Narrating stories through sarees!

Did you ever occur to you that a saree could help you narrate stories? Well, they actually can! Aavaranaa conducted an event some time back on such sarees. The event was called "Swamy Katha" which means "Stories about the Gods" and was aimed at creating awareness about the concept of story telling through sarees. According to Vijayalakshmi, Managing Partner of Aavaranaa, during the older days, sarees were actually used to narrate stories to young ones! It was a great way of spending quality time with your loved ones. Sadly, our modern lifestyle has changed all that. Now days the only time we gets to spend time together is when dinner is served in front of the telly! Showing their support and promoting the concept of re-instill this old tradition in us was the famous celebrity couple Yugendran & Malini.
Above, is the picture of one of the sarees from the collection. The story described here is 'Sita's Swayamvar' - the ceremony where she choose her husband. I've described the story below. If this interests you, then you may want to step into Aavaranaa and take a look at the whole collection! Aavaranaa is located at 15 ashoka Street, Alwarpet, Chennai. Ph#: +91 44 24988292. You can also check them out at www.aavaranaa.com


Sita's Swayamvar:

One day Vishwamitra, the sage, received an invitation from King Janak, ruler of Janakpur, to attend the Swayamvar (choosing of groom) ceremony of his daughter, Sita. Kings, princes and sages from all over were invited to attend the ceremony to win the hand of the beautiful princess. Vishwamitra asked Rama and Lakshman to accompany him, and so the three set out for Janakpur, stopping on the way to take a dip in the holy river Ganga and finally reached the beautiful kingdom of Janakpur.

King Janak himself welcomed the sage. Vishwamitra introduced Rama and Lakshman to the King as the brave and divine sons of King Dashrath. Later on the brothers set out to visit the kingdom when they chanced upon Sita in a temple. Rama was immediately enraptured by her beauty, and Sita, in turn, fell in love with Rama. She prayed that she be wed to Rama.
Soon, the Swayamvara ceremony was held. A large, heavy bow of Lord Shiva, was placed in the center of the swayamvara hall, and Lord Janak announced that the person who managed to string the bow would win the hand of the fair Sita. The ceremony was open to all, and one by one every man in the room tried his hand at stringing the bow,the princes from various states and kingdom tried their luck in attempting to lift and break the Bow of Shiva. But it was not possible! Even the most powerful amongst all the kings, the great Ravana of Lanka could not even move the bow one inch above the ground!

Then all the kings collectively tried to lift the bow, but they still did not succeed. King Janak was now confronted with the prospect of Sita remaining unmarried, and he was overwhelmed with worry.

Finally, it was Lord Rama's turn. As he walked towards the bow, and Sita's heart sank, sure that if such rugged and brave Kings could not even lift the bow, then the young and slender Rama would surely fail to do so as well. But Rama said a prayer and in one breath lifted the bow, strung it, and broke it into two with a thundering sound. Everyone was astounded and immediately broke into cheers. Sita then walked up to Lord Rama and placed a garland around his neck.

This, however, made King Ravana jealous and insulted, and he vowed to defeat Rama some day if the opportunity arose.

Thus, in a most wonderful setting, the auspicious marriage of Rama and Sita took place. Along with Rama, his three brothers also got married to the three sisters of Sita; and four sons of King Dasharatha married four daughters of King Janaka!

V-necks, boat necks or short sleeves – Choose the right match!!

If you think that selecting a glamorous, elegant saree will make you look like an absolute Fashion Goddess then think again! Selecting a good saree is only half the job. We often tent to neglect the equally important saree blouse.

Halter top, Sleeveless, Corsets, backless, off shoulder, spaghetti strap blouse and the list goes on and on and on. But choice of a blouse will mostly depend on the kind of saree and the physical appearance of the person. There are a few things you must keep in mind while selecting a blouse.

Be it halter top blouses, corsets or spaghetti straps the neckline of the blouse must always be taken into consideration. They can dramatically change the way you look, from being elegant and graceful to a total fashion disaster!

Some basic pointers to keep in mind while selecting a blouse:

• A short neck and face will appear lengthened by necklines with strong vertical or nearly vertical lines, such as a plunging V-neckline.
  
• If you have a big bust-line then avoid V necks and scoop necks as they emphasis the chest size. Instead opt for high necks combined with full sleeves.
  
• People with small bust-line should opt for V-necks and bulkier fabrics as they create an illusion of a fuller bust-line.
  
• Pear-shaped figures can be balanced by diverging or horizontal lines, e.g., an off-the-shoulder or boat neckline.
  
• If you have broad shoulders go in for a wide neckline, short sleeves and light fabrics, they will help to visually reduce broad shoulders.
  
• Heavy armed? Try to wear sleeves that are not fitted yet follow the body line. Avoid heavy and thick fabrics.
  

Armed with these few basic tools, you can now choose a blouse design that will suit you and give you that trendy style. As I mentioned before there are an array of designs to choose from. The choice here is the kind of back that you would like to sport. This will also largely depend on the type of neckline you choose. Another choice to make is the kind of sleeve you should consider. Here you could go in for a retro nineties look with a ruffled beads sleeves blouse or a fanned sleeves blouse. You could also consider one shoulder blouses, full sleeves blouse or the sexy rhinestone strap blouse and the crossed triple spaghetti strap blouse among others.

Also consider the amount of décolletage that you would like and whether the visibility of undergarments such as bra straps is relevant. These factors may influence the depth and width of the neckline, respectively.

At the end of the day, choosing an ideal blouse is no child’s play. But this daunting task can be made easier when you keep in mind the kind of neckline that would suit you and the design that would look good for your physique.

Contributed by Ms. Vijayalakshmi Krishna, Managing Partner, Aavaranaa.

About Aavaranaa:

Aavaranaa is an exclusive saree boutique located at 15, Ashoka Street, Alwarpet,Chennai. The boutique houses a range of unique designer sarees. All their designs are in house and exclusive; Yes! I really mean exclusive! They don't duplicate any designs. I've posted a few of their pictures here in the HIGHLIGHTS section (Top left conner of this page), check them out! I'll keep updating these pictures with their latest collections so do come back again...

Interested in their collection??? Check them out at - www.aavaranaa.com