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The Elephanta Caves

The Elephanta Caves , located on Elephanta Island, or Gharapuri, about 11 Km off the coast of the Gateway of India, Mumbai, are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A visit to these caves, excavated probably in the 6 th century CE, is awe-inspiring, and also thought-provoking. Over the years, I have visited the caves a number of times, and also attended a number of talks by experts in the fields of art, history and archaeology on the caves. Together, they help me understand these caves, their art, and the people they were created for, just a little bit better. Every new visit, every new talk, every new article I read about the caves, fleshes out the image of what the island and the caves would have been like, at their peak. I last wrote about the caves on this blog, in 2011, almost exactly 11 years ago. Since then, my understanding of the caves has, I would like to think, marginally improved. Hence this attempt to write a new and updated post, trying to bring to life, the caves of Elephan
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Handmade Ganeshas - My first entry for Artsy-Craftsy September 2010



I have been following Shruti's Mindful Meanderings for a while now, and enjoyed the wonderful craft works posted by her, as well as the monthly contest and their entries. I have, however, never been able to participate, for various reasons. This time, as it happens, I actually have something to contribute, so here is mine...

These are the Ganeshas we made from clay for our Ganpati Celebration this year... the bigger one made by me and the smaller by Samhith.


Most of you would have already seen this, since I posted the pics earlier, as part of my Ganpati celebrations post. I am posting this again for two reasons - I wanted to add the link to the Mindful Meanderings blog for one, and secondly, I have recieved a lot of emails asking about how I made it...

The answer is that it was actually quite easy, thanks to the net (you arent surprised, are you???) I found the clay when I was searching for something for Samhith to do. Its available at most craft stores.  As to actually making the ganesha, here is what helped me out....


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Comments

  1. IndraniSeptember 19, 2010 at 2:42 PM

    Great entry Anu.
    The video captured well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anuradha ShankarSeptember 19, 2010 at 2:57 PM

    thanks Indrani. Finding that video went a long way in making the idol!

    ReplyDelete
  3. P.N. SubramanianSeptember 19, 2010 at 10:41 PM

    Very well explained. I remember, in my childhood, we used to go to the potter for two three buckets of clay and used to prepare the Ganeshas along with friends.

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousSeptember 19, 2010 at 10:41 PM

    oh Anu!! lovely videa.. and you've done a fab job!! also... Shruti's blog is awesome!! loads of artsy stuff on there!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. AswathiBabuSeptember 20, 2010 at 10:02 AM

    Anu
    Great work and congrats to yr dedication. I will surely try this wishing you a very nice day

    ReplyDelete
  6. UshaSeptember 20, 2010 at 9:38 PM

    Thanks again, Anu! I will try this out!

    ReplyDelete
  7. subu.psSeptember 20, 2010 at 11:10 PM

    hey Anu nice work and thanks for sharing the video. I have been away from the blog world for some time.. Lots to catch up in your blog..seems like u have many posts on ganesha.

    ReplyDelete
  8. UnknownSeptember 21, 2010 at 10:28 AM

    very nice blog.....
    Pls Visit My Music Blog For Downloading Songs...

    Download Direct Hindi Music Songs And Ghazals

    ReplyDelete
  9. callezeeSeptember 21, 2010 at 6:50 PM

    It is made in clay,we can also do it in candle,but the pink ganesha is chubby looks great..

    ReplyDelete

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