Arangetram

Arangetram

 I had the opportunity to see at close quarters the arrangements and shopping and efforts that go into a dance arangetram.

A young friend came from The US with her daughter (15 years of age) and spent a week in Chennai shopping for various things necessary for a dance performance.

A very close friend Mrs. Jayanthi Srivathsan, who is a professional dancer helped in guiding us.

So it happened that the first stop was Sundari silks in T. Nagar Usman road, we looked for reds and greens. As Jayanthi suggested ,we bought a total of three sarees, out of which 4 dresses could be made and we trooped out triumphantly , happy that our first day was very successful.

Sundari Silks also offers a lot of full skirts, tops and accessories too apart from blouse materials.

We then took a small rest and had a simple lunch and headed to Shanthi tailors in Mada street Mylapore  near is next to Rasi Silks.

Mr Shiva who runs the Shanthi dresses gave many tips and after about an hour we were done ,with the promise that he would deliver by July 5th.

The next day saw us eagerly heading towards Sukra jewelry. As the young danseuse selected her head gear and neck pieces I was astounded at the prices but was reassured that they would stand the test of time and also look elegantly rich.

Next stop was Nalli, Panagal park where we picked up beautiful, traditional and not so traditional sarees to be gifted  for the teachers and close friends, and Nalli has  a very nice ready made collection opened new right next door.

It was a beautiful experience going around looking for specific dance items.

Here is a sum up of whats where

Nalli -----a must visit for traditional sarees

Sundari -----for rare shades

Shanthi Dresses Mylapore for -----tailoring 

Shanthi dresses also offers ready made stitched dance costumes and does any small alteration immediately. Their staff is very courteous and polite.

Shanthi dresses also has dance jewelry like hip belts or Otiiyanam  and elaborate ear drops ,the haltha or red colour to be applied on feet , safety pins, hairpins of different sizes and shapes, sticker bindis of all colours and shapes,the liquid that helps stick the bindi ,besides plenty of other knick knacks.they also have the dance sarees in many colours , Sukra jewellery for silver dipped in gold jewelry.

The salangai that is tied onto the ankles, is a major purchase and we were very wisely pointed to go to The National Leather works on Kutcheri road , very near the canal and near the RajaKalyana Mandapam.

Vijaya Stores on Mada veedhi also offers the false hair and various items to be put on the hair, the paper flower garlands used fir decoration can be found here, and the paper flower strings like malli, kanakambaram all are available here.

All of this done we could not go away from Mylapore without visiting our own Karpagambal. So we went to the famous 2000 year old Kapali koil and worshiped there.