The Web address you entered is not a functioning page on our site. Go to Amazon.in's Home PageCustom, Heavy Glass Frameless Luxury Standard Sized, Framed & Semi-Frameless Designs For other uses, see Garland (disambiguation). Marigold flower garlands for a wedding Tinsel garlands on a Christmas tree A garland is a decorative wreath or cord (typically used at festive occasions) which can be hung round a person's neck or on inanimate objects like Christmas trees. Originally garlands were made of flowers or leaves. From the French "guirlande", itself from the Italian "ghirlanda," a braid. Garland created from the daisy flower (generally as a children's game) is called a daisy chain. One method of creating a daisy chain is to pick daisies and create a hole towards the base of the stem (such as with fingernails or tying a knot). The stem of the next flower can be threaded through until stopped by the head of the flower. By repeating this with many daisies, it is possible to build up long chains and to form them into simple bracelets and necklaces.
[2] Another popular method which involves pressing the flower heads against each other to create a look similar to a caterpillar. The terms "daisy chain" and "daisy chaining" can also refer to various technical and social "chains." Heavy flower garlands for sale in Chennai, India In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, before Alice's adventures begin, she is sitting outside with her sister considering whether to make a daisy chain before being interrupted by a White Rabbit. A garlanded image of Devi at the Jain temple of Sravanbelagola In India, where flower garlands have an important and traditional role in every festival, Hindu deities are decorated with garlands made from different fragrant flowers (often jasmine) and leaves.[5] Both fragrant and non-fragrant flowers and religiously-significant leaves are used to make garlands to worship Hindu deities. Some of those flowers are as follows: jasmine, champaka, lotus, lilies, ashoka, nerium/oleander, chrysanthemum, roses, hibiscus, pinwheel flowers, manoranjini etc.
House main door frame decorated with door frame garland (Nila Maalai) during a Housewarming party in Tamil Nadu Apart from these, leaves and grasses like arugampul,maruvakam, davanam, maachi, paneer leaves, lavancha are also used for making garlands. Also fruit, vegetables and sometimes even currency notes are used for garlands, given as thanksgiving. Also in wedding the couple wears a wedding garland. In other occasions, it is used to show respect to an individual person or statue (murti).In Tamil Nadu marigold, nitya kalyani flower garlands are used only for dead bodies or burial rituals.In functions, garlands are used to denote the main person(host). A Gajra is a flower garland which women in India and Bangladesh wear in their hair during traditional festivals. It is made usually of jasmine. It can be worn both around a bun and in braids. Women usually wear these when they wear sarees. Sometimes, they are pinned in hair with other flowers, like roses. In Tamil Nadu temples (ancient) kings appointed people for making garlands daily for a particular deity.
They were not allowed to sell that garland. Each Hindu temple in southern India has nandavanam (flower garden) where floral plants, trees for garlands are grown. Huge Shiva temples like Thillai Nataraja Temple, Chidambaram, Thyagaraja Temple, Tiruvarur and Arunachaleswara Temple, Thiruvannamalai still preserves such Nandavanams for supply of flowers for everyday rituals. Stone Inscriptions of Raja Raja Chola I at Thanjavur gives details of patronage of royals to the conservation of Nadavanams that belongs to The Big Temple. In Srirangam Ranganathar temple only garlands made by temple sattharars (people who make garlands and never marry - surrendering their life to the lord's service) are used to adorn Lord Ranganatha. No other garlands, flowers are used there. Sattarars have traditional rules for everything - from plucking the flower to making garlands. Some of them are as follows: While making garlands they keep flowers and other materials on a table because the garland for God should not touch the feet.
It is always kept above hip level. Depending upon the pattern and materials used the south Indian garlands are of different types. The maala for Gods has 2 free lower ends with kunjam (bunch of flowers), i.e. only the upper two ends are joined and the lower ends should not be not joined. It has two kunjams. Whereas garlands for humans have both lower ends joined together (only one kunjam). Each Hindu deity has a unique garland: Goddess Lalitha wears hibiscus garland, Lord Vishnu wears tulasi leaves garland, Lord Shiva wears Bilvga leaves garland, Lord Subrahmanya wears jasmine garland, Mahalakshmi wears red lotus, Saraswathi devi wears a white lotus garland. Durga Devi wears nerium oleander garland, Vinayaka wears garland made of Durva Grass.Thatched roof and stone walls at a home in Kolar A visionary in the field of traditional building methods, the late R.L. Kumar was working on housing for the poor in slums when he met Laurie Baker. Inspired by Baker’s contribution towards local architecture, Kumar, not a trained architect himself, set up the Centre for Vernacular Architecture (CVA) in Bangalore, “a co-operative of building craft persons” with architectural practices that promote “the use of locally available material, traditional building techniques, culturally and climatically relevant building design”.
“He didn’t study architecture formally, and I think that’s why he was able to approach it very differently,” says Chennai-based Goutam Seetharaman, who is both a trustee as well as a principal architect of the Centre. “When we study architecture we look at a lot of Western building technologies. And in India, our focus is limited to temples and large heritage structures. We do not study how our people have been building homes; using local material like mud, stones and thatch.” Today, CVA’s home-building methods are among the most cost-effective, while still keeping in mind tastes and budgets of the owners. “It’s a time consuming process and that is why large-scale builders can’t get into it. They are under pressure to complete a project soon and move on. At the Centre, we are trying to revive not just indigenous ways of building homes but we also look to provide job opportunities to traditional workers”. If a brick wall is laid perfectly using time-tested methods, it doesn’t need putty or even a coat of paint.
“We want to help people live in homes that remind them of their grandparents’ house,” says Seetharaman, pointing out that soon even making and fitting windows will be lost crafts. “Everything is retro-fitted these days and we want to bring the old, traditional ways of building a home back.” Vernacular homes make the most of the space and the resources available locally. Using load-bearing walls, stone foundations, laterite and even random rubble as building material, such homes are meant for people who are not looking to move into cookie-cutter homes designed by someone else. Of course, a vernacular home comes with its own set of challenges, like wooden doors that tend to expand and contract according to the season, or tiles that might leak for a few seasons. However, there are other advantages. If you choose an exposed brick wall, there is no hassle of re-painting, and with re-used doors and window panels, all with their own old-worldly charm, there is no need to add polish.
They architect sources doors, window frames and furniture, all refurbished, from Karaikudi and Pondicherry. “There are some small issues that people are willing to overlook because it is the imperfections that make these homes beautiful,” explains Seetharaman. “In the olden days, carpenters would season wood, exposing it to the vagaries of weather for two or three years before working on it. Today, this sort of time is a luxury that very few can afford.” The architects from the Centre also build long-term relationships with clients and fix any problems they may have in the house over the years. Lovejit Visvesh, whose home in Neelankarai was built by the Centre says, “I did not know anything about vernacular architecture. But I told Goutam, our architect, that I wanted a home that would take me as close to nature as possible. Now our home has a very coastal feel to it… a laterite structure with rocks and natural grass and coconut wood doors!” she says. The Mangalore tiles, a water body inside the house, and the cool colours of the interiors, all remind one of a getaway far from the madding city life.