Flower-garlands have always been an integral part of any Indian festival or celebration. Whether worn by bridal couples, draped around venues for a festive look, given to temple deities as a sign of worship, or worn against the dark braids of the Indian woman as part of her everyday toilette, flower garlands add colour and vibrancy to the Indian way of life. Central to worship, a deity’s favourite or chosen flowers are presented to, and are used to adorn the former. Perhaps the short-lived nature of the flower garlands adorning the deity served to compare man’s transient existence to the perpetual existence of Divinity.
Flower garlands are woven in different styles using different locally available flowers all over the country, and each style has evolved according to the customs and traditions prevalent in that area. They have a readily available market owing to the fact that they are indispensable in the Indian life-cycle ritual - festival or celebration, wedding or funeral. The art of flower-garland making requires skill and patience, a deft and careful hand and also an eye for colour.
Vilachery village is situated on the outskirts of Madurai. Most of the women of the village belong to the Muslim community, and cannot leave their houses in search of employment. The Foundation was approached by Ms. Maragathavalli, the village’s Panchayat leader to help train the women in her village in a useful craft. Since some of the women knew how to make flower garlands, and since there is a market for about six-hundred garlands per wedding season in the village itself, it was decided that the women should be trained in garland making. This was suitable, as the women could work on orders at home, and clients would pick up their order directly from the women’s homes. Also, all the women already knew how to weave strings of flowers for everyday hair ornamentation and hence would find it easier than most to learn the skill of garland-making. Situated as it is, close to the flower markets of Madurai, it seemed somehow appropriate that the women continue the age-old craft form that has been the trademark of this area for centuries. A two-day workshop to train the women was planned for January 2011, so that by the end of Marghazi, they were ready with garlands for the wedding season.
Preparation, market studies, costing and planning later, the workshop was underway with seven women from the village taking part. They would in turn teach the rest of the women how to go about with the garland-weaving.
Enthusiastic and excited, the women pored over books featuring traditional flower weaving techniques from all over the world. When it came for them to learn the nuances of garland weaving, the women proved extremely adept and innovative. They learnt how to make flower garlands, floral hair ornamentation and the traditional flower bouquet called the poo-chendu. Woven on banana fibre, coconut leaf sticks or twine, mounted on broad teak leaves or sheets of banana fibre, embellished with gold tissue or spangles, the garlands each had a charm all of its own. Using tuberoses, cock’s comb, globe amaranths, green fragrant leaves, roses and Madurai’s famous jasmine, the women wove their scented ornaments till they had achieved a fair amount of skill that only practice could perfect.
Two days later, armed with the knowledge and skill they had gained, they returned to their village with enthusiastic confidence that they would win a livelihood from what they had learnt. As they got on the bus, the faint, lingering scent of flowers clung to them as if proclaiming their new calling to the world.
The flower-garland making workshop was held on 4th and 5th January 2011 at MRM House, Kanadukathan, Chettinad.
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