Toran

What is a toran? It is an essential part of any celebration in a Hindu home in India. It is a bunting made of flowers and leaves hung on the main door of the house. When I was kid we used to make them at home with fresh marigold flowers and mango leaves. I still remember the fragrance of the flowers their softness and the sharp tart smell of the mango leaves which complemented the flowers very well. Early in the morning there used to be a basket of flowers and a bunch of leaves laid out for us to string it together. After we finished making it my father used to hang it on the main entrance. I never knew the reason why we hung it but we always did every festival, every celebration. Now I know there are many reasons for it some call it Vijay Pataka or the victory bunting. It is said that in olden times when the kings returned after winning a war everyone used to welcome them by hanging toran on the doorway. Another reason is that it is hung on the entrance of your house to welcome the guests and essentially goddess Lakshmi the goddess of wealth and prosperity. As for me toran has a special place in my heart as it brings back happy childhood memories reminder of the innocent carefree days. As I could not find any fresh marigold flowers or mango leaves I decided to recreate it out of yarn.