BENGALURU: Glittering jewels and fine jewellery enhance the appeal of gods and goddesses too. At Kalpana Sonthalia’s stall at Chrysallis exhibition, at Vivanta by Taj, you will find the most exquisitely crafted pieces including unique headgear for Laadu Gopal and Jugal Jodi.
She is driven to design jewellery to adorn dieties by her belief in bhakti and seva. “I used to design them for deities at my home and friends really liked it… they asked if I would do a few pieces for them as well, and I started this collection,” she says. Kalpana Sonthalia started her divine jewellery line about five years back and says she is overwhelmed by the appreciation she has received.
“I had an exhibition in Kolkata and it was sold out,” she says. “It is so encouraging to get that kind of a response”.
Her elegant collection has temple jewellery pieces, made mostly from semi-precious metals and brightly-coloured stones, and they include finely-crafted imitations of manga mala and kasi mala. Then there are glittering lines and layers of stones for neck pieces, and tiny flower garlands crafted from beads and sea shells.
You can take your pick from adorable, colourful turbans with a peacock-feather miniature sticking out from it. Or you could also just pick a miniature feather. There are bangles that fan out like feathers, with beaded-tips and ones that resemble kundan style hand clasps, with deep-set white stones.
There are temple-jewellery earrings with bright maroon stones and tiny white beads that imitate pearls, and there are more fun flower earrings made in bright, happy colours.
Shwetha Agarwal, a customer, says that she hasn’t seen this line of jewellery sold anywhere else in Bengaluru. “This is essential for worship in Marwari tradition. We pray to Thakurji (an address for Lord Krishna) and he is treated like a family member,” she says. “He is like a small pampered child at home… he is served food and milk, and this we have as bhog or prasad. He is decked up in fine jewellery and clothes and even those studded with diamonds, and this is where Kalpana Sonthalia’s collection is essential. She custom makes clothes for the deity and I have taken her card to place orders”.
The jewellery line is mostly priced between `350 and `1,100.
The exhibition is open today.