Unlike the fibrous, horizontally-spreading root systems common to most grasses, vetiver roots grow fairly deep to about 2-4 m. They produce an essential oil that is extensively used in perfume manufacture and aromatherapy. Vetiver oil has a deeply soothing quality and is valued for its earthy, yet elusive scent.

Vetiver has an amazing variety of practical uses. It is called the ‘moth root’ – sachets of the powdered root are placed in Indian muslin to repel moths and insects. During summer in the north Indian plains, blinds and awnings made of khus – another name for vetiver – are sprinkled with water, allowing for cooled, scented air to circulate through houses. A vetiver sachet in an earthen pot of drinking water imparts a deliciously “cool” flavour and aroma.

In Java (Indonesia), vetiver is woven into mats for thatching roofs. Vetiver lends itself  to a host of household items that combine utility with beauty, like­ place mats, fans, runners and baskets. In agriculture, vetiver finds excellent use as an erosion control system. Vetiver Network International, a non-governmental organisation has pioneered the Vetiver System, a soil and water conservation method, which utilizes vetiver as a natural barrier to slow down water runoff,  hedge paddy fields, treat waste water and control pollution.

In aromatherapy, the soothing oil is used to treat stress, exhaustion and disorders of the central nervous system. Traditional medicine systems use vetiver to balance female hormones during menopause. Generally speaking, vetiver is believed to have tremendous revitalizing and restorative properties. It is also a beauty aid that helps retain skin elasticity.

Pictured Above: Indonesian Vetiver Placemats from Cultural Elements

One is never quite prepared for the reality of Bali. Emerald hillsides curving spectacularly against  azure skies, satin-ribbon beaches, the sensual fragrance of frangipani and jasmine, timeless temples and a culture of slow grace… for a very small island, Bali packs a huge punch as a travel destination.

Arguably the best known island in the Indonesian archipelago, Bali on a map, looks rather like a large, exotic fish facing westwards. Its central and eastern regions are mountainous. Mount Agung, the highest point is a volcano, last active in 1963. Coral reefs rim the island. Southern Bali has white sand beaches while those on the northern side have black sand. Just eight degrees south of the equator, Bali enjoys a tropical climate with temperatures averaging 88° F(31° C). The best time to visit is in the drier months between June and September when humidity is low and fresh, cool breezes temper the daytime warmth.

In predominantly Islamic Indonesia, Bali is a Hindu enclave. Over 90 percent of the population is adherents of Balinese Hinduism, which is a fascinating amalgam of Hindu, Buddhist and native deities, besides local practices like ancestor worship and animism. Religion pervades every aspect of existence here.

Life has never been the same since the twentieth century traveler stumbled upon Bali. The island makes more money from tourism than the rest of Indonesia, with agriculture now taking second place in the local economy. It’s not hard to figure out why.

From sinfully luxurious hotels to quaint, family-run outfits, Bali has a wide range of accommodation. The western coastline boasts of world class surf spots; the eastern side is better suited for family vacations. Kura and Seminal are towns synonymous with Bali’s happening nightlife. If you’d rather poke around off the beaten track, visit smaller islands like Nusa Lembongan with quiet beaches and no vehicular traffic

The drive through mountains to the northern coast is manna for the tired, urban soul. Terraced paddy fields interspersed with coffee, vanilla, cocoa and spice plantations make a pretty picture. Exploring the misty trails around the volcanoes is a must-do (you can take a walk across the crater lake at Mount Batur).

Art and life are a seamless blend for several of the locals. Many Balinese work in their fields by day and turn into artisans at night. Religious beliefs are an intrinsic part of artistic traditions. Gold and silver jewelry, textiles, woodcraft, stone carving, painting and metalwork – Bali has it all. A visit to artisan villages like Batubalan, Mas, Celuk, Pengosekan and Sukawati will leave your pocket lighter. Most travelers also do the rounds of art galleries and shops at Ubud, the cultural center.

If you’re lucky, you could catch a religious festival in progress involving community dances and worship. If not, there are staged performances for visitors.  Typically, a Balinese dance performance is a heady combination of theater and entertainment based on mythology; often, there’s a fun, interactive element with performers dressed as exotic creatures bounding into the audience.

There are around 20, 000 temples in Bali of which Besakih or the “Mother Temple”, on the way up to Mount Agung, is the largest and most revered. A trip to the seventeenth century Taman Ayun temple can be combined with a tour of the Monkey Forest, home to around 300 Balinese macaques.

Dubbed as the largest pan-Asian community event on the East Coast, The Asian/Pacific American (A/PA) Heritage Festival is a community festival with music, performances, food, and family fun. Performances by NYC Bhangra, KCP Arts, Soh Daiko,  Bollywood Axion, Blip Blip Bleep, Magnetic North & Taiyo Na, Cynthia Lin, Kevin So and Alfa. Come sample the finest appetizers of Indonesian sate skewers, Chinese spicy home style noodles, and other dishes from the Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Thai, Cambodian, Vietnam and Indian cultures.

When: Sunday, May 2, 2010, 12 – 6 PM
Where: East 14th Street, between Broadway and Park Avenue

Click here to learn more.

Each year, His Holiness the Dalai Lama travels the world offering teachings and public talks to individuals from many different faiths and backgrounds. While His Holiness will also often bestow empowerment and initiations to coincide with these teachings, he continues to stress the importance of one attending teachings in order to provide practitioners with a better understanding of Buddhist philosophy.

On May 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, 2010 Healing the Divide and The Tibet Center are honored to host His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s return to New York City.

His Holiness will impart three days of teachings on Nagarjuna’s Commentary on Bodhicitta, and A Guide to the Bodhisattva’s Way of Life, by Shantideva.

On May 23rd, His Holiness the Dalai Lama will give a public talk entitled Awakening the Heart of Selflessness. His Holiness will discuss the process of realizing true selflessness and how this realization awakens a genuine caring for others. This is how we achieve inner peace for ourselves, a feeling of responsibility for the happiness of others, and ultimately a more compassionate world for everyone. The public talk will conclude with a short question and answer session.

Both events will take place at Radio City Music Hall in NYC
For more information, please visit: Dalai Lama Official Website

The word Namaste is a combination of two Sanskrit terms: Namah (I bow respectfully to you) and Aste (let there be). A literal translation makes little sense; rather, it is the spirit of the greeting that is significant, one that is deferential, cordial and executed with grace and a certain humility.

Most frequently used at the end of a Yoga session in the Western world, Namaste or Namaskar is the word uttered as a traditional greeting in India and parts of Nepal accompanied by folding one’s palms across the chest, as in prayer. Typically, elders and equals in age were greeted with a Namaste, though in modern situations words like “What’s up” have become increasing popular with the youth.

Culture rich India has several forms of stone artwork from different regions. Brilliantly painted marble from Rajasthan is one of best examples of such stone artwork and can best be described as ‘poetry in stone.’

Marble painting as an art form originated in Rajasthan during the sixteenth century. The Rajput kings and nobles of this state were dedicated patrons of arts and crafts. In Rajasthan there are around 4000 marble mines and since marble was readily available, it became the canvas for Rajput painters. Intricate images are drawn on stone and the brush of the painters seals it with eternal beauty. Although marble comes in varied hues of white, pink, gray and black, it is generally milky white marble which is used by artists to bring to life human figures, nature, landscapes, objects and animals. The artist successfully captures an image on marble and then uses his unique blend of color schemes to fill that image so that it catches the eye of every beholder.
Various objects with marble paintings make impressive gift items and decorative accessories, and can also be used to add that touch of Rajput royalty and elegance to a home.

A few distinct techniques and styles used in marble painting are:

• ‘Minakari’ work: Minakari is a method by which a design is engraved on marble and then painted with vibrant colors like red, green, black, yellow and blue.
• Devotional paintings: Legendary characters from Hindu epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata are painted on marble and bright colors are used to bring back the glory of the past.
• Jewelry paintings: This art has its origins in Jaipur and consists of a design being drawn on marble and skillfully made gold leaf being pasted on the jewelry design. Enamel colors as well as glass pieces are used to decorate the design and add to its intricate beauty.
• Miniature paintings: The use of delicate brush strokes can transform an ordinary marble tile into a showpiece worthy of being called a collector’s item. A common depiction is that of Indian musical instruments. These are painted with colors drawn from substances as varied as minerals, vegetables, conch shells and even gold and silver.

Marble paintings are influenced by local schools of art from Kishangarh, Jaipur, Kangra and Mandi. All major centers have their distinct style and many have attained expertise in the depiction of a certain aspect. The Kishangarh School can boast of having attained world class perfection in paintings of women. The Jaipur School focuses on mythological depictions. Many paintings depict local legends and famous royals like Pabuji, a Royal Rajput Prince who is revered by tribesmen for his valor. He fought and defeated the cruel cow-slaughtering ruler Mirza Khan. The brushes of the painters also depict the universal theme of the victory of good over evil through scenes from religious epics and eternal love through the life of Mumtaz and Shahjahan, the famous Mughal couple whose love story is immortalized in the Taj Mahal.

The marble paintings of Rajasthan make memorable and unique gifts for your loved ones. Each one is an exemplary display of the skill of local artisans. Some Handmade marble home decor items can be viewed in our Indian Home Decor collection at Cultural Elements

Think you have a knack for foreign languages? Try picking up Japanese – all 2,000 characters of it!

In place of an alphabet, Japanese has an extensive set of pictograms called kanji. The Koujiten, an ancient dictionary, compiled between 1644-1912 during the Ching dynasty, lists a mind-boggling 47,000 kanji! Aspiring learners need not baulk – Japan’s Ministry of Education prescribes a mere 1,945 kanji for learning basic Japanese, enough to peruse a newspaper or book.

Japanese belongs to the Ural-Altaic group of languages that include Korean, Mongolian, Turkish and Manchu. An indigenous Japanese language existed around the 3rd century AD, but it was only much later that Japanese adopted a script from China, in the form of kanji. Unlike Chinese, the Japanese language is polysyllabic; consequently, two further sets of symbols developed in Japan, hiragana and katakana to adapt the original Chinese to local language characteristics.

A kanji is a symbol representing the root meaning of nouns, verbs and adjectives. Hiragana, added to kanji, act as modifiers (for example, adding hiragana to the kanji for “eat” changes the verb to “to eat”, “ate” or “is eating”.) Hiragana are also used as particles or link words, showing the relationship between words in a sentence. Katakana is for writing foreign language words such as names of places and people. They were invented in Japan by 9th century Buddhist students as shorthand for taking down lecture notes, a simpler alternative to the elaborate Chinese kanji.  Katakana is also employed for commonly used foreign words, though their pronunciation may change (for example, “television” in Japanese is “terebi”). Both hiragana and katakana are simpler than kanji, with 46 characters each. You can identify hiragana symbols by their rounded shape, while katakana is angular.

Apart from linguists, the elegant, aesthetically pleasing kanji is popular with tattoo aficionados and calligraphy enthusiasts!

India’s national bird, the peacock, is woven into the country’s cultural fabric, a symbol of beauty, love and fertility.

Legend has it that the peacock, originally a plain, brown bird, spread his tail to hide the god Indra from the demon king Ravana. To show his gratitude, Indra bestowed him with brilliant plumage. In folklore, the “eyes” of the peacock’s tail are said to be the tears of the sun-god’s daughter, who married the peacock for his beauty but found him to be a vain, shallow husband.

In Hinduism, the peacock is the divine vehicle of Skanda, younger son of Shiva and Parvati. A single peacock feather is the distinctive headgear of Lord Krishna, the divine lover.

After the long, hot Indian summer, dark rain clouds, coinciding with the cries of the peacock, gladden the heart of millions. The peacock’s monsoon mating ritual, of spreading out its fan-shaped tail inspired the Sanskrit poet Kalidasa who immortalized its beauty in his classic love poem, Meghaduta,

In literature, miniature painting, dance and music, the peacock symbolizes erotic love as well as the pain of separation. At times, the bird represents the absent lover for whom the nayika or heroine pines.  The Kamasutra recommends that a man wishing to attract a potential lover should wrap a peacock bone in gold and tie it to his right arm!

The bird’s graceful form is celebrated in innumerable forms by Indian craftsmen. Eighteenth century Nawabs had pleasure boats designed in the shape of a peacock! South Indian brass lamps typically have a peacock carving in the centre. Peacock motifs are found in traditional textiles all over India, from the striking embroidery of Saurashtra and Kathiawar in western India to the zari or gold thread embroidered Kanjeevaram silks of Tamil Nadu and colorful Kantha folk art of West Bengal.

Pictured above: Hand Painted Decorative Peacock by Cultural Elements

Long before Hinduism reached Bali’s shores, the island had its own, animism-based mythology. Many of the fantastic beings who populated this mythology were adapted into Hinduism. Among these is the Barong, the mythic lion who remains a hugely popular figure in Balinese culture.

A Barong is a protective, spirit king. Balinese mythology has five Barongs for each region of the island, each represented by a different animal.  Barong Ket the lion from Gianyar is a shaggy haired, lumbering village guardian who is at once fearsome and lovable. His primary task is to fight off chaos and evil epitomized in the figure of Rangda, the semi-divine demon queen and restore the balance between good and evil.

This battle is enacted through ritual drama. The performance is highly interactive, with Barong Ket lumbering through the audience, calling out to people to join in the encounter with Rangda. Barong Ket also teases and jokes with villagers in the course of his epic battle.

Virtually every village has its own Barong costume. Two actors take on the lion king’s persona – one shakes the Barong’s head and clacks his teeth while the other is in charge of wagging the golden tail. In these rituals, Rangda is given equal billing as Balinese villagers believe that acknowledging the power of dark forces helps keep them in check. The underlying realism of the ritual lies in the fact that neither side ever wins outright – the aim here is to find balance between good and evil. Actors often take their show on the road, visiting neighboring villages for seasonal performances. It’s also an opportunity to meet new women! Videogame developers have featured these mythic creatures in games like Digimon, Gameboy Color’s Azure Dreams and Persona 3.

Pictured Above: Barong Masks Wall Decor from Cultural Elements

17.2 million square feet of world culture, out of this world shopping, around the world food and of course fun for everyone; that’s the Global Village in Dubai.  Fire breathing men from Moscow, a human cannon ball, drummers from South India, amazing street performers and crafts and cuisine from around the world, that’s what makes the Dubai Global Village such a crowd puller every year. This multi cultural theme park is the tourist hotspot of our times. Located in Dubailand, this phenomenal entertainment project is spread over 17.2 million sq. ft. and draws in millions of visitors every year since its opening in 1996.   Keeping in tune with the global theme of this entertainment village the shows and events are drawn from all over the world.  Performances from the US to the Far East and all the countries in between come to life on a grand stage. So, while one can easily groove with the vigorous dancers of Africa, one can just as easily sway to the mystic beats of Sufi music from India. On one hand there is the fun of an American country dance, on the other French fashion of the 1890’s come alive in a traditional dance.   The whole idea is to feel the pulse of world culture and this goes to a new level with the Community Stage. Here people are encouraged to match steps with others or showcase their own talent. For those with shopping on their mind things couldn’t get bigger than the Global Village. The place boasts of country specific exotic pavilions where craftsmen from the world over congregate. Again the buyer is spoilt for choices. An ethnic Japanese kimono? They have it!  A silken carpet? Of course, it’s here! And there are enough ATMs and foreign exchange booths inside to help shoppers indulge.  To round off the entertainment package there is also a grand Fun Fair with rides for everyone in the family. Needless to mention, the restaurants, cafes and kiosks here provide a most exciting culinary journey around the world. This village opens in the evening and stays on well into the night seven days a week. Monday nights are reserved for families only. A robust public transport system is in place to commute to and from the Global Village and ample parking space. Apart from the normal entrance fee there is also a VIP package which includes a number of entry tickets, funfair coupons and also the use of the VIP car park.   On the radar of the most happening places today, the Dubai Global Village is surely a place to up the cultural IQ and carry back some wonderful memories.