5/100 – Day 3 of Ganesh Chaturti! – 19th September, 2015

Lucknow is a city in Uttar Pradesh. It is a land famed for its culture, poetry and most of all for that old fashioned term “chivalry”. It is about courtesy and beauty in behaviour and attitude. Lucknow is also famed for its “chikankaari” – a form of embroidery intricate and delicate. The Kaarigaars – the artisans – work with fragile materials. Traditionally the embroidery is done in white.

This saree, a classic example is a fine cotton in a pale blue. A delicate net like effect is achieved along with the main embroidery. Adding the final exquisite touch is the silver “Baadla” across the design. Baadla is another traditional form of embellishment where tiny pieces of fine metal wire i- long ago this used to be silver – is beaten into the material On pastel colours the metal fades into the background, till a sudden ray of light catches it and sends out a sparkle to rival a diamond!
Thank you Amitha Venkatesh and Venkatesh Iyengar for this beautiful addition to my collection. The blouse was embroidered by the mother of my friends Lakshmi Meghana & Auditya Reddy , Bvs Prathap to match the design of the saree – in one day! Thank you Aunty!

The jewellery I chose is antiqued silver – a pair of wide bangles, a gift from a favourite aunt and uncle Jayashree Rajagopal teamed with a slender bangle, another gift from a dear friend Vidya Pradhan The earrings and necklace are a gift from husband Siddharth Ramaswamy The special part of this ensemble is the key chain, again a gift from my aunt Sujatha Baghavan! Thank you all for this magnificent set!