Mithila paintings

Traditional paintings on paper from Madhubani, Mithila in India. Originally they were painted on the ground and mud walls of the houses as an invocation to the gods who inhabited the images if they were well painted. The three chief gods of Hinduism, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are frequently depicted as well as Krishna and the female deities Parvati, Kali and Lakshmi.

Padmini

In this painting according to Keshav Das women are classified into four types: the Lotus (Padmini),the Variegate, the Conch-like and Elephant-like Padmini is a beautiful Nayika, emitting the fragrance of the lotus from her body, modest affectionate and generous, slim, free from anger, and with no great fondness for love-sports. Bashful, intelligent, cheerful, clean and soft-skinned, she loves clean and beautiful clothes. She has a golden complexion.

“Shedding flowers from her smile, she is sensitive to tender emotions and knows well the art of love. She is to be preferred to all pannagis, Nagis, Asuris and Suris. All the affection which the people of Vraja bestow on her is in fact too meager. Thousands of fond desires hover round her like bees. Such indeed is Radha, that unique divine champaks bud fashioned by the Creator.”

Lee Gil Woo

Lee Gil-Woo was born in Korea in 1967. Lee Gil-Woo specializes in delicate arrangement of picture so as to create eye-catching effect. By using traditional printing skill, the artist spots out layers of human figures; in addition, the natural texture of silk and layers of Korean paper become a notable feature of Lee Gil-Woo’s creation. As a result, Lee develops a new visual performance of spotted and strong-colored portrait painting. Lee ’s paintings utilise iconic images from Western Pop culture and Eastern classical art, overlaying them and adding a physical layer of intricate incense burn marks. Thus, depending on the way the viewer connects with the work either a Western icon or Eastern art or intricate burn marks are seen.

Yohangza theatre

Members of the Yohangza theatre company from South Korea pose for the paparazzi during a presentation of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream in Parramatta, Sydney. (Reuters Photo)
“Wonderfully wicked, clever and magical. Yang’s directing is inspired, exquisite.” (The Scotsman)

“Enchanting for everyone to whom the words “physical theatre” are an immediate turn off. Yohangza’s dynamic dance and graceful poise is an eye-opener, revealing unimagined pleasures in the genre.” (The Big Issue)

“Yohangza make physical theatre an extreme sport in their spectacular retelling of Shakespeare’s comedy.” (Fest)

Bringing together oriental tradition and Western modernity, the work of the Yohangza Theatre Company is colourful, inventive, and deeply moving. A humorous Korean version of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The colour of spring

31 Jan - it's a date of the popular Hindu festival - Vasant Panchami dedicated to Saraswati, the goddess of learning and the arts. Basant or Vasant means spring and Panchami is the fifth day after Amavasi in Magh month when it is celebrated Saraswathi Pooja is performed in North and Eastern parts of India on the day. The colourful celebrations include religious services, music, singing and dancing.


The event also marks the start of spring and yellow is a dominant colour worn by many of the participants, as it symbolises both spirituality and the colour of the ripening crops. Great prominence is given to yellow color on Basant Panchami as it signifies the ripening of fruits and crops. The mustard fields in North India blooms during this season giving a yellow coat to nature.

To welcome the pristine nature after a harsh winter, deities in temples and houses are decorated with yellow colored clothes. Similarly, yellow colored food, sweets and fruits are distributed to friends, neighbors and relatives. Yellow sweet rice is cooked and distributed on the day.


On this day, prayers are offered to Goddess Saraswathi (Goddess of Knowledge), Lord Surya (Sun God), Mother Ganga (Ganges) and Bhu Devi (Mother Earth). The worship of elements in nature is acknowledging the various forms of nature, which sustains human beings, plants and animals.

Slumdog Millionaire rock!

AR Rahman did India proud once again as he bagged a triple nomination at the 81 st Oscar Academy Awards for Slumdog Millionaire, the rags to riches saga of an Indian boy from a Mumbai slum. Rahman was nominated in the Best Original Score category and twice in the Best Original Song section.
Slumdog Millionaire bagged 10 Oscar nominations at the 81st annual Academy Awards, getting nods for Best Film, Best Adapted Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy), Best Director (Danny Boyle), Best Original Score (AR Rahman), Best Song (Jai Ho and O Saya), Best Sound Editing (Tom Sayers), Best Sound Mixing (Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty), Best Cinematography (Anthony Dod Mantle) and Best Film Editing (Chris Dickens). YESSSS!!!

"O saya..." Rocking Song by A R Rahman:

Dancing goddess

Dancing Devata, stone, early 12th century, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Indian art as a monument of a philosophical system in the history of mankind and doubted whether any other people on earth have treated symbolism in art as thoroughly as Indians. (J.G. Von Herder)

An Apsara or heavenly dancer, from Sittanavasal,7th century.


Vrikshaka, a Tree Goddess from a Hindu temple - 8th century.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is one of the most important traditional Chinese holidays. It is often called the Lunar New Year, especially by people in mainland China and Taiwan.
Celebrations were expected to carry on into the early hours of Monday,26 january, officially the first day of the Lunar New Year. Firecrackers are believed to scare off evil spirits and entice the god of wealth to people's doorsteps once New Year's Day arrives, which falls on Monday this year under the Chinese lunar calendar.

Joe Hisaishi

Mamoru Fujisawa (藤澤 守 Fujisawa Mamoru), known professionally as Joe Hisaishi (久石 譲 Hisaishi Jō, born December 6, 1950), is a composer and director known for over 100 film scores and solo albums dating back to 1981.
Complex and simple.. creative and mysterious... A music genious of modern times.

Erik Truffaz - Benares (2008)

Erik Truffaz is a Swiss-born French contemporary jazz trumpeter. Benares - it's his new project feat. Malcolm Braff, Apruba a Indrani Mukherjee.This latest release is a fantastic mixture between indian carnatic songs and jazz-groove.

Kambala

Kambala is traditionally a simple sport. Kambala is basically a traditional buffalo race in muddy waters, held from December till March. Starting at noon after prayers and invoking blessings from mother earth, the ‘Arasu’ or Chieftain pours milk onto the fields to symbolically inaugurate the race. It is a test of speed for the specially trained male buffalo pairs and endurance as well as grit for the jockey. The jockey, clad only in a skimpy loin-cloth has to run with the animals or do a balancing act on a wooden plank attached to the whip. Kadri Kambla must have been a great sight in the past. Imagine a valley, stretching from Kadri temple, which runs westwards to slowly widen at Kodialguthu…. Spectacular.

Pongal - Makar Sankranti - Lohri!

Makar means Capricorn and Sankranti is transition. There is a sankranti every month when the sun passes from one sign of the zodiac to the next. There are twelve signs of the zodiac, and thus there are twelve sankranti’s as well. Each of these sankranti’s has its own relative importance but two of these are more important - the Mesh(Aries) Sankranti and the most important, the Makar(Capricorn) Sankranti. Transition of the Sun from Sagittarius to Capricorn, during the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere is known as Makar Sankranti. From this day begins the six-month long Uttarayana, considered very auspicious for attaining higher worlds hereafter.

Makar Sankranti is celebrated all over India but with different name. There is also remarkable difference in the method of celebrations.

In Tamil Nadu, Makar Sankranti is celebrated as Pongal - a harvest festival.Pongal is a highly revered festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu to mark the harvesting season. An important festival in India, Pongal is celebrated by offering prayers to the Sun God. Pongal gifts are exchanged among family members, relatives and friends. Houses are cleaned, and all maintenance jobs are done before this festival. Held in the middle of January, it is a time when the people of Tamil Nadu get ready to thank God, Earth and their cattle for the wonderful harvest they have reaped. During the four-day pongal festival, different varieties of Rangoli are drawn in front of the houses early in the morning.

In Andhra Pradesh, it is Pedda Panduga.
In Kerala, Makar Sankranti marks the end of the pilgrimage to the famous Sabarimala Temple.
In West Bengal, it is Pithey parban – a harvest festival – and there is also the famous Ganga Sagar mela.
In Assam, it is Bhogali Bihu.
In Punjab, Jammu and in some parts of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana, it is Lohri.
In Central India, it is Sakarat.
In Orissa, it is Makar Mela.

Call it Lohri, Pongal or Sankranti, the festival conveys the same message — the bond of brotherhood and the spirit of oneness should prevail despite all odds.

Dream Come True

Dream Come True is a stunning sight of catchy colors, which lures the likes of even non-rose lovers to its side. This rose produces flawlessly formed yellow blossoms, blushed with ruby-red at the tips, all set amongst abundant matte green foliage. The big, bushy, vigorous plant yields long-stemmed, long-lived blooms with mild tea fragrance, making it lovely in the landscape and a great choice for bouquets.

M.S. Subbulakshmi

Sarojini Naidu called her the Nightingale of India. Her music was an expression of her deeply spiritual personality, and touched to the core all those who heard her. She sang with equal sweetness in eight languages, and countless households all over India still begin their day on the right note with her Suprabhatam, her Meera Bhajans.

Mehendi