Saturday 5 October 2013

Thrissur Pooram Celebration

                           Thrissur pooram

Thrissur/ Thrissivaperoor pooram commonly called ‘the pooram of all poorams’. It is one of the mammoth pooram festival in kerala. It has been celebrated every year in Medam ( April) month, as per malayalam calendar, at Vadakkumnathan temple, situated on famousthekkinkadu maidhanam, a hillock right in the centre of city. It was believed that every year the dynastic gods and goddesses of neighbouring temple met together for a day of celebration. It is a 36 hours continuous pooram attracting a huge mass of people from different places including international tourists. The two dewasoms – Thiruvampadi and Paramekkavu are the two temples are the major temples to make the festival a remarkable one.
The pooram starts at the time of Kanimangalam sasthavu ezhunnellippu in the early morning and followed by the ezhunnellippu of other six temples. One of the major event in Thrissur pooram is “Madathil varavu”- is a panchavadhyam melam, participating more than 200 artists, consists of Thimila, Madhalam, Trumpet, Cymbal and Edakka (Different types of instruments). At 2’ O clock, inside the vadakkumnathan temple starts the famous Ilanjithara melam – a type of melam consists of drum, trumpets, pipe and cymbal.
Just two days before pooram, there is a huge exhibition – Ana chamaya pradharshanam (exhibition of elephant decorations), of both temple at various schools.
The pooram has a good collection of elephants (more than 50) decorated with nettipattam (decorative golden headdress), strikingly crafted Kolam, decorative bells, ornaments and the umbrellas, venchamaram, and alavattam are awesome and it enrich the beauty of elephants and pooram.
At the end of the pooram, after the Ilanjithara melam, both Paramekkavu and Thiruvambadi groups enter the temple through the western gate and come out through the southern gate and array themselves, face to face in distant places. The two groups in the presence of melam, exchange colourful and crafted umbrellas competitively at the top of the elephants – called Kudamattom, which is eye catching attraction of the pooram.
The pooram concluded with a spectacular fire works display, which is held in next day early morning after the pooram. The two temples competitively crack many innovative and charming fire works, which make spectators going into ruptures.
The another notable feature of the pooram is its secular nature. All other communities actively participate and make their prominent role in each and every part of the festival. Most of the pandal works are crafted by muslim community. The materials for the umbrellas for ‘Kudamattom’ are offered by the churches and their members. It is a good sign of secularism which is disintegrating nowadays.
This pooram festival differs from other national festivals like Kumbha Mela of Uttar Pradesh, the Vijayadashami pageantry of Mysor or the Rath Yatra of Orissa. This pooram upholding communal harmony and all people from different religion gives hand to hand to the success of pooram.
History of Pooram:-
Thrissur pooram is started two centuries back the then ruler of Cochin, Sakthan Thampuran or Raja Rama Varma, in 1798. Sakthan Thampuran, so known for his firm and decisive administration, decided to break tradition and started to celebrate the pooram festival belonging to his region. Before the initiation of Thrissur pooram, Arattupuzha festival was the largest temple festival, which is around 12 Km from the city. Temples near the Thrissur were the regular participants of the Arattupuzha pooram untile they were denied by the chief of Peruvanam Gramam due to the delayed entry of the Thrissur and Kuttanellur termple. This caused the Thrissur Naduvazhi, the chief poojari of Vadakkunnathan, known as Yogadiripad and the Kuttanellur Naduvazhi started the pooram in Thrissur.This pooram started as an act of reprisal quickly lost its charm, after infighting between the two main Naduvazhis. It required the intervention of the ruler to get this right. Sakthan Thampuran unified the 10 temples situated around Vadakkunnathan temple and organized the celebration of Thrissur Pooram as a mass festival. He ordained these temples into two groups, Western group and Eastern group. The Western group as Thiruvambady consisting of Kanimangalam, Laloor, Ayyanthole, Nethilakkavu and the Thiruvambady temple, as the main one. The Eastern group called as Paramekkavu, consisting in addition to Paramekkavu temple, Karamukku, Chembukavu, Choorakottukavu and Panamukkamppilly. The pooram was to be centered around the Vadakkunnathan temple, with all these temples sending their poorams (the whole procession), to pay obeisance to the Shiva, the presiding deity. The Thampuran is believed to have chalked out the program and the main events of the Thrissur pooram festival. It is this historical background that determines the course of the pooram program and it is specifically the ruler's antipathy to the Brahmin aristocracy to open Thrissur pooram for the common man.















Traditional 20 Best Oil Paintings By Ravi Varma

                                      Raja Ravi Varma 



Raja Ravi Varma was born on 29th April 1848, in Kilimanoor, a small town of Kerala. He is known for his amazing paintings, which revolve mainly around the great epics of Mahabharata and Ramayana. Raja Ravi Varma is one of the few painters who have managed to accomplish a beautiful unison of the Indian traditions with the techniques of European academic art. He left for the holy abode on 2nd October 1906, leaving behind his legacy of amazing paintings. Raja Ravi Verma's paintings of beautiful sari clad women have also received recognition in the west. As we move on further, we will come across more information related to Raja Ravi Varma's biography and life history:

Life
Raja Ravi Varma was born to Umamba Thampuratti and Neelakandan Bhattathiripad in the royal palace of Kilimanoor. The inborn talent of the painter started showing at a very tender age. Recognizing the innate aptitude of their child, his parents sent him to study under the patronage of Ayilyam Thirunal Maharaja of Travancore, when he was only 14 years old. He received tutelage, first, from the palace painter Rama Swamy Naidu and then, from Theodor Jenson, a British painter.

Raja Ravi Varma got married to Rani Bhageerathi Bayi (Kochu Panki Amma) of Mavelikara Royal House. He spent the later years of his life in Mysore, Baroda and a number of other cities in the country. This exposure helped him in broadening his outlook. At the same time, he was able to expand as well as sharpen his skills and evolve into a mature painter.

Professional Aspects
Raja Ravi Varma received systematic training, first in the traditional art of Thanjavoor and then, in the European art. He is credited with providing the critical link between Thanjavoor School and Western academic realism. His paintings can be classified into the following three categories:
  • Portraits
  • Portrait-based Compositions
  • Theatrical Compositions, based on myths and legends
It is the third category of paintings for which Raja Ravi Varma is the most renowned. He was continuously traveling through the length and breadth of India, in order to find subjects for his paintings. His love for the South Indian women is depicted through his works. In many of his paintings, he has modeled Hindu Goddesses on the women living in the southern parts of India. The most popular as well as impressive paintings of Raja Ravi Verma include the ones depicting episodes from the story of Dushyanta and Shakuntala and that of Nala and Damayanti.

At times, Raja Ravi Varma is criticized for being too showy in his paintings. His paintings are also condemned for overshadowing traditional Indian art forms, especially the ones depicting Hindu Gods and Goddesses. Raja Ravi Varma's approach is said to lack the dynamism of expression seen in the traditional paintings. Critics have also disapproved of his rejecting the traditional models of representation of deities and reducing them to the level of mortals.

Recognition
In recognition of the immense contribution of Raja Ravi Varma towards Indian art, the Government of Kerala has instituted an award in his name. Known as the 'Raja Ravi Varma Puraskaram', the award is given to individuals who show considerable promise in the field of art and culture. There is a college in Mavelikara district of Kerala, established in the honor of Raja Ravi Verma. He also received international recognition in 1873, when he won the first prize for his paintings at the Vienna Art Exhibition.

Notable Works of Raja Ravi Varma
Given below is a comprehensive list of the prominent works of Raja Ravi Varma:
  • A Family of Beggars
  • A Lady Playing Swarbat
  • Arjuna and Subhadra
  • Damayanti Talking to a Swan
  • Draupadi Dreading to Meet Kichaka
  • Girl in Sage Kanwa's Hermitage (Rishi-Kanya)
  • Jatayu (a bird devotee of Lord Rama is mauled by Rawana)
  • Lady Giving Alms at the Temple
  • Lady Lost in Thought
  • Lady with Fruit
  • Lord Krishna as Ambassador
  • Lord Rama Conquers Varuna
  • Nair Woman
  • Romancing Couple
  • Shakuntala
  • Shakuntala Composing a Love Letter to King Dushyanta
  • Shantanu and Matsyagandha
  • Swarbat Player
  • The Heartbroken
  • The Orchestra
  • Victory of Indrajit

Traditional 20  Best Oil Paintings By Ravi Varma :-




















Tuesday 21 February 2012

Hand Made Flower



Hand Made Flower using Net Cloth

REQUIREMENTS:
1. Net ( pink,green and yellow colours)
2. Wire
3. Stem wire
4. Fancy doori silver
5. Silver glitter
6. Rainbow glitter
7. Floral tape
8. U.h.u gum
9. Big beads 
  

METHOD:

 1. Firstly, you make the petals of flowers.
2. Take the 12" inches long wire and shaped like a petal.Make 6 petals of this size.
3. Take the 9" inches long wire and shaped like a petal. Make 14 petals of this size.
4. Now paste 1 wire petal on the net with gum
5. Cutt the extra net around the wire petal but leave some net extra from the wire.
6. Paste the gum on the extra piece of the net on the wire and turn the extra net inside the petal. Now one petal is ready.
7. Make all the petals by following these instractions.
8. Now paste the Doori on the edges of all the petals.
9. Make the buds of flower.Take 1 big bead and covered it with yellow net very well . Now paste the yellow net on the bead by the help of gum.
10.Take a 3" inches long wire and paste the bead on it with gum.Now wrape the floral tape on the wire left.Now take some gum on the bud and sprinkle some glitter and rainbow glitter on the wet gum. Let it dry. Make almost 25 wire buds like that.
11.Now make leaves from green net. as in second picture.
12.Take 24" inches long wire and shaped like a leaf.Make 3 leaves like that.
13.Make 9 small leaves of 18" inches,15" inches and 12" inches.
14.Now paste it on the green net by gum.Cutt the extra net around the leave but left some net extra from wire.
15.Paste the gum on the extra net around the leave and turn it inside the leave.
16. Now paste the sliver Doori on the edges of the leaves.Paste another single line of lace (doori) in the centre of the leaf for rel look.Now leaves are ready.
17.Take 8 ready yellow buds and tie them together with floral tape on the stem wire.
18.Make some springs of wire with the help of your fingers,wrape it with floral tape and glittered it.
19.Now take 3 small petals and tie around the buds with floral tape tigthly.Then take 6 big petals and tie them one by one around the small petals.
20.Attached the 2 or 3 leafs on the stem wire and with all that tie some yellow net buds and glittered wire springs along with leafs for a beautiful look.For small flowers the number of petals should be 5 and 6 and attached.
21.You can also attached some artificial small bushes with the floral stem.
22.Make some more stems like that and your beautiful big net flowers are ready Take a beautiful crystal big vase and arrange these flowers.