My Country Blog Hop – India

Purva Raga

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

kemp necklace with radha krishna  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.

 Purva Raga
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.

kemp necklace with radha krishna
I shot Purva Raga on a banana leaf for two reasons – 1) great color contrast 2) Due to its importance in Indian Culture. Banana leaves are very special to us; once commonly used as a leaf plate for meals, its now reserved for wedding and special occasions. The upper portion of the leaf is meant for fruits, vegetables, chips, pickles and the lower portion for rice. It is said that Lord Rama, divided the leaf into two parts so that his trusted deputy and follower Hanuman (a monkey) can share a meal with him by eating fruits from the same plate (leaf). Being served on a leaf that still has its tip intact without any tears or dryness is an honour. Food tastes much better when served on the leaf, plus its completely an eco friendly way to have a great meal!!
India is a great country with Diverse cultures with each region of every state having their own traditions, making it impossible to talk all about it, in one post. Hopefully I have brought out a few glimpses of our culture through my design and this post on the concept of Purva Raga. I am looking forward to taking a bloggy world tour to see what everyone else has created. Do Join me in visit our lovely host Nan and hopping to all the blogs from there.

Recommended reading
Bridal series- South India
Types of Indian Jewelry
What is Kemp

I hope you find it interesting
Cheers

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26 responses to “My Country Blog Hop – India”

  1. LiliKrist avatar

    waaa…more knowledge about India =)
    I'm watching Mahabarata and Mahadewa now. Playing on our national TV channel. So I know little bit about Krishna. What make me interesting is about banana leaf. Interesting way =) we in here, use banana leaf as steam food wrappers namely bothok and pepes.

    I love the colors. You are endowed with the expertise to mixing and matching bright colors. I wish I have that talent too.

  2. Little Treasures avatar

    What a beautiful story as a setting / foundation for your new collection. The above necklace bears an incredibly lovely story.
    Phenomenal use of banana leaves btw!

  3. Divya N avatar

    Thanks Maya, Its the cynosure of my new collection, so I thought it would be a befitting introduction to my country's culture

  4. Divya N avatar

    Oh Lilik, thank you, I wish I had your patience when it comes to doing intricate work

  5. Tammy Adams avatar

    (pardon me if my comments show up twice – not sure the first one went through) Lovely story and so many fascinating facts about your home. I had seen food served on banana leaves before (in movies) but didn't know the details behind it. The necklace is spectacular.

  6. Anindita Basu avatar

    I love your color combination and the explanation of Purva Raga and Radha Krisna. Also it was nice that you introduced Ravi Varma, the famous artist. I wonder what is this blog hop about. It is going on? or finished. I am interested in it, but did not know about it. Any way nice post, Divya.

  7. sheilaposter avatar

    What beautiful jewelry, I am inspired to ask if it is for sale divyan, I like having words that express the concept:Purva Raga. I always learn so much about india on your blog

  8. Michelle L. avatar

    Gorgeous – the Chandra prabha gives such a rich element to the focal.

  9. Kepi avatar

    Wonderful story, and your necklace is absolutely stunning, perfect tribute!

  10. Nan Smith avatar

    Thank you so much, Divya. You really tell a fascinating story about purva raga. You say that Indians have a tradition of telling stories with pictures and you have illustrated that here very well. Your necklace with 2 pendants is intricate and unique. I wish you great success with your new collection. I find the idea of banana leaf as a plate intriguing and practical. Too bad I can't do the same with maple leaves! LOL

  11. Divya N avatar

    Thanks Sheila – This particular piece is sold, but I am make you a similar one. Please mail me a confirmation request with your address to place an order

  12. Divya N avatar

    Anindita, its an annual one day blog hop where participants tell stories about their countries. Do read about my previous chithiram collection if you are interested in it

  13. Divya N avatar

    Thanks for the lovely comment Debbie

  14. Divya N avatar

    thank you for hosting such a wonderful blog hop. You can do it with maple leaves to – just stitch up dried ones into plates, we do that too here

  15. Radhika avatar

    Truely its a Beauty Divya and you have potraited our Indian culture in your necklace very well ..your collection gonna rock .. I enjoyed reading your post 🙂

  16. bairozan avatar

    My feeling about Indian traditions are just like in the postcard – lusciousness of color, texture, nature, beautiful and richly ornamented clothing, make-up and jewelry. Such a beautiful story about eternal love! Also told by your jewelry – sparkly and romantic in a traditional way but also eye-catching from a modern high-end design perspective!

  17. Divya N avatar

    we are a country with very diverse cultures and our textiles, jewelry, decor ranges from extremely simple and spartan to highly extravagant but extravagance sells. Though the story is from a myth, In my opinion its is very real and relevant even today

  18. Divya N avatar

    thanks a lot Radhika, I just hope that I have done justice to the theme

  19. motidana avatar

    What unique and wonderful creations! I love your idea of using traditional jewelry pieces such as the chandra prabha and adding it to a more recent technique of decoupage to create this beautiful collection 🙂

  20. Dini Bruinsma avatar

    Hello Divya, I'm very impressed by the colours (and design) of your piece! They are what I have in my mind when thinking about India, it's what I see in movies. Perfect (-: Love your story too and thanks for telling me about Purva Raga. I had no idea yet, now I have… There could not be a bigger contrast in our worlds…

  21. Yashashree avatar
    Yashashree

    Is it still available to purchase ? How much ? How can I buy this ?
    Thank you!

    ~ Yashashree

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      It was made and sold 4 years ago

  22. Yashashree avatar
    Yashashree

    Thank you Divya for the reply! Can you still make one and how to I buy it ?
    ~ Yashashree

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      Sorry. it is not possible to remake it now. Pls look at the shop page for the current products

  23. Yashashree avatar
    Yashashree

    I looked at the shop pages but it’s not giving me the option to buy or enter the payment info. How to do that in future ? Thank you!

    1. jewelsofsayuri avatar

      please email me to buy. It is mentioned in the description above the products

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