Judging Gombehabba

Gombe habba is a cute tradition which is celebrated in some parts of South India. I have already written about this tradition in my previous posts. This year there was no sign , that any would invite me. I was little disappointed. But a surprise was waiting for me. A Kannada News daily Vijaya Karnataka conducts competition about gombe habba. I was invited to judge the competition. every year I used to visit one or two houses to see Gombe habba. Because of Vijaya Karnataka , I visited 10 houses to see gombe habba
Here are some glimpses of the Gombe habba , we visited , published in news paper:

The day we visited 10 houses. In each house the arrangements of dolls was wonderful. I could see everywhere dolls, depicting different themes. The themes included stories from mythology to current issues like Kaveri water dispute between Karnataka and TamilNadu, recent surgical attack etc. I have captured photos of dolls, which I found very interesting. I will share about those in coming post.

Until then, 

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

Some variations in Kerala Kasavu sarees

I need not write anything about Kerala Kasavu sarees. Most of the saree loving women , own at least one Kerala Kasavu saree in their collection. This is also known as "Mundum Neriyathum". This is traditional saree of Kerala.Fine cotton handwoven sarees produced by weavers of Balarampuram near Tiruvantharam.


It has two pieces, Mundum  and Neriyattum, which is in white color or very light cream color.This has combination with Kasav( silk thread covered with gold or silver plated threads). In Raja Ravi Verma's paintings, the women he painted are mostly wearing Mundum Neriyattum.

Raja - Ravi Verma's painting- Woman wearing Kerala Kasavu saree
Image Courtesy-Pininterest

Variations in Kerala Kasavu saree

Though Kerala Kasavu sarees are beautiful, with elegant combination of white and gold, nowdays we can find many variations in Kerala Kasavu. The plain one looks very elegant and good option if anyone is planning to embroider or paint on a saree.

Plain Kerala Kasavu saree:

Plain Kerala Kasavu saree

Kerala Kasavu with Screen Printing:

As I have written, Kerala Kasavu saree is perfect for embroidery or painting. I have used screen printing on one of my sarees. Here it is :

Kerala Kasuvu saree with screen printing

This one is Kerala Kasavu , with embroidery:

Kerala Kasavu saree with embroidery

Kerala Kasavu saree with colored threads and motifs

Weavers also coming up with many designs. To make the borer and Pallu look little colorful, nowadays color silk threads are also used with golden color threads. Here are some variations with color threads:

Kerala Kasavu with motifs

Kerala Kasavu with motifs

Nowadays, Kerala Kasavu with Kerala Mural painting is in trend. I'm planning to paint a Kerala Mural on a saree. Soon share about Kerala Mural in coming posts.

Until then,

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana

The dolls can make you a celebrity!

Dasara celebration is going on. I have already shared about Gombe habba celebrations in my earlier posts. Gombe habba is a lovely tradition of Dasara, celebrated in Bangalore and Mysore (of Karnataka, India). This is the tradition, celebrated enthusiastically,among all , kids and adults. In fact celebrating Gombehabba, an adult becomes a kid, while arranging the colorful dolls. :-)

I don't know the origin of celebration of Gombehabba. My guess is, it might have started to exhibit the talents of women, who had very less exposure those days. But nowadays we have several opportunities to showcase talents and skills. Here is one such opportunity showcase the dolls arrangements made by you. A well known , Kannada  daily news paper ,"Vijaya Karnataka", has announced a competition to showcase your talent of arranging dolls. I saw this , and could not resist from sharing with you all. Here it is :

Click the photos of dolls arrangements made at your home and send it to the address given(Dasara Gombe Sparde, No.4, Jaya Sai Towers, Sajjana Rao Road, V.V.Puram , Bengaluru -560004)

 The last date is on 5th Oct. Hurry up, you never know , your dolls might make you a celebrity!

I really appreciate the efforts by the team of Vijaya Karnataka , for creating this opportunity.

                             "HAPPY DASARA TO ALL"

Love , laugh and live the life to the fullest,

-Ranjana