There's nothing new about the ornament we've chosen for the New Year. And that's the whole point. You've seen it as the Golap-Phul-Pata Bala or in its choor avatar or even, somewhat, as a tangle of...

There's nothing new about the ornament we've chosen for the New Year. And that's the whole point. You've seen it as the Golap-Phul-Pata Bala or in its choor avatar or even, somewhat, as a tangle of Bulgarian roses in Shadows in the Water. Why then does this goyna get pride of place ?

Just compare it to the Gul Bahar Hansuli and you'll know. They're both roses,yes, but so dissimilar as to be completely different flowers.

This inverted arbour of climbing golap is perforated and has a border of hollow-ball sabudanas ; half-makars hold up the ends ; and it's left natural gold.

We'll tell you the secret : besides the obvious variation in design and detailing, the naksha-wallah has to be different. And just as the septuagenarian, often petulant, uncompromising maker of the Gul Bahar is set on his art, so too is the fiercely talented young man, with skills acquired from the age of ten, committed to his vision of what a gold golap from Bengal should look like, feel like. And from these two disparate schools of thought come the two roses. And, honestly speaking, we'll do no less than a hundred varieties if they both live forever.

Therefore, to celebrate Nabobarsho, to celebrate our beautiful Bengal, a "new-old" jewel that tells us that everything new has some of the old in it. Authentic traditions and true heritage cannot be discounted. We can interpret them and create new things but their character will always draw from their undisputed historicity.

Here, for the New Year, exquisitely hand-chased in rich 22K gold, in remembrance of a Bengal past and in hope for a glorious Bengal to come, we present you the Bengal Rose Hansuli.