Thursday, September 25, 2014

Hour and Power of Goddess - Navratri Wishes..


With Fall(Autumn) and Festive seasons both starting at the same time, with this serene breeze of festivity in the air, makes this a very special time of the year for me! While we are celebrating and decorating our homes with different customs, traditions to bring in festivity, in my part of the world nature is preparing to transform itself into this breathtaking beauty where in every leaf will transform itself to a flower.

This festive season and this time of the year has a very special place in my heart and its even more special this year for a very special reason which I am going to save as surprise for later!

But for now .. I am here to wish you all a wonderful and blessed festive season with wonderful celebrations.






Navratri in my household is all about Bathukamma, Gollu and Dussehra .

Navratri is celebrated with different rituals throughput India and I am so eager to hear from my readers on their rituals, so please do share by dropping me a note.
Want to share your festive home decorations during this season with Rangkatha readers? Do drop me a note at prasannatummala73@gmail.com

Happy Navratri!


PS: All images are clicked by me and are from my home and are subjected to copyright. Please Do NOT use without prior permission.

~Prasanna

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Festive Flowers!


Coming is the festival season of the year... Be it in India, where I was born and spent majority of my life or in United States where I live now.

In India, festival season starts with Ganesh pooja, followed with Navratri( 9 days of festivity), which is celebrated following versatile rituals across different states of India, followed with Deepawali, Christmas and then New Year. In US, this starts with Halloween, ThanksGiving, Christmas and then New Year.

I can say, I am fortunate to have experienced the experience of both worlds and celebrate them all in both ways and forms. Which ever holiday I celebrate and in which ever part of world, there is one thing in common which brings in feeling of festivity and that is with Flowers, which plays special place in every celebrations, though in different forms.

Today I am going to walk you through my favourite subject, "Flowers", by portraying some of the flowers which have very very special place in Indian celebrations...

Indians are obsessed with flowers! For us there is no festivity without flowers and flower decorations.



In every phase of life’s celebrations, festivals and prayers, flowers hold a special place in our lives.

Apart from their amazing beauty of form, color, fragrance and texture there is something indefinable, subtle and mysterious quality about flowers which has given flowers such a special place in our hearts and culture.

Now with the holiday season right upon us, be it Navratri or Deepavali, Christmas or New Year it will be so evident how special flowers are in our lives. In various traditions, flowers have forever been associated with the religion and worship with innumerable myths and legends across and have forever remained an integral part of our culture.

Out of all there are some special flowers which takes central part of Indian festivals or festivals celebrated Indian way. One of those special flowers is MariGold (Scientific Name - Tagetes). Basically yellowish orange in color, of course tropical, they come in different shapes and forms and mere presence of them fill up the whole atmosphere with festivity !









Here is one example of our craziness towards flowers... Would you believe if I say
India is one country where flowers are mostly sold in Kgs/Pounds compared to bunches of dozen.
These sites of Flower Bazaars (Markets) are amazing, don't you think....


















Tying loose flowers into different types of beautiful garlands has turned up to be an industry.
One other festive flower that is my all time favorite is Jasmine (Indian Jasmine, Scientific Name - Sambac)
Its beauty is its irresistible devine fragrance.




These loose flowers are then woven into beautiful garlands










If Diamonds are tagged as girls best friends then flowers are not any behind in that list.. You will have to agree to this, after seeing how flowers are integral part of Indian girls lives. In Fact if you ask me, I will pick Flowers over Diamonds any given day!


For Beautiful Indian brides, Flowers not just part of their wedding decors but also part of their bridal attires.


Well.. here is how I add my touch to my festivals..
For me there is nothing more Festive like a bowl of floating flowers with a few lit candles here and there... or bunch of gorgeous blooms in a vase! and festivity lingers around in my house.









I am extremely excited about my festive season this year as there are lots of festive foldings unfolding for me, which I will continue to share.
Until then, I wish you all, my dear readers, a very happy and blessed festive season ahead!



PC: Pictures which are tagged are taken by me and belong to Rangkatha, please do not use without prior permission. Rest of them are google images.


~Prasanna