cross-posted from my post here.
During recent travels, I was visiting relatives in Honavar, Karnataka – a sleepy coastal town south of Kumta (see google map below). I had stopped by a family store to add money to my pre-paid cell phone. There, this older gentleman was weaving these delicate pink buds called jaaii-che kaLo. These buds only sprout after the monsoon rains (June – August), have a delicate fragrance and are highly sought after during the festival season in July-September. It was a simple, yet mesmerizingly beautiful weave and he agreed to let me record it on my flip video.
Based on a series of questions I ask him (on camera, in Konkani), he shows us a portion of the woven braid. All those buds will yield about 10 feet of braid and take him an hour to weave. Notice the thread, it is actually a fiber pulled from the bark of the banana tree and kept soaked in water. Very eco-friendly.
These braids will be sold in the marketplace (see Kumta marketplace) and usually end up in temples or family shrines. Women also use to decorate (and perfume) their hair. The market rate for these braids is about Rs50-Rs100/ft ($1-$2/ft), but can be significantly higher during the festival season. The beauty of the braids is in the buds; and once they bloom, the braids are considered done.
Here you see such Jaaii-kaLe braids offered to the Nag Devata at a small shrine in Kumta.
Filed under: Flowers, Honavar, Karnataka, Konkani, Kumta, Video | Tagged: Rural India, Konkani, Flowers, Honavar, Kumta, Konkan
Thanks for posting this nice video clip, Arun. I have seen the Jaaii flowers before on statues of gods like the Nag Devata and never knew how they were made. But the gentleman who is weaving it makes it look deceptively simple – I know for a fact that it would take a long time to teach someone like me to weave a 1 inch long braid. It is only through such videos that our generation can learn about some of our cultural heritage, which would be very difficult to explain otherwise. Keep it up.
Best,
–Madhav
Thank you Madhav.
You are right, the ‘maam’ makes it look so easy. I don’t even know if anyone of ours or the next generation would even have the patience to sit in one place and do this repetitive weave.
Thank you also for reminding me to use more video to capture such vignettes of our heritage. I can see a whole video konkani encyclopedia
Ok, lets get to work.
Hope you and rest are doing well.
Best
Arun