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Ornaments that adorn a woman

There were occasions when I took Himachal cultural troupes to festivals outside India.

Ornaments that adorn a woman

Kinnauri ladies wearing silver jewellery



Shriniwas Joshi

There were occasions when I took Himachal cultural troupes to festivals outside India. Kinnauri troupe was the toughest to handle as each member of the group wears 18-kg silver ornaments and it was a task to jot down each and every item on the airport form before embarking upon the journey. 

Recently, I went to the state museum and found that curator Hari Chauhan has worked on the ornaments, which were simple names for me earlier. He has brought out a book on ‘Traditional Jewellery of Himachal’, which is extension of his work on ‘The Traditional Jewellery of Pabbar Valley’. The present 99-page book has pictures depicting each ornament of traditional jewellery and supporting narrative. 

The Bible says that the forehead ' signifies the divine love itself'. Perhaps, the Bible has taken a leaf from ancient Indian culture of wearing a tilak on the forehead by men and women wearing bindi or maangtika. The pendant of the maangtika sits on a spot on the woman's forehead called the agya chakra. It is also called the ‘third eye’— centre of clarity and wisdom. It signifies the holy union of male and female based on love, which the Bible calls the divine love. And today, women not only in India, but across the world wear maangtika as a fashion statement. These are commonly worn all over the state and have different names and designs - maantika, maangtika, tika or shringaar-patti. Dr Chauhan says: "Shringaar-patti is a plate-like ornament of a broad strip of two knitted chains fringed with globular metal beads."

Nose sets the character of a face. The ancient Indian women, however, did not wear a nose ornament. Dr PK Gode in his treatise 'Studies in Indian Cultural History' conclusively proves that "the nose ornament makes its appearance in Indian history and culture about 1000 AD, but not earlier". Nose piercing was first recorded in the Middle East about 4,000 years ago. The nose ornament made its first appearance in India during the Mughal rule and by the 17th Century, it gained popularity all over India. The left side of the nose is the most common to be pierced because according to Ayurveda, that spot is associated with the female reproductive organs. Its piercing is supposed to make childbirth easier and less painful. Chauhan, however, refers to 'Mirrors of Indian Culture' by K Krishnamurthy and says that Krishnamurthy had discovered terracotta figurine of 1st-2nd Century at Chagtur in Telangana plateau, which was wearing a nose ornament. The nose ornaments of Himachal have the names of tilli, a round ornament with a hollow pin, which is inserted inside the nose and fitted with a silver pin known as kulfi; phulli is star or circular shaped fixed on the nose with a kulfi. Karoulu is suspended from the nose and looks like a decorated disc. Baalu is a large ring worn on the nose.

Earrings about 7,000 years ago were not women ornaments, but of men. Asians, Egyptians and Assyrians used to wear earrings to show that they belonged to higher class. Among women, only prostitutes used to wear ear ornaments. But then, the wealthy ladies in Greece and Rome started wearing earrings with pearls, topaz, garnet and sapphires to show their social status. Among Hindus, karnavedha (ear-piercing) is a ritual and is being practiced since long. Karnavedha was mandatory for Brahmin boys and girls. It is now fashion and many young boys proudly show off ear ornaments. All women in Himachal, wear ear ornaments. The popular ear-ornaments of Himachal are bragar, a large gold earring with two round pearls and a conical turquoise called neelak, suspended in the centre; darotu, a peculiar shaped earring made in gold wires and worn on the ear lobe; kantae, a thin long chain with a tiny oval link at one end; karna-phul, either enameled or chased cone plaque, sometimes fitted with turquoise in the centre; balian, a crescent shaped piece of embossed metal is fitted to the wire by the hinge at one end and hook on the other; dandi is a coiled thin wire; murki is small earrings, generally worn by men; gohkru, earring of gold always, it has three beads on its three corners and joined with small hollow rods and, finally, khul kantae, a set of about two dozen earrings mounted symmetrically on a strap of cloth hung from hair down to the neck over the ears.

Tailpiece

"Where the hell are you?" 
"You remember darling, the jewellery shop, where you fell flat in love with the earrings." 
(Happily) "I remember. I am in the pub next to it."

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