Ornaments for every part of the body In India the ornaments are made practically
for every part of the body. Such a variety
of ornaments bears the testimony to the
excellent skills of the jewelers in India.
The range of jewelry in India varied from
religious one to purely aesthetic one. Jewelry
was crafted not just for humans but also
for the gods, ceremonial elephants and horses.
The craft of jewelry was given a royal patronage
right from the ancient times. The rajas
and maharajas vied with each other to possess
the most exquisite and the most magnificent
pieces of jewelry. Temple complexes supported
many different styles of jewelery-scented
sandalwood bead necklaces, the prayer bead
or the rudraksh (berry of the elaocarpus
canitrus) necklace, multicoloured silk and
gold thread necklaces.
fulfils many functions
and wearing it has several implications.
At the most obvious level, it is a form
of adornment satisfying Man's innate desire
to beautify himself. However, jewelry also
serves as an identity marker, as security,
and as symbol of social contracts. For Hindus,
jewelry is associated with most religious
ceremonies, especially the samaskaras (stages
of life) such as the namkarna (naming ceremony)
or the vivaha (marriage). To signify marital
status, Hindu women must wear the mangalsutra
or the thali, which consist of gold pendants
strung in a certain combination with other
beads. Traditionally, a goldsmith pierces
a child's ear with a gold pin twelve days
after it is born.
Jewelry as investment
In the Hindu, Jain and Sikh community where
women do not inherit landed property, jewelry
was a major component of the streedhana
(gifts given to a woman at the time of her
marriage). jewelry, because of its easy
convertibility into cash, was thus regarded
as security and investment.
Jewelry as investment and identity marker
is evident in the plethora of ornaments
worn by people from nomadic and migrant
tribal communities. It is not uncommon to
find Banraja women wearing a wide variety
of . A profusion of earrings
in various sizes, bangles of bone, shell
and ivory extending from the wrist to the
armpit along with silver bracelets, chokers,
pendants and necklaces, nose rings, and
heavy anklets are worn by most of the migrant
groups, especially in Western India.
The setting of precious gems and stones
in rings, pendants, necklaces and bracelets
gained prominence due to the belief that
these stones are associated with certain
powers. In Bengal, it is common to find
iron, silver and gold wires twisted together
to form a bracelet, a combination that according
to popular belief gives the wearer health
and strength.
The goldsmiths
In India, goldsmiths are usually men and
are referred to by a variety of names depending
on the region-sonar, swarnakara, panchallar,
or thattan. In the Vedic period, goldsmiths
had a much higher standing than most other
artisans, perhaps because they worked with
a precious metal. The goldsmiths had royal
patrons. Historical records show that Indian
jewellers mastered quite early the various
skills required to make fine jewelery-mixing
alloys, molding, drawing fine wires, setting
stones, inlay work, relief, drawing gold
and silver into thin wires, plating and
gilding. In smaller places, the goldsmith
may perform all the processes involved in
producing a finished piece. In cities, the
different operations are undertaken by separate
people-the goldsmith prepares the skeletal
framework, the chatera engraves, the kundansaaz
or jaria sets the stones while the meenasaaz
enamels it.
Unique Styles of Jewelry
Different regions of India boast of jewellery
making styles unique to them -in Orissa
and Andhra Pradesh fine filigree work in
silver, in Jaipur the art of enamelling
or meenakari, temple jewellery from Nagercoil
and kundan or the setting of semi-precious
or precious stones in gold from Delhi. A
wide variety of silver beads are found all
over India, especially in Rajasthan, Gujarat,
Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh.
In filigree work, patterns of leaves, flowers,
butterflies, birds and geometrical shapes
are made with silver wires of varying thickness.
The skilled jewellers draw out fine wires
of silver mixed with a little bit of lead
and make an outline of the pattern in thick
wire. Fine wires are then collected inside
the framework to create a delicate lace-like
appearance.
Meenakari and kundan are the styles of
jewelry making influenced by the Mughals
and are usually used in combination to make
jewelry that can be worn on both sides such
as chokers and necklaces. The temple jewelry
of Nagercoil consists of traditional gold
ornaments studded with red and green semi-precious
stones. These were used as offerings to
the Gods and hence the name. Today, some
of these designs are being made in silver
and then washed with gold.
In Assam, soft 24 carat gold is fashioned
into earrings and necklaces modeled on the
local flora and fauna-earrings like the
hona, which replicate the orchid and the
lokaparo, which consists of two birds placed
back to back.
In Nagaland, gold is used to craft imitations
of the human head and long funnel shaped
beads which are used in combination with
shells, animal claws and teeth and precious
and semi-precious stones.
The designs in solid gold jewelery of Tamil
Nadu and Kerala are inspired by nature.
The paisley motif or the ambi, rice grains,
the cobra's hood, melon and cucumber seeds
are some of the common motifs.
Silversmiths of Himachal Pradesh craft
large ornaments, which have a very delicate
and intricate appearance. Headdresses called
chak, long earrings and large nose-rings
with papal leaf or bird motifs are the specialties
of the region. In Ladakh, silver charm boxes
and headdresses called perak with rows of
turquoise, cornelian, coral and agate stitched
onto it are quite common.
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