KANAKAVALLI JOURNAL

Kanjivaram Care - Sari TLC tips!

As we're all locked down, working from home, and isolating ourselves from the world outside, you might find little opportunity to wear your favourite kanjivarams. Many of you have asked how best to...

Tending to the Sari

Back in the day, when the kanjivaram was the everyday – almost obvious – garment of choice, its wearers formed with it a relationship so personal and affable; there was a certain rigour combined wi...

My first love...

Nearly 24 years ago, just as I turned 16, my mother bought me a kanjivaram sari – a copper sulphate blue with fine zari all over its body and a thin border. They say that every kanjivaram is a seam...

It’s not all about the zari!

Zari, and people’s obsession with it, got me thinking about how we, as a community, and perhaps a culture, are obsessed over the idea of material. And that material unfortunately has become the pri...

The Black of the Matter

On my side of the Vindhyas, the colour black isn’t exactly auspicious. Yet, it occupies pride of place on certain very important occasions in the life of a woman. The Seemantham ceremony, for insta...

Of warp, weft and coming together

In the context of classical dance, Bharatanatyam to be specific, a korvai is basically a dance sequence comprising two components. Korvais also find a place in the world of music, especially instru...

Checks & Stripes in the world of Kanjivarams

Within the very classic and classy world of the Kanjivaram, there exist two very interesting interpretations — the checks (Kattam, in Tamil) and the stripes (Vari, in Tamil). And even though we rec...

Setting: What you wear, is who you are!

They say, you are, in a sense, the company you keep. I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of a setting, an environment, an atmosphere that is befitting a creation in a way that it enhances the...

Of flowers and forgotten practices : Thank God, we're nearing Friday!

Two Fridays ago, I decided to create for myself – within my own structured wardrobe scheme – a concept called Friday Dressing! In the context of Hindu mythology, Friday is considered auspicious; a ...

Stunning Pattu Pavadais and the age of innocence

This month, when women and men the world over celebrate International Women’s Day and attempt to recognise the role and value of a woman in our world, I remember the birth of my daughter. Sixteen y...

Wearing culture: celebrating the Queen of Silks

I’ve probably said this before, and if you know me or have seen me in the last 12 years, you know that I wear only one kind of outfit, day in, and day out. Yes, the sari and almost always, the Kanj...

Nose for detail

That I’m fascinated with jewellery – its making and its wearing – is an old story; but you must know that I’m equally excited by the many hidden stories, the subtle and often complex layers that cl...