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Rana Safvi
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    My favorite artworks from European Museums

    My favorite artworks from European Museums

    Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

    Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

    Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

    Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

    Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

    Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

    Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

    Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

    The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

    The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

    Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

    Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

    Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

    Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

    St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

    St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

    Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

    Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

    Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

    Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

    The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

    The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

    The Dohany Street synagogue in Budapest

    St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

    St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

    The Residence Fountain in Salzburg: Oundof Music

    The Residence Fountain in Salzburg: Oundof Music

    Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

    Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

    Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

    Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

    Jahan koshan cannon, Murshidabad

    Jahan koshan cannon, Murshidabad

    Takht-e Marar, Golestan Palance, Teheran, Iran

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    • Travel
      My favorite artworks from European Museums

      My favorite artworks from European Museums

      Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

      Gandhara Art in Humboldt Forum: Life of Lord Buddha

      Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

      Jewish Heroes Square in Krakow, Poland

      Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

      Block no. 4 in Auschwitz concentration camp

      Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

      Ottoman tent in Princess Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, Poland

      The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

      The Steam Engine Building, Potsdam, Germany

      Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

      Assyrian human-headed winged bull from Nimrud; 9th cent. BCE; Pergamon Museum, Berlin

      Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

      Catacombs in St Peter’s Abbey Salzburg, Austria

      St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

      St Nicholas Church in #Leipzeg, #Germany

      Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

      Gloriette, Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna,Austria

      Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

      Matthias Church on Buda Castle Hill, Budapest

      The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

      The Neptune fountain in Schonbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria

      The Dohany Street synagogue in Budapest

      St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

      St Peter’s Abbey Church in Salzburg, Austria

      The Residence Fountain in Salzburg: Oundof Music

      The Residence Fountain in Salzburg: Oundof Music

      Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

      Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

      Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

      Sultana Daku and Raj Bhawan of Nainital

      Jahan koshan cannon, Murshidabad

      Jahan koshan cannon, Murshidabad

      Takht-e Marar, Golestan Palance, Teheran, Iran

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      The Angarkha or the Angrakshak

      inOur Cultural Heritage
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      The word angarkha is supposed to be taken from the Sanskrit Angrakshak which means to protect the limbs.

      It is  long Indian robe with an asymmetrical opening in the chest area reaching down to the knees, which was very popular in N.India in the 19th century and  is also worn with slight variations by men in western India .
      The  different types of angarakhas are frock style, waist-length kamari angarakha and the long angarakha which reaches below the knees. Matrerials used would depend on weather and occasion: muslin with chikankaari for summers, brocade and velvet for festive occasions .

      Perhaps the most famous weare of the angarkha was Nawab Wajid Ali Shah and this portrait of him with a bit of bare chest is one of his most famous pictures.

      image

      Unlike this portrait, men didn’t show bare chest and the flap covering the chest was tightly tied by flaps to both sides of the angarkha.

      It typically has a front open with two flaps and one of the flaps (right)  will have a covering for the chest attached to it which is then tied with strings to other side.

      image

      This is the frock styled angarkha which was made of very fine muslin and the cut can be seen in this book which is in the Metropolitan Museum site

      In the angarkha given below you can see how it is tied and supposed to be worn.

      image

      A typical angarkha which I have seen people wear in my childhood, especially during Moharrum keeping in line with the standard set by MIr Anees the master of the craft of marsiya ( elegy writen on the Battle of Karbala). Marsiyakhwaans ( those who recited marsiyas would wear angarkha and do palli topi with chauda (wide rimmed) pyjama . I have seen my uncle Syed Tanvirul Hasan wear the angarkha while reciting marsiya and I have one of his cotton angarkhas as a memento.

      image

      Famous Dastangos Danish Hussain and MAhmood Farooqi have revived the lost art form of story telling or dastangoi.

      They not only tell traditional tales but dress as the dastangos of the Mughal and later period in Delhi and Awadh used to : White muslin angarkha , chaudi mori ka pyjama ( wide pyjamas) and a do palli topi. Do palli topi is unique to the subcontinent.

      This angarkha made of brocade was for festive occasions and worn in the non summer months. Summers it was always cotton/muslin in keeping with the weather.

      image

      An intricately embroidered angarkha for royalty now kept in a museum.

      image

      In West India the angarkhs was adapted to become an angarkhi just below the waist and worn with dhoti instead of pyjama

      image

      Of course nowadays angarkhas have been adapted for women and we rarely see men wearing it

      image

      To differentiate the photograph given below is of a sherwani which is a completely different cut and design

      image

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      Rana Safvi

      Come, explore and fall in love the Beauties of Delhi (Dilli ki Ranaiya’n) and the World with me, Rana Safvi

      I have a masters in medieval history from the prestigious Centre for Advanced Studies, Dept. of History, AMU. A firm believer in our Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb, I am passionate about gaining and sharing knowledge and these days I am doing it via the social media platform.

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      © 2018 Rana Safvi - A blog Exploring Ganga Jamuni Tehzeeb of India, website handcrafted by Abu Sufiyan.