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Kannauj - The Perfume State of India

  Did you know that a small town in Uttar Pradesh is called the perfume city of India. The town is none other than Kannauj. Kannauj is around 3 to 4 hours drive from Agra. Kannauj looks like any other dusty North Indian city. It has few archaelogical remains from the Mahabharata era. In ancient times, Kannauj was referred as Kusumpara and rose to its height during the reign of Harsha (590 to 647 CE). Kannauj finds its reference in Huan Tseng's literature where he mentioned about the use of the perfume across Northern parts of India. Plotemy specifically mentioned about the aroma of Kannauj , then referred as Kusumpua. Although nobody knows the exact date when this ancient method of preparing perfume commonly referred as ittar or attar was started, but it finds its first mention or reference in the works of Bana Bhatta in his book 'Harsh Charita'. It mentions the use of attar. Attar reached its peak of usage during the time of Mughals. The most interesting aspect is that the...
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Rabindranath Tagore's love for Art

The bard of Bengal, Shri Rabindra Nath Tagore  was born on 7th May 1861 in Kolkata. Tagore had invited Beihong to Shantiniketan in 1939 where his master introduced ink brush painting and calligraphy to the students.  These paintings of Tagore are considered to be one of Xu beihong masterpieces for it was unique at that time to portrait such a realistic facial expression in Chinese ink brush art.
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Remembering Sunayani Devi - A forgotten artist in history

 Sunayani Devi (18 June 1875 – 23 February 1962). Sunayani Devi is one such artist who was left out of the historical records. So, who was Sunayani Devi? We all know the aristocratic Tagore family of Kolkata. Sunayani Devi was a member of this family. She was Rabindranath Tagore's niece. She was born to Saudamini Devi and Gunendranath Tagore. She was an Indian painter, a self taught artist, with no academic training in art. Inspired by her brothers, Abanindranath Tagore, Gaganendranath Tagore, and Samarendranath Tagore, she started painting only at the age of 30. She would often spy on her brothers' paintings to learn the art.  She was married at the age of 12 to Rajaninath Roy, the grandson of Raja Ram Mohan Roy. It was actually Rajaninath Roy who inspired her to paint.  She used the process of Wash Technique in her paintings. She would first draw a red or black outline with brush on a piece of paper. This was then filled with colors using a thin paint brush. After this,...
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Paintings of Let Us Paint Art Class

 Let me share some of the art work done by my students. I have a bunch of wonderful little artists who are learning art work in my studio. The studio that started at a physical location at my studio has now grown online. Kids do various paintings and art work based on themes, festivals and Art genres. I am glad that they are enjoying every session as they grow their artistic skills. Today's blog is specially for my students. I feel proud to share my students art work. Connect me on my Instagram for an appointment.  https://www.instagram.com/letsuspaint/  
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Coffee Art

What is Coffee painting? Coffee painting is a beautiful art work from a common household item! Yes you guessed it right. It is coffee dust or seeds of coffee plant that are used to make such beautiful paintings. This art work comes under Monocromatic Art (i.e., using only one color). Who invented this art?  It was invented by Pornchai Lerthammasiri who is a Thai artist.  How to make coffee art? To get light colour shades, put small amount of coffee into a bowl, add twice the quantity of water,stir it and then use it for painting.  To get dark colour shades, put coffee in a bowl and put as little water as possible.  How to protect your art work? When you finish your painting let it dry for 6 hours and then apply a thin coat of varnish and protect your painting from dust. Want to learn this art? DirectMessage me on my instagram @  https://www.instagram.com/letsuspaint/  
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Rabindranath Tagore's love for food

Rabindranath Tagore: Birth: 7th May 1861 Calcutta. Death: 7th Aug 1941 Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali poet, short story writer, song composer and a painter. But few people know about his passion for food!!! "Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark” is one of the quotes by Rabindranath Tagore. His multicultural upbringing was the prime reason why he had a love for food. He loved both British and Bengali food, such as Cream of Tomato sauce, Salmon in Hollandaise sauce... but there was one dish which he adored the most and that was the authentic Bengali fish. He was such a foodie that he would often bring back recipes with him so that it can be made at his home at Shantiniketan!!! Tagore loved Pies, Patties, Kababs, Prawn cutlets, to name a few.  All types of food recipes were tried and tasted by Rabindranath Tagore. Dahi Malpua, Sondesh, fish dishes like  Bhampa Ilsh ) (steam fish),  Kacha ilshi er jhol , Chitol Mach Aarti chalta diye muge...
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