Bengal-Style Rajputi Teota Set
It's a nice time to visit Rajasthan, and Bengalis, ever intrepid travellers, flock to the magnificent desert state with its glorious history, showy palaces, and forts that unceasingly take us back ...
It's a nice time to visit Rajasthan, and Bengalis, ever intrepid travellers, flock to the magnificent desert state with its glorious history, showy palaces, and forts that unceasingly take us back through the ages and, while we're there, seat us in the daedal durbars of legendary Maharajas.
Such sojourns across faraway places need cultural markers to differentiate the customs and traditions of these lands and their peoples from ours so that we can integrate their heritage, by experience, to our own, wherever in India we may be from. This fusion of cultures and the mutual respect for our individuality within and outside of the geographical context of our beloved country is what constitutes the essence of Indianness.
And so, this is an essentially Indian ornament, a conflation of the chunky Rajputi teota (tewta,actually,but we've given it a Bengali slant) form and classic Bengali detailing.
The square pendant is de rigueur in the teota and here it's seen with a reji border on three sides and ring-reji lattice-work below. Split-beehive drops crowd the lower edge of the lattice and recall the tinkling bells on heavy Rajasthani paizebs. The infill is a light and airy arrangement of rows of labanga-phul (centre), chhela tar and pak-tar, ring-rejis, and plain-rejis ---- the last in a sweet barfi-barfi pattern. Two noticeably large, chhela-wire kolshis anchor the simple kamal-ball side chains, the length of which shows this to be an ornament worn close to the neck. Of course, with a tassel at the back, it could easily be dropped down to a borderline matinee. The earrings, a reduced version of the pendant, are unfussy darlings,too.
Those of you die-hard voyagers whose hiemal leanings are towards the warmer climes of Rajputana, but anytime wish is to soak in the nature and substance of Bengal, look to this rustic but refined, brave and reflective, grand yet charming Bengal-style teota set for a wonderful amalgam of both, capturing, in all its thoughtfully handcrafted beauty, the timelessness of these markedly different odd corners of west and east India in natural yellow 22K gold.
READ MORE
READ LESS