That long thing with tassels.

Well hello again,

I had wanted to do a book review today but alas that never happened, perhaps tomorrow. However when my sister saw her hair on the last post she decided she was famous and wanted to feature again, so today I bring you another hairstyle this time for Kathak. Although really I must find a new hair model because my new celebrity just doesn't have long enough hair. So on with the post because I really should be revising for my last exam tomorrow (Shhhh.)

There are various styles that are traditional for Kathak, the one I did here is using a paranda. That's the long thing with tassles that even Indians often forget the name of. Basically you plait it into the hair and voila instant dance hair, instant being used very loosely here. I have to admit that I think the paranda is a bit outdated for Kathak but a lot of dancers still use it because it's traditional. I know that the famous Pakistani Kathak dancer, Nahid Siddiqui, still wears a paranda when she performs. 

So I used these flowers again because for the moment they're all I have. A lot of Kathak dancers don't use any flowers in their hair but as I said my sister's hair is really short so the paranda looked a bit messy towards the end, hence the flowers covered that. 

This is the length of hair I was working with, just to give y'all some context!

 

This is the paranda. For those of you who don't know it's basically three thick strands of wool or cord with tassels at the end. I'll post some videos below, (that will open in new links because I'm just that clever.) which will show you how to tie a paranda because it's hard to show in photos. You can get paranda's from Southall if you live in the UK, otherwise you'll find them either in areas with a large Pakistani/Indian/Bangladeshi population or online. I think this one cost me £3-£4, so not a lot. 

The Parana Braid - Making and Wearing Your Paranda - this video shows you how to make your own paranda from scratch, which I have tried with success following the video.

French Paranda Braid -this is the video I used when doing this because it shows you how to use a paranda with a french plait as oppose to a regular plait. 

Again all I had to hand was a kangha, albeit a different one to the previous post. (I really must purchase a plastic comb.) I also find that using hairbands to tie the end of the paranda is a nightmare because you can't get the tassels through it, so I did the more traditional Indian thing and used some thick black thread/cord. Again, if you're a dancer, I kid you not, hairpins will be your best friends. I was trying to show in the picture above that they will inevitably get bent out of shape though, just to warn you. 

And so the final product...

So basically I followed the French Paranda Braid video from above and just wrapped the flowers around at the base of the neck and tied them. You need a lot of hairpins for this to be secure enough to do all the chakkars of Kathak and of course hair spray to make all of the small hairs sit flat would be a good idea. I ended up pretty much covering the paranda altogether in the hair but you can have it more visible and of course using a paranda more suited to your hair colour is advisable, you can get gold ones which are better for blonde hair. Also I must mention that for Kathak and Bharatanatyam if you are using a plait it must be tied to the back of your dress. Kathak dresses have strings especially for this. For Kuchipudi however it must be left to hang.

So there you have it, another hair idea for Indian classical dance ^_^ hope you liked it! 

Disclaimer: dance hair for any Indian classical dance is not for the faint-hearted. Your arms will ache and you will get frustrated. But if you stick with it then the results are worth it!