Who wouldn�t fall for his spellbinding and hypnotizing rotund and jolly appearance? For the one who utterly embodies divinity with chubby cheeks, sparkling eyes, benign smile curved lips and his innocent trunk face. The one who radiates an aura of his twinkling and gleaming personality, the one who excels all the masters and the one who is most worshipped divine being, we did...yes...with Ganesha.
As the whole world welcomes him for a grandest celebration, I could not select any better day to cap off my long held idea of a post to take you on a virtual tour of our proud collection of "Ganesha". Though, we (me and my husband Aj) both being an avid collector, are deeply confident about our interest and tastes, the credit for taking personal interest in building our collection should be endowed to my husband, Aj. The collection reflects his well -travelled life of business and his deep resonated sense of taste to pick the right pieces. Perhaps, his discerning eye is intuitively drawn towards certain pieces.
As you draw in, you will see the masterful layering around the home with carefully chosen mix of brass belting out the saga of our truly precious collection. As our home gets ready for the festivity, few upbeat hues of the festivities are brought to life at my entrance way. You might settle with my thought; DNA for "Ganesha's" love runs in the family, his charm has catapulted magic for our artist daughter as well who drew these beautiful paintings adorning our entrance.
When celebrations start, a dash of dancing lights and flowers along with our inherent craving for brass transform our living room a focal place in our home. The curated cabinet, in our living room, is a perfect discovery for homing our rare, treasured and sentimental pieces. A common thread of brass here stitches all together.
Periodically combing through what you have accumulated eases a challenge to balance the pieces. Grouping in ingenious ways permits each item a greater decorative value. Particularly this "Ganesha with kumkum" I remember as the first one coming home before we begin collecting. His gesture being in a shell makes him an adorableand an exclusive piece of our collection.
Embracing possibilities by detaching preconception leads me to a perfect pairing of some timeless brass which often authenticates a little sense of newness in my d�cor. The �Zula Ganesha� was plucked by me for a pooja celebration at home, over a decade ago. The antique brass tray was scored from the �Gurjari Bazar� of India. It�s a fabulous plus to our collection and no wonder you often spot in my d�cor being my absolute favourite. Little elbow grease and tamarind worked its charm to give the sharpness and shine to the plate.
Traditional and fanciful rare piece such as this �Ganesha writting Mahabharata�, resonate depicting stories of history. To add more reflective glamour on the festive season, I every so often fetch him and other brass knick-knacks on our coffee table for a cheerful look.
I often find myself challenging to balance the pieces without everyday being a feel at the brass store. To justify the correctness of each piece, I group with a great mix of style that is flexible and continuously evolving with different pieces. The "Idealistically sitting Ganesha" here on the vignette was fetched from an antique store boutique from Delhi. And the kettle, you are gazing at, is unexpectedly fetched from a yard sale rightly proving that one person�s trash becomes another person�s treasure.
We started feeding our passion by hunting and gathering aesthetically beautiful and elegant pieces such as this �Bal Ganesha�. Grouping him with few of my favourite things together builds a strong reason to stop by him and take a closer look.
You don�t necessarily have to inherit an antique to love it and make it your own. This cutest �Nerdy Ganesha� is our most recent purchase from India. His sharp, smartened look made him a one of a fanciful gem of our collection.
For the collection journey, only part of our collected pieces were chosen here to share. But my tale of collection would never be complete without sharing our traditional and ethnic idols.
Raising the veil off of one of the classic �Wooden Ganesha� who was brought home as a treasured memory of our first purchase of a new home. This new age �Lotus seated Ganesha� came home recently as a gesture of our old school friendship by a dear friend.
Along with few serene �Sitar playing Ganesha� and an infantile form of �Bal Ganesha�, we also own the most marvelous shade of blue ones. There are also few who a tug a string of our heart and often take numerous rounds in my regular d�cor on Facebook and Instagram pages.
Few multi-coloured idols of "Ganesha" also lend some personality, charm and whimsy to our collection.
A significant collection usually begin with just one item whether books, art, paintings or Ganesha, outline the personality of your home and reflect style and taste of the owners. Spark an interest in something you haven�t realised or considered collecting. Whatever and however you collect, just follow your heart. If you love something, you will always find a place for it. Love and surround yourself with your favorite pieces and live with it.
Amid the plethora of fantastic treasures, I wrap up this journey of our collection. The tad-bit long post is a result of hours of styling, hundreds of clicking and finishing off final touches before festivities at our home. Now, as I am off to welcome our this year's Ganesha, wish you all the very happy Ganesh Chaturthi and a wonderful celebration, until we meet again, toodles!