Our Beautiful Store: Oonjal
In this section, we’d like to share some of the things we love and cherish about our beautiful store – a place we regard as the home of Sarangi – a place where beauty quietly and serenely envelops you.
The Oonjal at Sarangi
In many traditional Indian homes, the ‘oonjal‘ or swing had a special place. It provided the perfect foil for many everyday events- from the morning coffee for the head of the family, to the lady of the house’s siesta or story time for the li’l ones. Every little girl or boy loves the feeling of swinging high and away from the ground on a swing. Kicking one’s feet up from the ‘jhoola‘ is somehow an exhilarating feeling. The oonjal still has pride of place in many contemporary and classic homes and we particularly love the beautiful one right here on the porch of our beautiful store. Right at the entrance, the beautiful wooden oonjal suspended with traditional metal ropes is a great spot to sit and collect your thoughts or swing a little bit to leave your worries behind.
Many of our patrons enjoy a peaceful moment on their way in or out of Sarangi – right here on this Oonjal.
For brides-to-be who come here to shop, many look at it knowing that their ‘oonjal‘ moment is soon to happen. For the uninitiated, weddings in some Indian communities have a special ‘oonjal ceremony‘ prior to the ‘muhurtam‘ – a wonderful tradition where the couple sits and swings together holding hands while the women of both sides of the family wash their feet, feed them milk and fruit and dispense coloured riceballs in all directions to ward away bad spirits and invoke blessings from everywhere. This is of course just a simple version of a well thought out tradition. The lovely part is that the bride gets a special sari just for this ceremony -usually picked out in gorgeous morning colours like mango, yellow, maroon or green in lustrous Kanjivaram silk.
If you had a Oonjal at your wedding, we d love to know what colour sari you wore for it..or if you are yet to be married, what colour kanjivaram silk sari would you pick for yours ?
