Diwali at Kedleston

Kedleston Hall has had ties with India since the early 1900s when the current owner, Lord Curzon, was Viceroy there. The hall still contains a large amount of treasures and artifacts he acquired during his time there, and in recent years the local National Trust have promoted a greater understanding of Indian culture through decorating the hall for Diwali, holding art exhibitions inspired by the collection and music recitals.

As our grandson was staying with us we took him along, and despite an initial reluctance he was interested, and particularly entranced by the light projections. He also loved playing board games - Indian versions of the familiar snakes and ladders, and ludo.

On other days, there'd been diffrent entertainments, including a performance by Tala Tareng, a harp and tabla duo who I've seen before at Kedleston. Unfortunately an event I'd been looking forward to - a recital with Indian flute and tabla - fell victim to a water supply crisis which closed the whole site for several days.

My favourite was this huge rangoli design in the Marble Hall. I couldn't really capture the size of it but the figures at the far end give a clue to scale.

We went along to see last year's Diwali decorations but this year's displays were bigger and better. than before - ceiling projections, hand made flower poms poms and lights everywhere bringing colour and brightness to this dull time of year.

 

Kedleston - Diwali and a Dead Parrot

Kedleston Hall has an association with India dating back to when Lord Curzon was viceroy there (1899-1905), during which time he acquired many examples of exquisite Indian art - jewellery, finely carvings of wood or ivory, larger items of highly decorated furniture - which are now housed in the hall's museum. 

In recent years the National Trust have acknowledged this relationship with displays at Diwali, the Hindu Festival of Lights, when homes are decorated with rangoli, patterns made from flowers, and lit with rows of lights. 

The entrance hall ceiling was lit up with colourful patterns, and a trail led up the stairs to the grander rooms which were decorated. 

Marigolds with their bright colours are traditionally seen as symbols of life and light but with none flowering in the UK at this time of year, a little ingenuity was needed. So, with help from a community art co-operative near Kolkata, and volunteers from the local community, many of them had been crafted from plants and threads to create rangoli designs on the floors.

I'd expected that viewing the decorated rooms would take longer so we had time to for a walk in the grounds.

The grass was still waterlogged from recent rain so we stayed on the drive, walking down to the bridge, then turned round and headed into the gardens.

The gardens though were, if anything, in a worse state than the lakeside grass but spotting that the church was open we decided to visit. Again this is a first - or if I have visited it was so long ago that I've forgotten.

As you'd expect there are a number of memorials to previous inhabitants of the hall but this early one really caught my attention

Sir John, who died in 1450, and his wife, Joan, - or at least their effigies - rest in peace with their dogs at their feet - and a bird on Sir John's shoulder.

 Could it be a parrot? To be honest it looks more like a crow, but a parrot seems more romantic.