Friday, August 21, 2009

Indian dance costumes

IndiaMart In USA is continuously working hard to offer you the convenience of one stop shopping for all your dance jewellery and dance costume needs. With that goal in mind, we now present you readymade dance costumes for various Indian classical dances and sizes. These dance practice costumes can be used for Bharatanatyam dance classes, Mohiniyattam, Kuchipudi and Odissi dance classes. These dance costumes are suitable for kids from 6 years old to teanagers. Please feel free to look at the chart provided below before you decide your dance costume size. These dance costumes are stitched by well experienced tailors in India, who has been doing dance costume stiching for many years. They are guarenteed to offer convenience and free movement during all dance practices.
Visit our online store at http://www.dancejewelryonline.com for more details.

Please see som pictures of our ready made dance costumes.
 

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Mohiniyattam Dance

Mohiniyattam is one of the classical dance forms of Kerala. It was mainly performed in the Temples of Kerala. It is also the heir to devadasi dance heritage like Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi and Odissi. There is a story of Lord Vishnu taking on the guise of a mohini to enthrall people, both in connection with the churning of the milk ocean and with the episode of killing Bhasmasura
Mohiniyattam is based on the themes of love and devotion and more often the hero is Vishnu or Krishna. The audience can feel His invisible presence when the heroine or her maid details dreams and ambitions through the circular movements, delicate footsteps and subtle expressions. The movements are graceful like Odissi and the costumes sober and attractive.
The repertoire of Mohiniattam follows closely that of Bharatanatyam. Beginning with Chollukettu, the dancer performs Jathiswaram, Varnam, Padam and Thillana in a concert. Mohiniyattam dance like many other forms follows the Hasthalakshana Deepika as a text book of hand gestures. The style of vocal music for Mohiniattam is classical Karnatic.



MUSIC FOR MOHINIYATTAM

The vocal music of Mohiniyattam involves variations in rhythmic structure known as chollu. The lyrics are in Manipravalam, a mixture of Sanskrit and Malayalam. The Mohiniyattam dance is performed to this accompaniment by the subtle gestures and footwork of the danseuse. The performer uses the eyes in a very coy yet sensual manner, the purpose being to enchant the mind without enticing the senses.

THE MOHINIYATTAM JEWELRY AND COSTUME

The costume in Mohiniyattam dance comprises of a white ‘kasavu’ saree, a decorated blouse and a waist garment. The edges are embellished with golden fabric know as kasavu kara. The makeup is simple. The face is treated with yellow and pink colored paste. The eyes are given a lining of black color. The lips are reddened. The hair is tied up and adorned with jasmine flowers.
Mohiniyattam jewellery is marked by its use of gold or gold plated jewelry. Usually Mohiniyattam jewellery set consists of necklaces, ‘vanki’ (armband), ‘oddiyanam’ (waistband), nose stud (Nath Bullaku) and ‘jimikki’ (swinging ear ornaments). Necklaces are basically of two types: ‘maangamala’ and ‘Kaasumala’. The ‘mangamala’ is made by linking together gem studded mango shaped pieces. The ‘kasumala’ is made by attaching gold coins together.
The pendants for the necklaces are shaped like swans, peacocks and parrots. Similar to mangamala or kasumala, the elakkathali is another famous traditional ornament in the Mohiniyattam Jewellery set. The oddiyanam is also gold plated which may sometimes have the picture of Goddess Lakshmi engraved in it. This particular type of oddiyanam is known as Lakshmi Belt. This plain Lakshmi Belt is very popular and often Bharatanatyam dancers use it as part of Bharatanatyam jewellery.

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Temple Jewellery

Temple Jewelry belongs to the tradition of India. Olden days, Temple Jewelry was worn by only Devadasi girls who perform dance in temple and in Darbars. Now a days, it is not uncommon to see south Indian brides wearing Temple Jewellery for their weddings. So today, one can say the Temple Jewellery is traditional South Indian jewellery. The origin of Temple Jewellery dates back to 12th century. This was the period of famous Dravidian Tamil Dynasty known as “Chozha kulam” who ruled southern part of India. All the Chozha kings gave very importance to cultural development and most of the of the temple jewelry today are similar to the designs in the heavily ornamented pillars with accurate details and rich sculpted walls of many south Indian Temples, especially ones in Thanjavur.Today temple jewelry is prepared in a variety of metals. Originally it was made of gold with ruby, emerald & pearls and was used by the devadasi girls who danced in Temple and Darbars. Today Temple jewellery is mostly associated with Bharatanatyam dance. There are different types of Temple Jewellery manufactured today. Three of them are widely sold all over the world. Real Temple Jewellery, Imitation temple Jewellery and stone type temple jewelry. Most of the real temple jewelry is made in Nagercoil, a southern city in Tamilnadu. These designs are quite unique which makes them more popular and adorable. These are made with silver and have a heavy coating of 22Ct gold over it. These are expensive and may not be suitable for young children. Less expensive imitation temple jewelry is also available on the market for those ones who are not yet sure about pursuing a career in dance.
 

The most common imitation temple jewelry has 11 different ornaments. These are Long chain, Short necklace, Sun/Moon, Nethichutti, Mattal, Jimikki, Belt, Vanki, Rakkodi, Nath/Bullakku and bangles. Dancers also wear chilangai/salangai in the ankles during dance performance.