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Souvenirs I pick up …

10 July 2012 13 Comments

Besides beautiful photos and memories, most of us bring something home from our travels as gifts to our family, friends and loved ones or just for our own keepsake. I am one of them.

Since I travel light and almost always on a tight budget, I try to avoid buying bulky or very expensive stuff except when I really want to own a piece that epitomizes the soul of that place. A few examples are a wooden rice man from Batad Philippines, a world famous place for rice terraces and wood carving; a very pretty glass work from an island Murano near Venice, Cuckoo clock from Black forest, Germany, a pearl & diamond necklace from France, Swiss watch from Switzerland, didgeridoo from my tour to Australia and so on.

papier mache masks from nepal @lemonicks.com

An attractive hand painted papier mache mask.

Some of my friends wanted me to display my collection. So, here I am starting a new series on souvenirs and first in the series are papier mache masks from Nepal.

These diminutive Nepalese papier mache masks are meant to be placed on walls, especially above or beside doors and windows, to invoke the aid of popular Hindu deities. Some of the masks are displaying their open third eyes in the style typical of Tibetan and Nepalese tantric hagiography.

papier mache masks from nepal @lemonicks.com

Each one of them has distinct feature.

The mask is of the size of my palm.

The vibrantly colored masks came in the set of 11 pieces each and I had bought 2 sets. Each mask is hand painted and is different from the other. Now I have only 2 pieces left, rest all have been gifted to family and friends. Guess, it’s time again to visit Nepal, our beautiful neighbour. :D

How do you like this series? People wanted to have it more frequently but at present I am making it a monthly series. I’ll appreciate your feedback on this.
P.S.- This is a monthly series exhibiting various souvenirs that I have picked up from my journeys across the globe.
If you like to travel with me, I suggest you to join me on Facebook travel page.

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13 Comments »

  • arvi said:

    Impressive. You have aroused my curiosity! Waiting for more posts. Make it weekly if possible.

    I think I must go to Nepal, at least for these masks , if not for anything else.

    # 10 July 2012 at 5:21 PM
  • Nisha said:

    Arvi,
    Thanks.
    Weekly post is very difficult since then I’ll write about only souvenirs. :)

    Yes, the masks are a good excuse. :P

    # 10 July 2012 at 8:14 PM
  • Samaresh Biswal said:

    mask is beautiful. of the 20 plus countries u have visited . ur home will now be museum of global artifacts :)

    # 10 July 2012 at 9:04 PM
  • Nisha (author) said:

    Samaresh,
    Thank you. :)

    Museum? Not yet. But keep checking what all I display here. Monthly posts will take a long time to show them all. :(

    # 10 July 2012 at 10:08 PM
  • PN Subramanian said:

    They look too good. Its a good idea to post all that you have brought back as souvenirs. May be you may ask readers to identify the country of origin giving some clues.

    # 10 July 2012 at 10:35 PM
  • arvi said:

    @P N Subramanian.

    This is a good idea.

    @Nisha

    A week before the post have a quiz and then on the day of your post announce the winner(s) and then give away some simple prize. The clue could be a picture or may be a couple of words

    Eh! What do you say?

    # 10 July 2012 at 11:22 PM
  • Niranjan said:

    I suppose you have a huge collection of souvenirs now. :)

    # 11 July 2012 at 11:12 AM
  • Lori said:

    Nice mask! And indeed something local, something that really reminds you of the place visited!

    # 11 July 2012 at 2:40 PM
  • ghazala said:

    You are lucky..! lovely mask :)

    # 11 July 2012 at 6:17 PM
  • Nisha said:

    PNS & Arvi,
    That’s an excellent idea. If the clue is a picture then everybody can google it. Also, the photo would be repeated next week again. And without a picture it is difficult to guess. :D

    Let me figure out how to do it. But an excellent suggest, I must say.
    Thanks you both.

    # 14 July 2012 at 10:20 AM
  • Nisha said:

    Niranjan,
    Keep checking. :D

    # 14 July 2012 at 10:20 AM
  • Nisha said:

    Lori,
    Yes indeed! The best part of a souvenir is it’s connection with the place. :)

    # 14 July 2012 at 10:21 AM
  • Nisha said:

    Ghazala,
    Thank you.

    And Lucky?? why?

    # 14 July 2012 at 10:22 AM

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