Ganga: The River Goddess
Designer - Tarun Tahiliani
The Story
I was beyond ecstatic when I heard about the final challenge. As a child, I grew up learning about these stories, and to be able to recreate them with my work is absolutely wonderful. Without a doubt, I knew I would be using Ganga, the river goddess as my inspiration for the final collection. Her role in Hindu culture is unlike many of the other goddesses. She is represented by the pure waters of The Ganges which is a major landmark in India.
For my collection, I chose to recreate three particular stories in Ganga’s life. The first one is her unusual origin story, the next one is her marriage to King Shantanu, and the last story is about the time she angered the sage Jahnu.
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This first look is my take on Ganga’s descent to Earth. This story takes place long ago with the King Sagara and his sons. He had 60,000 sons destined to meet an untimely death, while his son from another wife would be family’s last living heir and savior. After a series of events, the 60,000 sons insult a sage meditating in the forest. The sage punishes them by burning them all to ashes and preventing them from reaching the heavens. Only Ganga’s waters are able to purify and save the souls of the unfortunate sons.
It is up to King Sagara’s last living son, Bhagiratha, to secure Ganga’s descent to Earth, so he spends most of his life meditating and offering penances to the gods. After several prayers to Shiva, Bhagiratha finally manages to bring Ganga to Earth with the help of Shiva who catches her waters in his hair. Slowly, Ganga falls from his hair to Earth, and the souls of King Sagara’s sons are sanctified.
This look is mixture of delicateness and structure. The light blue, flowy skirt represents Ganga’s flowing waters. The beaded bodice is hand-decorated with crystal beads to symbolize the strong and beautiful force that she carries in her waters. I see Ganga as a force large enough to match the power of Shiva, while still maintaining the lightheartedness associated with calming, pure waters.
The next story is about the time Ganga was married to King Shantanu of the Kuru clan. One day, he falls in love with her from the moment he sees her human form step out of the Ganges. He longs to be with her, but she agrees to marry him on one condition: he is never to question or impede any of her actions, or she would leave him immediately.
Of course, the King agrees until the couple begin to have children, and one by one, Ganga would take their newborn child and drown him. Finally, King Shantanu confronts Ganga about this, to which she angrily explains the reasons behind her actions. Then she leaves him because he broke his one promise to her.
There are two looks that correspond to this story. First is the bridal look. This traditional Indian bridal gown is exactly what I visualize Ganga wearing as a bride. The hand-decorated skirt includes elaborate beading and embroidery slightly resembling waves. Ganga’s human form is breathtakingly beautiful, and this outfit enhances her natural beauty.
The second look combines light and dark elements. In this story, Shantanu sees ill-will in Ganga despite that fact that she has pure intentions; however, when he confronts her he shows her wrathful side. This layered look highlights the depth of Ganga’s character. Underneath her actions are good-hearted purposes which is materialized in the simple bodice and skirt. The embellished scarf wrapped around the top represents Shantanu’s perspective of his wife.
My final looks relate to the time Ganga angered a sage name Jahnu, who was preparing a sacrifice. Ganga’s playfulness and curiosity leads her too close to the place of the sacrifice, and her splashing waves interrupts the sage. Furious at her disruption, he swallows all of her waters that purified the land. Ultimately, other brahmins convince Jahnu to release Ganga because the people so desperately needed her waters. Once he lets her go, people regarded her waters as twice as pure because they came into contact with such an important religious figure.
The feathered skirt in my next look was my attempt at playful and graceful ensemble. The peachy color and matching crop top further heightens the playfulness. When the model walks, I wanted the garment to glide alongside her to create a sense of airy flow. Finally, the closing look of my collection is the ultimate representation of Ganga’s purity. This theme is consistently present in each of her stories. I chose a monochromatic color scheme for both pieces of the look, and I carefully arranged the beadwork and the fringe to create more of an avant-garde finish to solidify Ganga’s uniqueness in Hinduism.
Finally, the closing look of my collection is the ultimate representation of Ganga’s purity. This theme is consistently present in each of her stories. I chose a monochromatic color scheme for both pieces of the look, and I carefully arranged the beadwork and the fringe to create more of an Avant garde finish to solidify Ganga’s uniqueness in Hinduism.