This is a bandhanwar for your main door, built on a wide gold lace band with a large mirror-work lotus at the centre. Pink beaded lotus and blue evil eye motifs run along the band, and three beaded corner pieces hang from it with pearl rings and long cream tassels.

The centre lotus is cut mirror, not printed foil, so it catches the hall light and throws it back. That is what makes this one read as expensive from down the corridor.

What it is made of

The band is a stiff woven gold lace with a scalloped lower edge and a mirrored gota running through it. Every lotus, eye and flower on it is hand beaded, then stitched down rather than glued.

The two ends and the centre carry beaded medallions with pearl rings, pink beaded bells and tassels that hang below the band. The whole piece holds its line rather than sagging in the middle.

Key details

• 1 metre wide: covers a standard single door, and sits centred on a wider double door.
• Mirror lotus centre: cut mirror pieces set by hand, outlined in pink.
• Nazar motifs: blue beaded evil eyes worked into the band, for the protection they traditionally carry.
• Gold lace band: scalloped edge with mirror gota, stiff enough to hang flat.
• Beaded corner drops: pearl rings, pink beaded bells and cream tassels at both ends and the centre.
• Hand beaded throughout: stitched, not glued, so nothing lifts in the heat.

On a UAE front door

A narrow strip of a toran looks lost on a UAE front door. At a full metre this one spans the frame properly, so it reads as a bandhanwar rather than a trim, and the three tassel drops fall where the eye expects them.

The evil eye motifs are the reason a lot of people in the UAE pick this over a plain floral bandhanwar - nazar on the entrance is the point, not decoration. If you want the same idea in a smaller format for the door frame, the peacock and lotus Shubh Labh pair works either side.

For a gold rather than pink scheme, compare it with the Royal Bandhanwar in golden lotus motiwork.

Questions people ask

What size is it?
One metre wide. That covers a standard single door. On a wide double door it hangs centred, or run two of them across.

Are the mirrors real glass?
Yes, cut mirror pieces set into the beadwork. Handle the lotus gently and do not fold the band across it.

How do I hang it?
From the band ends, on hooks or adhesive strips. The band is stiff, so it keeps a straight line without a rail behind it.

Will the beadwork come loose?
The beads are stitched rather than glued, which is what usually fails on cheaper pieces in UAE summer heat. Store it flat and it holds.

Is it only for Diwali?
No. The evil eye and lotus work is used year round on a main door, and it suits Navratri, Grah Pravesh and a wedding house equally.

Can I clean it?
Dust with a dry soft brush. Never wet the mirror lotus or the gold lace.

Does it work indoors?
It does, over a mandir arch or a living room doorway. See the rest of the Diwali range for pieces that sit with it.