How did baths evolve?
The experience of bathing may have existed from the time humanity has been around. Though not in the form that we know it today, it probably evolved from a dip in a water body such as a pond, river, a shared ritual in a public bath house (e.g. The Great Bath of Mohenjo-Daro is the oldest standing public bath house from the most well known early civilization, the Indus Valley), to finally private bathhouses and piped bath water.
Baptism in Christianity, Mikvah in Judaism, Ghusl in Arabic, the Kumbh mela in Hinduism are all examples where bathing was treated as a religious ritual to #cleanse mindbodysoul. Ancient Indian bathing as mentioned in its vedic text- Grihiya Sutras, mentions the importance and steps to a proper bath. The ayurvedic texts prescribe a Abhyanga Snana- an oil massage with a deep cleaning using an ubtan of herbs, grains & lentils which is followed to date in rural India and to some extent during religious festivities in other parts of the country.
Do the ancient bathing experiences exist today?
The question conjured an image of a visit to the villages during festive occasions. The morning of the festival started with a ritualist bath. Water is set to heat on a wood burning stove and into the water went some dried lemon peels, eucalyptus leaves and neem leaves all said to have magical healing properties while subtly lending a fresh fragrance. The massage oil is warmed up and the village masseur/barber (for men) and the house help or older women (for women), set forth with song, gossip to catch up on and merriment as they start to polish one's skin. This is followed by a bath with a secretly guarded #traditionalnochemical bath recipe powder that scraped off any last traces of urban slime. The hair & scalp cleansed with a solution of cracked soap nuts which was an art in its form to ensure it did not get into one’s eyes. If it did, there were smart retorts of how it cleanses your eyes too but there were no excuses to escape the ritual that left one feeling tired and rejuvenated all at the same instance. The towels used were usually white, handwoven but super absorbent and my favourite part was when sitting down after the bath to have my hair infused with the nostalgic and aromatic #essenceofFrankincense/Sambrani that smoked from above the charcoal embers. This conjured memory is something that most people reminisce about in a fond way having experienced this at some time in their childhood or festive celebration.
Where do I get these products?
All of these products are readily available in the market. At Kalgudi, these products are #madebyruralwomenselfhelpgroups (popularly known as DWCRA groups) in a #timetestedtraditionalnaturalbathrecipe. The only hesitation that ever arose, was the crude packaging that may not appeal to urban dwellers who are now habituated to buying their wares on an e-Commerce platform that could best sell the conjured memory on the likes of the image below…..
The Cacoon
Curating the need of the urban consumer- Operation ‘Traditional Bath Hamper’ began. We set out, identifying products that could be a part of the traditional bath hamper. The bar was that each product had to stay close to the traditional bathing experience. 11 Products were listed, which looked like this…..
The Metamorphosis
These crude products needed to be moulded into a thing of beauty that everyone wants to buy. With a label design, brand new packaging, presentation in an aesthetic manner, right lighting and a camera lens- Viola !!!! the traditional bath hamper metamorphosed from its cocoon and has me breaking into song as I travel down memory lane to the festive bathing experience…...Idhi thailam petti, thalam Petti, thlangutho thalantuthe….
telugu song
The Butterfly
All of the products in the basket are made by rural women self help groups. They are all #handmadebathproducts as per a time tested recipe made of the finest ingredients that stay #closetonature. The bath hamper consists of 11 products;
- Turmeric soap
- Vertiver body scrubber
- Ridge gourd loofah
- Terracotta foot scrubber
- Neem wood combs
- Shampoo Powder
- Bath powder aka Sunni pindi
- Herbal face pack
- Handwoven Khadi towel
- A Banana Fibre basket to hold all of these products.
- A drawstring Jute bag to hold the contents in place
Your purchase directly #empowerslivelihoods of rural women entrepreneurs who strive to keep traditions alive. To purchase your hamper, visit
kalgudi.com
