Alpana is a kind of folk painting traditionally made in Bengal during festivals. Usually rice paste is used to make these designs on the ground/ floor. much like the rangoli. This alpana design was made by my mother in 1960’s on canvas, when she was at Shantiniketan. The colors used in this are not readymade ones, rather they are earth colors that she prepared by griding stones (a very tedious process!). The binder for the paint was egg white.
Art
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Maa Durga and her sons and daughters and their “vahanas” made by a variety of seashells. Now that is a piece of fine craftsmanship.
Taken at a shop in Digha, West Bengal, India.
Figurine Art, originally uploaded by ReemaS226.
I found a very different and creative decoration on a wall of a hotel at Mahabaleshwar, India. There were these metal figurines hanging on the wall and this creeper with pink flowers had grown all around them.
चुरा के मुठ्ठी मे दिल को छुपाए बैठे हैं
बहाना ये है की मेहन्दी लगाए बैठे हैं
Mehndi is the application of Henna as a temporary form of skin decoration in India. Henna is typically applied during special occasions like weddings and festivals. Nowadays mehndi decorations have became fashionable in the West too.
This one taken by me and the model is my friend who had got mehndi applied on her arms on the occasion of the Indian festival of Rakshabandhan.