Doors Do Have Stories To Tell


door art and stories


Top post on IndiBlogger, the biggest community of Indian Bloggers Doors fascinate me a lot. It is the first thing I notice whenever I visit anyone's home. Doors of temples, forts and palaces are pieces of art in themselves- from the intricate architecture, wooden and stone carvings, to the beautiful door knobs, bells, motifs, garlands and other embellishments. Even the metal supports, hinges and locking systems fascinate me to no end.

In most Hindu households in towns one can find a kalash- an urn with mango leaves and a coconut on top- painted on the doors or near the entrances. A marigold garland too is most probable. In the north and east, one can find jhotis or temporary white colored designs made by the wives during auspicious occasions. Sometimes mini palm leaf brooms or lemon and chilli bound with a thread can also be sighted on the doors. These are said to ward off evil. Down south a demon mask does the task. Wherever you may travel to, every door tells a different story. 


This picture tells how women in the past viewed the world outside through blinders, peep holes, and sieve like separators. These offered them enough privacy to enjoy the view without being seen.



I just adore these paintings of gods and goddesses here. The thresholds too are embellished with traditional rangoli patterns. It has become a favorite pastime of mine to curate pins of doors. The photo stories are just so beautiful. And these entice the onlooker enough to at least knock once.


Doors can have graffiti, a creative welcome message, or just art of a kind. I personally love cafe entrances, church doorways, and massive doors of Buddhist monasteries. They are painted with picture tales of Chinese myths and fables. Those hues of red are just my kind of color. And street graffiti on shutters is bold and beautiful.

Do you have any doors fascination? Door-sy tales? I would love to hear.




I am participating in the #AToZChallenge with #BlogchatterA2Z and I am sharing posts themed around Art for this entire month of April. Share and connect with me on social media.
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Comments

  1. These doors are beautiful. I didn't know about the Hindu tradition of decorating them like that.

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Queeristan by Parmesh Sahani

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  Queeristan (Amazon Link) Thanks to Audible Free Trial I listened to this amazing non-fiction on LGBTQ inclusion in Indian workplaces. Author Parmesh Sahani identifies as gay Indian, working closely with Godrej higher management and employees for years to create an inclusive workplace, both legally and in spirit. This book is a result of those years of experience, research, collaboration with individuals from difference spectrum of the society and organizations who has successfully transitioned into a queer friendly one.   Indian history is inclusive. From the Khajuraho temple architectures, to Konark to the Rig Veda, there is existing proofs even 2000 years ago of Indian inclusiveness of queer. It’s the draconian British law that criminalised it, which was scraped in 2009, came into effect once again following a sad judgement in 2013 and eventually was scraped off for good in 2018. I am in awe of the lawyers who fought this legal battle- colleagues and partners – Arundhati Katju

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