History of Traditional Indian Jewellery

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From the era of civilization, jewelries have been a symbol of status. Indians wear jewelries for every occasion irrespective of the gender. Almost 5000 years ago, during the Indus Valley Civilization people decorated themselves with jewelries.

History of Traditional jewellery

Traditional Indian Jewellery and heavy embellishments are worn by Indian women in case of special occasions. Later on jewellery has become the statement of status and prestige in our community. The amount of jewellery owned by them decided their financial status and growth. Each and every piece of jewellery has its own uniqueness and amount of hard work put in by the craftsman.

Many traditional ornaments are embedded with different precious stones that include diamonds, emeralds, pearls, rubies, sapphires, etc. Many merchants from the different parts of the world came to India by the sea to get precious stones, diamonds, and sapphires.

Indus Valley Civilization had a great sense of craftsmanship and engineering skills in developing the jewelleries. Many National museums still have the jewelleries of Indus civilization. India is the first country to mine Diamonds. Gods and Goddesses are also designed with gold jewelleries.

Types of Traditional jewelleries

Maangtika and joomar is worn on the head especially during the wedding. It consists of a metallic chain embedded with precious stones and a hook at the top to get fixed on the hair. Joomar is mostly worn by the Muslim bride on one side of the head. Traditional joomar had a mix of diamonds, rubies and emeralds.

Nath is a traditional piece of nose ring worn across the left nostril. It is designed with precious stones and a gold chain connecting to the hair. In North Indians it is popularly known as nathni used by Punjabi’s, Guajarati’s and Rajasthan’s. In South Indians it is generally called as mukkhutti.

Earrings have numerous designs, shapes and weight. It gives the most graceful look to the face. From ear studs to jhumkas each has best hand crafted designs. Sahara chain is the extra chain made of gold connecting to the ear ring and the hair.

Bajuband is the traditional armlets worn on the upper arm made with gold string.

Rani haar and Galobandh is the traditional necklaces of different kinds. The rain haar and choker necklaces are embedded with precious stones like diamonds, ruby and emeralds. The rain haar is a long chain with a lavish designed pendant at the center of the haar. Galobandh is worn tightly to the neck.

Kangan is a traditional bangle made of gold or silver. There can also be stones embellished in the traditional kangans. Even Men wear kadas made of gold and silver. Diamond and gold bracelets give more grace and style to the jewellery.

Kamarbandh is worn across the waist and weighted in kilograms. It is used in rituals and ceremonies among many communities. In south Indians it is called as ottiyanam. It is embedded with emeralds, rose-cut diamonds and rubies. They are worn in hip above the sarees, lehengas and anarkali dresses.

Payal are worn on the ankle of the foot also called as anklets. They are made of both gold and silver metals.