Indian Textile Adventures with Marigold Tours — Carol's Adventures in Textile Art and Gardening

Govind described to us the way the images could be attributed to the existing rulers. Islam do not portray representative figures in their carvings, the Moghuls show many leaf and flower designs, while the Hindu will portray detailed people, carvings and animals in their structures. It was the beginning of a total immersion into patterns and history and structure a la India. I was quick to spot the Celtic influences brought from Europe by Islam as it tied in so completely with my studies of Maori/Celtic parallels

Indian Textile Adventures

with

Marigold Tours

I fell in love with the colour and textiles and contrasts of India when I was learning to thread paint and got permission from Steve McCurry to use some of his portraits as a basis for my work. I saved for four year and was ready to go - and then covid hit. I had to pull out and just as well as otherwise I would have been locked out of New Zealand. Three years of lockdown and then my husband had lung cancer surgery. Another year. And then Pam Holland had her inaugural tour on her website. I was up for the challenge and It was nothing short of wonderful. The trip of a lifetime easily slips off the tongue but this was more than that: It was an immersion into colour, history, art, customs and people. Our Maori people have a saying He tangata, he tangata he tangata: It is people it is people it is people. I cannot express enough my gratitude to Pam, her husband, Keith and our wonderful guide Govind Agrawal. This part of my website is dedicated to them and my wonderful experience of Jaipur and Jajasthan.

I arrived a day before the tour proper began but that just gave me time to take in the oldest mosque in Delhi. The Quwwat-ul-Islam or Might of Islam Mosque is the earliest surviving mosque in India and stands in the Qutb Minar enclosure in Delhi. It was begun in 1193 by Qutb-ud-Din Aibak. This famous landmark provides many of the differences of style between the Moghul, Hindu and Islam rulers of this area and is amazing for textile design inspiration

And so it began. A Whirlwind of colours, impressions, experiences, learning, fellowship, culture and total immersion into a wonderful country and its age old wisdom. Yes there are the very rich and the very poor but the strides that have been made in recent times should be the envy of many western nations. I wanted to go for the textile experiences but this tour was so very much more!