(This piece was written by me for a magazine on Home decor. I felt the general reader also deserves an insight into making indoors look splendid without tweaking the budget)
A well-kept home needs chandeliers to make it look vibrant and colourful. A room without proper lighting looks sombre and reduces the ability to add life to the living space. That is why, Indian homes, especially during festivals like Diwali, are brightened and spruced up by a thorough cleaning up and also with a display lamps that help to give brightness, sparkle and colour. Apart from festive seasons, generally, homes need to be brightly lit up to invite good fortune.
A well-kept home needs chandeliers to make it look vibrant and colourful. A room without proper lighting looks sombre and reduces the ability to add life to the living space. That is why, Indian homes, especially during festivals like Diwali, are brightened and spruced up by a thorough cleaning up and also with a display lamps that help to give brightness, sparkle and colour. Apart from festive seasons, generally, homes need to be brightly lit up to invite good fortune.
Chandeliers are
not a new concept in Indian homes and have been around for at least the last
three centuries. Some say the concept is at least 800 years old and
descriptions can be found in the literature of those times especially when
describing the dwellings of the royalty and aristocracy.
They were hung
when electricity was a rare resource, from villas to passages in palaces or
hallways in sprawling houses where chandeliers were mounted with lit candles
that kept a glowing ambience around. With the passage of time, the decorative
designs also evolved and given better shape and feel. Technology as well as
workmanship have helped in immense measure to add beauty and innovation of the
chandeliers of the present time. It can safely be said that perhaps no other
decorative item has acquired the popularity and charm across the world as the
chandelier has done. Designers, manufacturers and the elite contributed a lot
towards the evolution of the modern day chandelier.
Bulbs to LED crystals
Thus today we
have the modern chandeliers which are LED crystal along with a remote control
to vary the colours and adjust the brightness. There are also chandeliers which
have a brass/bell metal content and these are preferred by those for whom money
is not a major constraint. The maintenance and the other impediment being the
weight of the chandelier if bell metal is used as base material. Bell metal has
a brass finish that offers a rare opulence.
Of course,
maintenance is a big issue in the case of chandeliers that are made of glass
because of the fragility of the items while it is not so in the case of the
metal varieties. While each of them has its own merit to offer. Traditional chandeliers being the preferred
choice for the connoisseurs and the well-heeled belong to a different clientele.
The goddess of
wealth enters those homes that are well-lit as it gives an opulent and inviting
ambience worthy of the entry of wealth and prosperity. This is another reason
why every Indian home is lit up with a lamp symbolising obeisance and a
prayerful welcome to the goddess of wealth.
Typically, a
chandelier is a light fixture that is suspended from the ceiling and includes
two or more candles (to save on power) or electric light bulbs. A curved rod or
tube made of glass holds the ornamental lamps. In fact the odd angles created by walls in a
large room gets accentuated with the right kind of decorative lamps.
For more about chandeliers see my next post!
For more about chandeliers see my next post!
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