we just spent the night in Ahmedabad and are heading off to see the famed double ikat weaving of Patiola today and staying overnight witht he friend of a friend who is apparenty a collector of textiles.
apparently she has a huge collection and i can't wait to have a look... will collect photos to show as soon a i can
bye
Saturday, March 17, 2007
bagh
a highlight for me,
textile heaven, a sweet, bustling village- they hardly ever have foriegners to visit.
a drive through amazing countryside, red and arid looking yet producing good crops, palm trees, rocks and a village still using handblock and natural dye techniques.
we had chai in a shop, chatted and looked heaps of wonderful stuff. the adults only speak hindi so Prveen ws busy with them- the kids of the family learn english at school and i had a delightful conversation with them.
then through the vilage past the potters to the print workshops...everyone was so pleasant and accomodating and happy to show what they are doing... and such wonderful work....
great day
lost worlds
Mandu, one of prveen's favourite places was a treat [ the water inlet for the Rose pool at Mandu palace]
It is perched onto of a plateau with steep ravines to all sides and left unused about 300 or 400 years ago.
today it is way, way, away from anywhere, so peaceful and quiet [ all of madyr Pradesh feels like that really as the are so few foriegn tourists- not like frantic rajasthan always someone trying to get your attention!]
on the way we had a lucky find of a pleasnat gentleman and his family, they were just lying some newly dyed fabric lengths out to dry as we were driving past.
one of those funny moments prveen and i were chatting, glanced out the window , thought oh a man dyeing cloth but kept moving on. a few seconds later the penny dropped and as i called stop his foot was hitting the brake. we looked at each other was that what we were looking for ?? and reversed up quickly.
we met a charming fellow mr Abdul, who took us to his house, showed us what he was doing- very rustic block prints and dyeing for the local market and he is happy for us to bring groups to visit him and learn how to do it. I think he was rather bemused at my interest in what is a lowly profession in rural india but still was happy to oblige showing us all we were interested in.
Tiger spotting anyone?
We went Bhandavgarh National Park for a bit of tiger spotting.
i was told you have between a 99% and 110% of seeing tigers here as they have the reputed largest concentration of wild tigers in their park.
Elephants are always mentioned in the literature so i had visions of being on an elephants back spotting tigers, but unfortunatley it is only the mahouts who go out on elephants to locate the tigers and then guide the tourists in jeeps in to view... i saw many smiling tourists leaving the park.... so guess there were tigers about
we had a spot of car trouble so all were had time to spot was a mechanic.
Prveen has seen tigers many times and assures me it is wonderful and next time i too will be able to join the satisfied ranks of tiger- in - wild viewers. an onand onto Bopal
a very beautiful mosques and a wonderful labarinth of ally ways in the old market..it is huge and seems to weave on and on with all types of things for sale.
we also stopped at Bhimbetika- an erie[ speeling malfunction- but can't hink of the right spelling at the momnet] place with 500 rock shelters and paintings dtaing back 12,000 years.
and on we went.
the architecture is inside the palace of Jhansi Fort. on the outside one of the most boring buildings I have seen- I was not even going to go inside.
but once inside the long colinades and arches, vaulted ceilings made it feel like one of the nicest spaces I have ever been in - so elegantly proportioned...just beautiful.
it was apparently the favourite residence of the Rani [forgotten her name at the moment] she was quite a girl.
Her husband was killed trying to resist the English invasion, and with only a young son as heir she was left to hold the fort [ literally!] She is reported to have ridden her horse off the ramparts- no mean feat! and escaped to gwalior fort to become the local rallying point for the Indian rebellion in the area. She was killed, dressed as a man fighting along side her soldiers against the British. oh what a gal!
later we were in a small, delightful village called Chanderi.
they still keep their tradtions of silk and brocade sari waeving alive and boy what they produce is exquisite [ sorry if I seem over the top with the superlatives but really i am being restrained we have feasted on some treats.]
these sari are like gosimer and highly desirable. We met the Master weaver Mr Prem Kohli who proudly boasted one of his saris has recently been purchsed by the Cheif minister of Rajasthan Mrs Wasundra Raja.
It was Sunday when we visited and the bazaar was mostly closed but we banged on a few doors and got to peak in the back room of a shop. The pink and silver is silk and real silver thread- when you moved it it was like water shimmering- aahhhh was all you could say.
they also make to order in real gold thread- I would lobve to see one of those!
travels in the heart of India
He have been keeping up a grueling pace working out details of our new tour to Madhyr Pradesh.
Prveen knows the area but it is new to me- so he is trying to show me all the wonderful things he knows as well as keeping us moving as my flight to Canada is very soon.
there is so much to see I can't wait to return... we have also travelled a lot of extra mile to track down interesting textile leads we had.
one disappointment was a place called Shivpuri, once know to prduce tie and dye especially in blue and white for the local market. we were all over the place but could not find an remnants of the old tradition.
a few visual highlights
Gwalior Fort- beautiful on the outside, with amazing subteranean spaces.
One room wasoriginally a room for the wives to swing in, it is just next a large pool room, the echoes and light must have been amazing; it was later used by an Emporer as a room to torture and murder his brother.
Tribal decorations local to the area.
we also visited the 200 year old modern Palace of Gwalinor , Jai Vilas Mahal[ The Maharajar still lives in much of it- we went to the museum 37 opulant rooms which would be less the one eighth of the palace.]
the palace is on an enormous scale and the areas we visited were rather like the Brighton Pavillion in the UK - over the top to say the least!
full of antiques, painted walls, things, so many things to see.
the dining hall is reported to have 58kg of gold leaf on the ceiling.
8 elephants were hung from the 2 chandlier hooks to see it they would take the weight of the crystal chandeliers!
they are beautiful and sparkly and still hanging there until this day!
the shells are powder horns from the armery of a long gone Maharaja....
some highlights of Gwalior
Thursday, March 08, 2007
satisfaction of enjoyable work
Back in Delhi, exhausted but happy. It has been a good tour, lots of laughs.
I could tell when the ladies were around by the laughter floating by. We have been here there and everywhere looking at many things and shopping. Even on Holi, when everything is shut a few of our ladies managed to get a shop opened for them to look at a little jewelry…now that to me seems like dedicated shopping!
He were in Jaipur for the spring Festival of Colours –Holi. It is a festival to celebrate the triumph of good over evil and is celebrated by ‘playing colours’, which means you have bags of coloured powder which you proceed to cover your friends in. A lot of fun- the trick though is to keep your eyes and mouth closed when someone is throwing colours at you!
There is a photo showing some of our merry crew, covered in Holi colours.
In Jaipur we were also lucky to see there Elephant Festival, this is not an old traditional festival rather a new one giving the town the chance to show off their many wonderful elephants.
There was Elephant polo, tug of war, parades and of course a chance to dress your elephant up in all the finery you can find. The photos show the one that was later declared the winner. A magnificent beast, amazingly painted and covered in sequined embroideries. He also had many old silver ornaments on under the sparkles, Chains of bells around his ankles that tinkles as he very delicately crossed his ankles in a dance movement, earrings that were about 3 feel long and much, much more. So gorgeous.
Elephants are very alert animals and seem to take a keen interest in what is happening around them- their personalities seem to show strongly. This fellow, whilst a dignified gentleman seemed happy to discreetly show off how wonderful he was. A younger one just up the line seemed a bit like my teenage sons- happy to show up for the party but saying to his mahout – when can I get out of here man…this is so boring.
Our tourists are off home today- Prveen and I are going to Madhyr Pradesh to sort details of a new tour for next season and finalize our next season’s Indian Adventures to Rajasthan…all that hard work of finding the right place...having to have dinner in nice restaurants to see what the food is like… we are going to HAVE to go on tiger safari on elephant back to see if that will work in the schedule and look at many wonderful things to work out which we can fit into our itinerary.
I could tell when the ladies were around by the laughter floating by. We have been here there and everywhere looking at many things and shopping. Even on Holi, when everything is shut a few of our ladies managed to get a shop opened for them to look at a little jewelry…now that to me seems like dedicated shopping!
He were in Jaipur for the spring Festival of Colours –Holi. It is a festival to celebrate the triumph of good over evil and is celebrated by ‘playing colours’, which means you have bags of coloured powder which you proceed to cover your friends in. A lot of fun- the trick though is to keep your eyes and mouth closed when someone is throwing colours at you!
There is a photo showing some of our merry crew, covered in Holi colours.
In Jaipur we were also lucky to see there Elephant Festival, this is not an old traditional festival rather a new one giving the town the chance to show off their many wonderful elephants.
There was Elephant polo, tug of war, parades and of course a chance to dress your elephant up in all the finery you can find. The photos show the one that was later declared the winner. A magnificent beast, amazingly painted and covered in sequined embroideries. He also had many old silver ornaments on under the sparkles, Chains of bells around his ankles that tinkles as he very delicately crossed his ankles in a dance movement, earrings that were about 3 feel long and much, much more. So gorgeous.
Elephants are very alert animals and seem to take a keen interest in what is happening around them- their personalities seem to show strongly. This fellow, whilst a dignified gentleman seemed happy to discreetly show off how wonderful he was. A younger one just up the line seemed a bit like my teenage sons- happy to show up for the party but saying to his mahout – when can I get out of here man…this is so boring.
Our tourists are off home today- Prveen and I are going to Madhyr Pradesh to sort details of a new tour for next season and finalize our next season’s Indian Adventures to Rajasthan…all that hard work of finding the right place...having to have dinner in nice restaurants to see what the food is like… we are going to HAVE to go on tiger safari on elephant back to see if that will work in the schedule and look at many wonderful things to work out which we can fit into our itinerary.
It will be a lot of fun but as we are on a tight schedule – exhausting. Still what an office to work in!
Prveen and I are partners, which brings many pleasure. One is working together on our tours. We each have areas we look after and much we do together. Prveen organizes the cars and drivers, it has been amusing watching him pack the cars each day… there is a fleet of luggage handlers from the hotels , the other drivers all with opinions and advice and he is trying to get everything into its pace. As the tour progressed I noticed the ladies bags begin to expand and in the last week or so he has had to reallocate roof rack space as they would not fit in the same way! Our ladies have very kindly much such efforts to help the Indian ecconomy....
Nameste
Fiona
Prveen and I are partners, which brings many pleasure. One is working together on our tours. We each have areas we look after and much we do together. Prveen organizes the cars and drivers, it has been amusing watching him pack the cars each day… there is a fleet of luggage handlers from the hotels , the other drivers all with opinions and advice and he is trying to get everything into its pace. As the tour progressed I noticed the ladies bags begin to expand and in the last week or so he has had to reallocate roof rack space as they would not fit in the same way! Our ladies have very kindly much such efforts to help the Indian ecconomy....
Nameste
Fiona
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