architecture is not an exclusion. The floral designs are includes mainly lotus, rose , buds and plants. 

Floral Designs

Floral designs

 We often see most of these designs are used in modern architecture too. Now to replicate these designs with technology and modern tools may be easy, but during those days with the use of manually operated tools imagine how difficult it would have been! 

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Tutorial to make houseboat - for school projects (Continued from last post)

In the last post I have shared the tutorial to make house boat model for school projects. As its  quite a lengthy process , I could only share about making of the boat. I this post sharing about how to make the house and fix it to the boat.
Already the boat is made with carton box, now cut the thermocol in the shapes shown below.

 Then using fevicol attach the pieces to make it in the form of a cubicle:

Now to cut the left out of the carton box, in the form of a roof:

Then attach the roof to the thermocol cubicle:

To give the texture of the wood, take the ice cream sticks and attach to the walls of the house one by one.

Now paint the boat and the house with light brown color:

 Now it is almost complete. Attach the house inside the boat:

Now the house boat is ready :)

You can use it for you kid's school project. If you have any other method of making the houseboat do share it. That will help many moms like you.

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana