nitai gaura clothes Archives - Remember Krishna

Posted on January 17, 2026January 17, 2026 by remember krishna — Leave a comment

Measuring Marble vs Metal Deities: Why 12 Inches Isn’t Always 12 Inches

When it comes to measuring marble vs metal deities for new Shringar, many devotees are surprised to find that ’12 inches’ doesn’t always mean the same thing! To get the perfect fit, we first calculate the total height. We measure from the base to the top of the hair bun.For Gaura Nitai, we measure to the tips of Their outstretched fingers.

However, the material of the form is the most important factor. Measuring a metal deity requires a completely different approach than measuring marble. (We will stick to these two for now. I don’t yet have enough experience with wooden forms to offer advice there!)

The Biggest Challenge when Measuring Marble vs Metal Deities

There are a few marked differences between these materials. When I receive deity garment requests, I always ask for photos first. This helps me determine if the form is marble or metal. Height is the first major difference.

A metal deity has a large, heavy base. This base is usually about a quarter of the overall height. It is required for the stability of the metal form. In contrast, a marble deity rarely has a base more than 1 inch thick. A thicker marble base would place too much weight strain on the form. This could cause the marble to break.

Understanding the Proportions

Let’s look at a 12-inch Krishna form. A marble Krishna will be mostly body height, minus just 1 inch for the base. However, a 12-inch metal Krishna is often a 9-inch body on a 3-inch base.

This affects every measurement. It changes the leg length, the waist, and even the head circumference. Even so, “deity walas” still call the metal form a “12-inch deity.” This leads to miscommunications. Sometimes a pujari might not count the base at all.

The Visual Difference

To help you visualize this, I’ve put together an illustration. You’ll see that while both Krishnas are technically “12 inches tall,” the one on the left has much more “body” to dress than the one on the right!

Measuring Marble vs Metal Deitie Size guide to the height differences of a metal and marble murti both 12inches comparing the bases and overall features — Measuring Marble vs Metal Deitie

When we work out the height for Gaura Nitai, we calculate from the bottom of the base to the tips of Their outstretched fingers. Just like with Krishna, we have to consider if They are made from metal or marble because it changes the body proportions completely.

Measuring Gaura Nitai: Metal vs Marble

When we work out the height for Gaura Nitai, we measure to the tips of Their outstretched fingers. Just like with Krishna, we must consider the material. It changes the body proportions completely.

In a 12-inch set of Gaura Nitai, much of that height is the space between Their heads and fingertips. If They are metal, They have a large, heavy base. This leaves very little room for the actual body. A 12-inch metal Gaura Nitai might only have a 6 or 7-inch torso to dress.

If They are marble, the base is only about 1 inch. This means the body is much longer, even though the total height is still 12 inches.

Why Precision Matters

This is why I can’t use “total height” alone to make Their clothes. If I made a shirt based only on the 12-inch measurement, it would be way too big for Their actual torso. This affects the dhoti length, the shirt size, and where the waist falls. When you send me photos for Gaura Nitai, it is very helpful to show the measurement of the “Body Height” (from the base to the shoulder) separately from the “Total Height” (to the fingertips).

I’ve had many conversations with pujaris who don’t count the base in their measurements, which can lead to a Shringar that doesn’t sit quite right. This is exactly why, when you message me, the first thing I’ll ask for is a photo. Seeing His form helps me immediately identify if He is metal or marble and the pose the form is in, so I can adjust my patterns accordingly.

Whether the material is metal, marble or other, He deserves a fit that allows Him to stand comfortably and elegantly. Next time you measure your Lord, keep the base in mind—it’s the secret to a perfect fit.

Looking for more guidance on your Deity journey? If you haven’t brought your Lord home yet and are still deciding which material is right for your seva, you might find my post on [Choosing Between Metal and Marble Deities: A Devotee’s Guide] helpful. It covers everything from the daily care routines to the unique “mood” each material brings to the altar.

Stay Connected: For more Shringar inspiration and behind-the-scenes looks at my studio, [subscribe to my YouTube channel]

Posted on November 2, 2017November 13, 2019 by remember krishna — 11 Comments

Choosing a Krishna Deity

Youthful krishna deity dressed sweetly in flowers from the forest playing his flute on a ornate pink background

I have long admired the Krishna deities which my friends and family have worshipped.

Krishna has so many different moods!

We know that, looking at a deity of Krishna it doesn’t matter from what His form is created. Be it carved wood, formed clay, poured metal or crafted marble – Krishna is so captivating and beautiful that it is His form and transcendental loveliness which prevails. The way in which He captures His dear devotees and accepts their worship is always different. In His adornments, the decorations He wears and the look in His eyes – dreamy, naughty, reassuring, loving, mirthful, reassuring – it’s all there when you begin a relationship with Krishna in His deity form!

But it’s kinda hard to commit to a purchase of a Krishna statue, before you begin worshiping Him.

After so much wonder and bliss and attraction to so very many different deities, I am personally dithering and have been for years – dark Krishna or light Krishna? Because really… it doesn’t matter, it’s just KRISHNA I want!

White marble krishna deity radha kauai deity dressed beautiful garments from remember krishna silk dhoti and garments — Radha’s Krishna deity

But even so, I’ve been looking and looking at deities, thinking, I would really like Krishna to look after here, to make Him garlands and clothes and rest my eyes on Him as I chant japa and sing to my Lords.. or like I used to, have Him with me as I work ready to bedazzle my eyes and capture my heart.

deity on my work desk with little photo frames Krishna deity while I work looking lovingly at me — Krishna used to be with me like this, standing at my desk with me all day long. It was so nice! He has gone now, as He was just on a long term babysitting.

It’s this ever-going-around circle in my head. This morning I looked at the deity of Krishna I have recently painted – a black soapstone Krishna, who was imperfectly carved, but now, He is just so CHARMING! And if He were mine I know that I wouldn’t change Him for any other! He has this very JOYFUL and HAPPY look (which is just so perfect for the bubbly devotee who will be taking Him home) and it was such a delightful flash of perception. Krishna is Krishna. He will inhabit a deity form and the color texture quality etc are all immaterial because… it’s Krishna! He is above the material considerations and will sneak in and steal our hearts.

So – do I know whether I want a black marble Krishna or a white marble Krishna now? Yes. Black or white (light blue I should say) either way I am happy.

Now its all about looking for Krishna at the right age. What’s the right age? Any age of Krishna! I’m kind of joking, but I do think that Krishna makes His own arrangements that He comes to you just as He should.

Look at youthful and blushing Krsna here:

The mistake I don’t want to make again:

When I ordered my own dear Nitai Gaura deities, I had ordered the exact same deities that my sister has. (My sisters deities are SO SO SWEET!) Her Gaura Nitai deities have these meek and mild faces, so far removed from looking at the world, but focused on Krishna, and this dainty posture, arms raised high.. Oh I just LOVE them!

So I placed an order, with the same supplier, for these deities. But then, to my consternation, the supplier sent back a picture of the deities they were sending. I wailed and woe’d! It was absolutely NOT a set from the same mold. They were different in a zillion ways. I tried again – I emailed back and said – “NO! These are NOT the deities I want.” And I resent the picture of my sister’s Lords, pointing out the differences. OK – next I got a pic back (of the same deities) with painted base to mimic the bases on my sister deities, and painted faces… Oh, so not the point!… So I gave up, and said ok, well, if that’s what you are sending me what can I do.

And then. They arrived.

The minute I cracked open the box (they arrived in this massive crate! So well packed and stored, and it was obvious this Immense TREASURE had arrived on my doorstep! So the minute I opened the box and before I had even untied them and lifted them out, I had lost my heart. I cried out of happiness and wonder. Krishna had chosen how to come to me and They were perfect. I have to laugh about it now, that I thought I knew best.

Krishna knows how you want to relate to Him. He knows your heart.

My deities have this amazing welcoming presence. They have wide open hearts and arms open welcoming and lifted up as they dance. They have very curved dancing hips and one foot is lifted off the ground – They are dancing all the time, and I dress Them in clothes that won’t get in the way of Their transcendental dancing. Their eyes are big and lustrous, They have beautiful smiles that are at once grave and happy, and to see them is to see how They invite us into the spiritual world.

Worshipping Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda deities is so nice; we develop the mood of service. If I’m lazy out of bed or lazy to cook dinner I remember that I haven’t woken up my Lords or offered them food, actually it keeps me more regulated! And I worry about them, while I am cooking, if they will like it and try and keep the mood of cooking it nice. Mostly I’m super lazy, so it helps to have this little prompting!

When my parents took care of my Nitai Gaura while I was away for a week, years ago, here’s my Lords with their Lords:

My parents darling Lord Chaitanya and Lord Nityananda deities, but they love to come and visit my Lords and offer worship with kirtan.

If you think you might like to order the same set (haha!) you can contact me to get the name of the supplier!

Read my blog about different types of deity forms that may work for your family -:How to choose a Krishna murti for Family Life“

Posted on October 29, 2017 by remember krishna — Leave a comment

Easiest dhoti in the world for Krishna deity

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 🙂

Posted on March 23, 2017March 23, 2017 by remember krishna — Leave a comment

Easy vest DIY tutorial for Nitai Gaur or Krishna deities

gauranitai murti diy tutorial deity clothes

Summer is so easy! Just lovely breezy dhoti & nice light shawls. Once winter rolls around I start wishing I had more shirts for my dear Lords, so I have come up with a really simple shirt option.

This set is basically a sleeveless vest option and there are a variety of fabrics you can experiment with.

For this tutorial I used quite a flexible but heavy thai shot silk fabric (given to me by a very dear friend, thank you!).

I have also made longer looser versions in a sheer fabric which look really lovely on, they work really well and nicely, almost like flowy shawls.

The beauty of this pattern is it’s ease. It suits a beginner skill level, and there are no tricky sleeve insets in sight!

DIY sewing deity tutorial — after measuring the shoulder to waist height of your deities, double it so that each fabric strip will fold tidily over each shoulder. Hem both all the way around as needed.

How to make murti clothes for Nitai Gaur shirts — Once you have hemmed each strip of fabric, create pleats in the centre so that the neckline is narrower. Stitch across your pleats to secure them in place.

Deity garment tutorial — Now leaving enough room for the arm to pass through the hole and the top to sit around the shoulder, carefully overlap the fabric and stitch down, securing each strip of fabric into a half of the top

Deity Clothes DIY top tutorial for SEVA Vaishnava devotees of Krishna — Inside out, note the seams and stitching so you can understand how to do it.

Deity Murti top tutorial for sewing for your deities — Turn the tops in the right way and test on your deities. These little sleeveless vests can be pulled together tightly for warmth, and belted, or they can be left open and flowing.
The thai silk I have used for this set actually sits really nicely and is moldable, but I have also made versions where I have put velcro at the back so it closes securely.

For more DIY deity tutorials browse through these posts.

I posted this set off, so couldn’t share a photo of them on.

This was the first type of top I made for my own deities, and it really is the foundation of long sleeve top patterns I will plan to share later on.

Try it in light fabrics! Add braid, add trims, have fun, and share your pics I would LOVE to see your creativity.

Be sure to let me know if my tutorial is lacking, I might have to work on improving it. Hopefully you’ll get the idea of how to construct these easy deity vests.

Posted on December 27, 2016October 29, 2017 by remember krishna — 5 Comments

DIY dhoti garment for Krsna deity

there are lots of different styles of deity garments (of course for different deities too! Krsna & Radha /Krsna Balaram/ Gaur’s Nitai/ Jaganath deities.. this tutorial is for a pleated dhoti which passes between the legs to secure at the back of the waistband. You’ll need to make sure that your deities have enough gap between their legs to pass up the back pleat of the dhoti.

Krsna-diy-tutorial-dhoti Krsna — Deity form needs gap between legs to pass up dhoti back pleat

I really hope that this tutorial will assist you in making your own deity garments. It is geared at beginners who have some sewing experience, as I don’t think I’m practical enough to do a tutorial while I teach you to sew! I’m personally fairly disorganized and love to have a pattern to copy, I don’t think I even have my deities measurements written down anywhere because I always have a big overflowing basket of their laundry I can just pull a sample garment from, and I have my favorites.

You can watch a few more DIY tips if you want some ideas about the various methods I use to create this simple dhoti pattern. View here.

There’s so many styles and they all give such a different vibe! People have preferences for different lengths/ fabrics/ you name it! Right now I love lots of summery bright colors, simple braids, and abundant fresh flowers. In summer time I have some nice just below the knee length dhoti for my Nitai Gaur deities, but they also have some longer just above the ankle length dhotis.

Making garments for your deities is such an adventure. Most of the early sets I made for my deities prior to installation I no longer dress them in – lately their garments are uber-simple, sometimes even without braid, simple, cool, and so comfortable to wear. Always, always easy to dance in!

Remember you are making these clothes for their pleasure, so even your humble attempts, if not perfect, will be a nice start.

Offer your Lords a mirror to enjoy their own beautiful reflection after you have dressed them 🙂

Before you start:

Measure! You’ll need to measure you deities waist or hip (where you want the dhoti to sit) . Measure the hip to ankle – choose your length at this point. (You can go anywhere from knee length to ankle).
Ok so you have measured, now you can select your fabric
& I’d like to offer some words of wisdom here: I use mostly fine silk (silk charmeuse) or sometimes very nice polyester or cotton fabric. I’ll do another post on fabric types some other time, but for now please try your first dhoti garment in this style using a very light fine fabric so it drapes nicely and is not difficult to sew. For this tutorial I am using a light-weight cotton, such a pretty print!
You might like to make a sample dhoti first, to save special fabric for when you have worked out the perfect sizing. This is a very non-scary way to proceed, especially if you have bought a silk fabric which averages around $20 a metre!

Ready to start:

deity garments, deity clothes, krishna krsna deity — Select suitable fabric, cut with seam allowance

krsna-deity-dhoti — pleat a fine set of pleats in the front, to see how much pleat allowance you will have, on top of your waist measurement

diy krsna deity clothes deity garments krishna craft tutorial — Judicious use of pins while you work out the appropriate length

krishna deity garments diy tutorial — Test on Krsna remove the excess fabric which is not needed to make the pleat at back

Back pleats will look like this, and will have a press stud attached to secure

Cutting out your pattern – So generally the overall waistband length will be 1.5 x the waist band length. Allow extra pleats in the front and don’t count on them as part of your waist band measurement. This can vary depending on the curviness of your Lord. If you have your deities right in front of you then that is the easiest way to do it. Sometimes you may need to add in a pleat to the back to allow for a curvy hip on Krsna or Nitai Gaura deities.

Hem your basic rectangle. I like to use my miracle foot, the seam it gives is as fine as a hand rolled seam could be.

Add on your braid. You may wish to have braid simply down the front, or around the hem. Consider that if the braid is very think it may interfere with the way the fabric hangs. You can handsew or machine sew the braid dependent on the amount of beadwork on the braid or other factors like time. In general they sit best if hand-stitched but I often sew them on, after accounting for the affect the braid will have on the pleating or the folds of the cloth.

Note where the pleat side is – it shouldn’t be on the crossed leg it should be on the straight leg side.

Stitch your pleats down, I like to make them fine and stack them in the front, with three pleats.

For fastners, you have a choice – you can either use Velcro (it’s SO easy to put them off and on with velcro and also allows for some room, you can adjust the tightness a little bit, but it will pull the silk if you are using silk, and if you aren’t super organised in your deity garment care it can pull other elements like shawls or other dhoti. The other option is to use snap fastners – they sell varying sizes of these, and depending on the weight of your fabric you will chose the appropriate size. They’re very time consuming to stitch down, sometimes it takes me just as long to sew on the snaps as hemming and putting together the whole dhoti! Still, they’re long lasting and they won’t damage any garments.

You’ll need to have fastners at the waistband, and one in the middle of the waistband at the back and on the pleat that passes between the legs and snaps on at the back.

Completed Krsna dhoti!
You can tuck the pleats between his legs a little. On the deity, please create the pleat on the leg which will be straight, so that it can tuck tidily between his legs and the other crossed leg has the section which will pass between his legs and up the back to pin at the back.

things to be careful of:

position your press studs in the right spots like don’t get confused on the inside & outside – if you check the end of the video you’ll notice I stitched the button on the back pleat on the wrong side!
Pleats! I can’t over emphasize this – pleat side should be on the straight leg so it can tuck between the bent leg on Krsna. It doesn’t matter so much on deities of Lord Chaitanya & Lord Nityananda, as their standing postures can vary.
keep it easy! Use a rolled foot on the sewing machine to hem.
Beading needles work best for stitching on the press studs