Following on from my first HOW TO MAKE A DHOTI FOR KRISHNA post, I have put together a very simple guide, with some ideas and explanations about the reasons for pleating, and how and where to pleat.
This really is the worlds easiest dhoti… or maybe I should say, realistic dhoti, after all there are some dhoti which are just a sarong and that is probably easier style.
It’s also extra fun because I have temporarily in my custody this beautiful Krishna deity I painted! Isn’t He lovely? Syamasundar Krishna in all joyous happy beauty. (If you are painting deities then please check out my tips on painting deity forms)
As long as you know how to sew and hem a simple rectangle, then this DIY tutorial is all you need to get started on making your own clothes for Krsna! If you have your deity standing in front of you then you can easily work out the length you need to cut.
I love it if I have Krsna in front of me it makes sewing for Him SO much easier! In general I would allow 1/2 of waist width for the front pleats, 3cm extra for the back pleat, and then 1.5 times waist width for the length to pass between Krishna legs and fold into the back of his dhoti at the back.
Always sew on your braid before you do your final stitches to secure the ends and add your press studs!
If anything in this tutorial is unclear, please refer to my step-by-step tutorial which is detailed with images! Here’s that link again
There’s a whole catalogue of Krishna videos on my YouTube channel which you may or may not follow – not everything makes it’s way to my blog, we’ve diversified across social media platforms, hah! Please subscribe and follow me on YouTube & Facebook! I promise to keep it Krishna conscious! I don’t promise not to totally obsess over art, Krishna, deities, and more 🙂
Here’s a brief synopsis of Gopal Bhatta Goswami (1503-1578) and the appearance of Radha Raman deity.
Ranganath has a history stretching back to Lord Brahma!
Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu began His walking journey throughout Southern India in the summer of 1510. After many days He came to a small city called Shri Rangam. The main temple here is the largest Vishnu temple in all of India and pilgrims come from 100’s of miles to see the Deity, Ranganatha.
Ranganatha is a deity of Vishnu, lying on his side on Seisha Naga. Before entering the temple of Ranganath first one visits Ranganaiki, Lakshmi, and take her permission to visit the inner chamber of her husband. In the courtyard of the temple there is a huge deity of Garuda, the bird carrier of Vishnu, just waiting should Lord Vishnu wish to travel anywhere.
Here Lord Chaitanya met Vyenkata Bhatta and his 2 brothers. They were brahmans looking after the Deity. Vyenkata’s 7 year old son was Gopal Bhatta.
Lord Chaitanya appeared in a dream to Gopal Bhatta and revealed Himself as non-different than Krishna
Lord Chaitanya stayed for 4 months of the rainy season and using logical and scriptural foundations, He enduced Vyenkata to worship Krsna. Meanwhile Lord Chaitanya had been allowing young Gopal Bhatta to serve Him the whole time He was there.
When it was time for Lord Chaitanya to leave, Vyenkata Bhatta fainted out of separation and young Gopal cried with tears of love. Just to pacify them Lord Chaitanya agreed to stay a few more days.
During this time Gopal Bhatta had a dream of Lord Chaitanya. He appeared to Gopal Bhatta as Krsna and then transformed Himself back into His form as Sri Chaitanya.
In this dream Gopal Bhatta was instructed by Lord Chaitanya You will meet 2 jewel-like persons, Rupa and Sanatan. I have given them my mentality in order to publish my teachings. But by your own disciple, especially, these teachings will spread to every town and village.
Upon awakening, Gopal Bhatta went directly to Lord Chaitanya to serve Him. Lord Chaitanya instructed him For now, stay here and serve your mother and father. After they have departed this world you may go to Vrindavan and join Rupa and Sanatan. Always engage yourself in hearing and chanting the glories of Krsna.
When he grew up Gopal Bhatta accepted his uncle Prabodhananda as his spiritual master. He studied scripture and became renowned throught the lands as a great scholar. Eventually after the death of his parents, Gopal Bhatta proceeded to Vrindavan where he was greeted with great love by Srila Rupa Goswami and Srila Sanatan Goswami.
On hearing of his arrival in Vrindavan Lord Chaitanya sent a letter to Rupa and Sanatan. Along with this letter He sent a package for Gopal Bhatta which included His loincloth and other personal articles. One item in particular, a small black wooden seat, used by Lord Chaitanya Himself, is still worshiped in a temple in Vrindavan.
Upon the arrival of the letter all the devotees became ecstatic and started chanting the holy Names of God. Gopal Bhatta was deeply grateful that Sri Chaitanya had sent His cloth and he treasured the sacred paraphernalia for the remaining years of his life.
Live his life as an embodiment of the scriptures, Gopal Bhatta’s fame spread through all of India and he became known as the younger brother of Rupa and Sanatan.
Once he travelled by foot to the Gandaki River in Nepal, a long and arduous journey. There he found 12 shilas (sacred stones) and brought them back to Vrndavan.
Gopal Bhata Goswami worships Damodar Shila
Upon arriving back in Vrndavan, he felt unqualified to worship his sacred stones, so he again journed back to Nepal to replace them in the Gandaki River. While chanting he carefully placed the shilas in the holy river. But they spontaneously jumped back into his hands. Trying 3 or 4 times to leave them in the river he found he was unable to do so. He took them back to Vrndavan to worship. He carried them at all times in a cloth bag that hung from his neck.
8 years after Lord Chaitanya’s disappearance, Gopal Bhatta felt the need to worship a Deity. This was intensified after a wealthy merchant gave him jewellery and find cloth for the worship of Krsna.
The Damodar Shila of Gopal Bhatta had self-manifested as Radha Raman deity of Krishna playing flute as a sweet young boy
Gopal Bhatta placed these items before his shilas and fervently prayed for proper direction. The next morning he found that one of the shilas known as the Damodar shila had transformed into a Deity of Krsna. Gopal Bhatta fell to the ground immediately and offered beautiful prayers.
hearing of this miraculous event, Rupa Goswami, Sanatan Goswami and many other Vaisnavas hurried to the spot. They were there when Gopal Bhatta named the Deity Shri Radha Raman.
Accreditation given where known, but as so often the case amongst Vaishnava devotees, one does not always know the name of artist or photographer, apologies for any offense caused.
I am so happy that my 8yr old has begun requesting them again – for awhile there, it was no mum, not a Krishna story (break my heart!).
Now tho, we do everything and the final request of the night is a Krishna story, or JUST ONE MORE!
So, as the Krishna story request is usually accompanied by a demand for a NEW story mum, I have been delightfully pushed into reading and hearing more, to keep up with this insatiable thirst for the treasure house of Krsna story nectar (that we both love).
One source of joy has been the new treasure trove of Krishna lore from instagram account @KrishnaEveryday (Oh Hari! What a perfect name!)
Krishna instagram account with nice stories of Krsna everyday and beautiful images of Vrindavan and the cowherd boys and other inhabitants. Lots of quotes from various bonafide scriptural sources.
As a sidenote, somebody please name their child Hara! I heard a beautiful lecture from the wonderful speaker Acharaya das where he talks about the potency of Hara, as a name for Radharani. Hari and Hara? Oh the beauty. Check out more wonderful lectures from Acharya das, an authority on Vedic wisdom, on The Journey of Life.
Ok back to original thread here, one joy was re-reading the Krishna stories as an adult. Yes I was very fortunate to be born into a nice Vaishnava family (my parents are disciples of Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupad), and my dad was keen on reading us the Ramayan nightly. I’m pretty sure I learnt to read at 5 just to start reading those stories myself! Anyway it’s amazing how much more you can note and soak up as an adult re-reading Krishna’s pastimes from the Krishna book.
Mostly we switch out the light and cozy up on my daughters bed and I tell her the story as I remember it. I don’t have the worlds greatest memory (it’s wretched), so sometimes I say we are going to have to fact check that in the morning!
I love simple stories, and I love complicated stories! Sometimes you hear snippets studded with wonder from venerable Vaishnava devotees that you haven’t heard elsewhere and we hoard those up like jewels and take them out and marvel at them in story time.
My favorite part of our Krishna playdays is the story telling section. I just love it, and all the kids do too.
Because really, Krishna is for every day! Yay! Visit @doddyart on instagram for a beautiful stream of Krishna art and all things Krishna related!
What pastime of Krishna do you remember back to front and can tell as you are falling asleep? Me, I like to tell these faves right now: Lord Chaitanya discovers Toto Gopinath in the garden of Gadadhar, and also Mother Yasoda & Rohini call Krishna & Balaram home. My daughter loves to hear how Krishna and Balaram are naughty, and their friends threatening them not to play next time!
As it has just been the appearance day of Lord Sri Krishna Chaitanya we have been talking all the stories I can remember of little Gaura – again so much appreciated!
So if you want to enjoy beautiful pastimes of Krishna then I urge you to start reading and hearing, and you will have so many just ready to flow from your lips when your little ones request Just One More at bedtime.
Every so often we are welcomed into a world of delight! This beautiful play day was organised by some homeschooling wonderwomen & shared with me. It’s got craft, dress ups, and role playing – what an adventure!
The schedule for activities is one which I have found generally works, and you can shake up the order as needed, to keep kids attention and make sure they are well fed & happy:
Offering: Have a romp around and play while the guests drift in, and once all are assembled have an offering to Krishna and all chant. It’s very encouraging to round up all the little ones for this, and give them different instruments to shake bash bang or play. Even the youngest can take part if they can shake a tamborine.
offering to Krishna with Love and kirtan
Storytime:After a kirtan, relaxed and fun, tell or read a Krishna story. Kids relate much better to something which is a lively and animated retelling, and enjoy a group story-telling session where the storyteller interacts with them and gets them involved by asking questions. We don’t have a video of this part, but we are working on a collection of Krishna storytelling videos! Stay posted.
set up activity area ready for bombardment of mini people and their enthusiastic minders.
Lunch: While the craft is drying is the ideal time for a lunch break.
Lunchtime with some freshly offered banana muffins prasadam from Lord Krishna
Story re-enactment: Dressing up and decorating themselves and each other the kids have a lot of fun retelling the story they have learnt.
A little stage was set using the fish craft, and a muslin bed canopy suspended from the overhead mango trees. A throne was made for Varuna, and paper streamers and balloons were hung to give the underwater world effect, as well as all the crafted fish the kids had made during the activity section of the Krishna playday. This can work just as nicely inside a house don’t worry!A full cast of actors for our Krishna drama
Wild playtime: the culmination of the day time to bond with each other and relax in their environment and free play.
Free play time in the wonderland of the outdoors and a rustic homemade treehouse/ sandpit complete with a wobbly walking bridge
