Holiday 2022

Shop our annual sale event on authentic vintage Himalayan wearable art and distinctive handicrafts. Our jewelry offerings are cultural storytelling at its finest and will make a splash at gift time! Wear the past into the future – buy handmade vintage with Utpalasia on Etsy!

Redefining Dance in the Age of COVID

Since March of 2020 Utpalasia has been supporting our students and continuing both classes and workshops online. There have been challenges, to be sure, but we have engineered new found energy into our sessions to keep our dancers motivated and pursuing their passion in exciting ways. A large part of our ability to do that… Continue reading Redefining Dance in the Age of COVID

International Women’s Day 2018

Today we celebrate and honor not only women and their inspiring contributions to our lives – past, present, and future – but all those who are a part of the continuous challenge of ensuring gender parity across the globe, from our own backyards to far off places. Achieving social, economic, cultural, and political equality is… Continue reading International Women’s Day 2018

Dance Classes Begin

We’re thrilled to announce that we are adding a teen/adult Bollywood class to our current line-up this Fall. Our regular classes in Kathak I, II, and III, and Bollywood for children will continue to be offered on Sunday mornings. We are looking forward to a terrific new session, starting on September 17 at 10am. We… Continue reading Dance Classes Begin

“Buddha and Pedestal” from Myanmar (Burma)

While at the Crocker Museum, we strolled through the Asian galleries and found this small, but finely executed 19th century Buddha Shakyamuni (or Siddhartha Gautama, Lord Buddha). Such images are common in Bagan, Myanmar, but this one is unique in that the artist used marble for the head, hands, and feet, wood for the body,… Continue reading “Buddha and Pedestal” from Myanmar (Burma)

Meissen Porcelain at the Crocker Museum

China had perfected the art of porcelain manufacturing long before the West, and by the 17th century the Dutch East India Company was supplying Europe with these beautiful wares, which represented refinement, taste, culture, and social level. Meissen Porcelain Manufactory in Germany was the first company in Europe to develop hard-paste porcelain and take it… Continue reading Meissen Porcelain at the Crocker Museum

Happy Holi!

Holi is celebrated this year on March 12 and 13, and people in Nepal, India, and Pakistan embrace the opportunity to paint one another with a brilliant palette of powdered colors and throw water balloons on unsuspecting passersby! The festival, also known as Phagu Purnima in Nepal, has a number of different legends associated with… Continue reading Happy Holi!

Losar Tashi Delek!

Happy Tibetan New Year! The year of the Fire Rooster promises to be a big one (the last one was in 1957!) Those born under this sign possess some hallmark qualities for success: courage, perseverance, resourcefulness, talent, an observant nature, trustworthiness, compassion, and (especially important in the working world) an amazing sense of time management.… Continue reading Losar Tashi Delek!

Sheshnarayan Temple

Pharping lies in a beautiful green area beyond Chobar, and is highly sacred to Tibetan Buddhists and Hindus alike. There you will find Sheshnarayan, one of the four most revered temples of Narayan, or Vishnu, in Nepal. The area is steeped in a blend of religion and lore where caves and cliffs form the backdrop… Continue reading Sheshnarayan Temple