[ INDRA JATRA ] Bhaktapur, Nepal

 

Whilst meandering around the beautiful red brick streets of Bhaktapur the other day, I came across masses of these costume clad girls. Adorned head to toe in brightly coloured fabrics: red and gold patterned metallic silks, luminous pink veils, marigold-yellow headbands and sashes, and copious amounts of dangling silver jewellery, it must be time for the Indra Jatra Festival. 

One of the most important festivals in the Newar calender, the eight day Indra Jatra takes place in and around the Kathmandu Valley in early to mid September, marking the end of the rainy season. Giving thanks to Lord Indra, the God of Rain and the King of Heaven processions and dances are performed, one of the most important being that of the procession of the Royal Kumari Devi, a preadolescent 'living goddess' who is taken around Kathmandu's Durbar square to give thanks to the rain god and to bless the President of Nepal.

So, with the plethora of pomp and traditional dress on display, obviously I couldn't help but take some snaps. If you like what you see and fancy a look at some more traditional Nepalese dress, take a look at my earlier post on Dhaka Topi hats!

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[ TEA COSY OR HAT? ] Patan, Nepal

India was all about the women, Nepal is, most definitely, all about the men. They are of the cheerfully obliging variety and will happily pose for you, grinning mischievously as you snap away. Not only is this a great asset to my budding global photographic collection but its a great way of showing all of you the particulars of Nepalese traditional dress!

Shirts, trousers, waistcoats and flip flops - all very standard and obviously a practicality- but what's that on their heads? Is it a tea cosy? Is it a tea cosy worn as a hat? Actually its just a hat, a dhaka topi to be precise. Dhaka referring to the type of traditional, handwoven fabric and topi, referring to the lightly worn, top creased, brimless hat. This evidently popular item of Nepalese national dress is worn with much pride throughout the country on a daily basis, unlike the rest of the outfit, the daura suruwal or labeda suruwal (essentially a long tunic over trousers) which is reserved for special ceremonial occasions. So there you have it, an ethnic style 101 from the streets of Patan.

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[ A MELANGE OF COLOUR ] Golden Temple Amritsar, Punjab

This post is a little late, since I ventured up to Amritsar a few days ago, before my stop up here in McLeod Gangj. Forgive my slow editing/uploading, for I have been once again struck down with the dreaded Indian food poisoning (that's now twice in one month!). I just couldn't bear not to share these images with you as the sight and experience of this place was truly remarkable. These images were all taken at the famous Golden Temple in Amritsar. According to 'The Book', aka Lonely Planet, it is to Sikhs what Mecca is to Muslims. Contrasting colours could be found everywhere, from the orange of the holy men's robes to the mélange of vibrant dastaar's (Sikh turbans) and saris. 

[ PARADE POMP ] India-Pakistan Border

This evening I battled the monsoon rains to travel to the very ends of India (ok slight exaggeration) to witness what I was told to be a rather peculiar display of military spectacle, and spectacle I did find. Arriving at the India-Pakistan border 30km west of Amritsar I came upon what can only be described as a Monty Python-esque performance of goosestepping pomp, finely accessorised with these wonderful fan-wafer turbans! Every day at around 6pm these rather flamboyantly clad officals parade up and down the borer strip in front of hundreds of very patriotic Indians (and a gaggle of bemused foreigners) in a theatrical closing of the border ceremony with their Pakistani neighbours. I'm a bit of a sucker for uniforms, I find their varying assemblies and rank motifs or badges fascinating (I even wrote an entire dissertation on said topic at St Martins). Think it odd you may, but look at all the designers who have pulled inspiration from military uniforms: Temperley, Ralph Lauren, Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior, Derek Lam, Collette Dinnigan... the list goes on! 

[ TYING TURBANS ] Colours of Rajasthan

Apparently (as I should really have already guessed in India, a land of spirituality and symbolism, the dazzling colours of Rajasthani dress are not always worn solely for aesthetic purposes. For example, turban (safas, paags or pagris) colour may differ depending on caste, religion, origin or occasion, as with way a turban is tied.  So (with a little help from ‘The Book’ –aka Lonely Planet- here’s a little colour chart for you all to use when studying my numerous photos of Hindu Rajasthani inhabitants, as seen in the examples above and:

Colour	Worn by	Significance
Saffron	Rajputs (NW Rulers/ warriors)	Chivalry
Blue	Brahmins (priests & scholars)	Origin/caste
Brown	Dalits (formerly Untouchables)	Origin/caste
Black	Nomads	Origin/caste
Multi coloured turbans	Hindus	Festivals
White + certain shades of green and blue  Yellow	Hindu men and widows Working class or farmers	Sadness, morning  Origin/caste or  Connection to the divine
Red + yellow sari	Mothers	Birth of a son

NB: the Caste system is not recognized by the Indian constitution although in many areas its significance still remains part of daily life.

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[ TURBANS & TUNES ] Udaipur, India

For the past two days I’ve feeling a bit sorry for myself having been bed ridden by dreaded Indian diseases (aka food/water poisoning of sorts) in my hotel in Jaipur. A couple of packets of antibiotics later and I’m up and about again and this time I’m posting from the lovely* lake city of Udaipur. I thought everyone might like to hear a little bit of traditional Rajasthani culture, so I’m bringing you a bit of 4D India with this rural man in a turban playing a musical instrument. Sorry, it’s actually called a Sarangi: ‘bowed musical instrument about two feet high, with three or four main strings and up to thirty-five sympathetic strings’ (thanks Apple Dictionary). Check out his awesome multi-coloured turban (or safa) and his jewellery-selling wife’s heavily embellished Rajasthani costume.

Rajasthani Music Man from Wandering Threads on Vimeo.

*(When I use this word in India it must be taken, somewhat, with a pinch of salt as ‘lovely’ is often somewhat tinged with a corner-of-the-eye combo of rubbish pile topped with cow excrement. That’s unless you are viewing from the £200 + a night widow of a luxury suite or air conditioned, chauffeur driven car. Not to put you off or anything. 

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