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Rajasthani Jewellery For Women
Feminine jewellery is more complex than masculine jewellery.
Jewellery in India is worn as a complete ensemble, and not
as an accessory. It is thus quite acceptable to wear more
than one necklace around the neck, also in the ears, on the
arms and the anides, rings on the toes and fingers, ornaments
on the forehead, in the hair, and so on, any number to be
worn at the same time. So it is not surprising that the royal
ladies of Rajasthan were bedecked from head to toe in jewels,
so much so that it sometimes was a mystery as to how they
could carry the weight of all the jewellery worn.
ORNAMENTATION FOR THE HEAD
The ladies of the royal family of Rajasthan wore at least half a
dozen kinds of hair jewellery at one time, each with its own name
and specific function. The most common head jewel is the bindi,
which has a central pendant hanging from a string of fine pearls
and is worn down the parting of the hair with the pendant resting
in the middle of the forehead. A variant of this is called the borla
in which the central pendant is semi-spherical and set with precious
stones and a fringe of fine pearls. Chains of gold, shaped like
the lotus and other flowers are worn across the length of the plait.
There are flower-shaped hair pins and hair combs beautifully enamelled
and set with stones.
ORNAMENTATION FOR THE NOSE
The nath is a nose ornament which, when worn, is considered
to bring good fortune. It is often a ring of fine gold with
a pearl threaded between two rubies in its central part. There
are many other kinds of nose rings as well.
ORNAMENTATION FOR THE EARS
The kinds of earrings worn are too many to enumerate, but
the main styles are the karanphool jhumka, literally the flower
of the ear shaped like a star. The phool jhumka is a bell
shaped flower, toti is the image of a parrot, lathan is the
image of a grape, pipalpatti is shaped like a pipal leaf.
A special type of earring is one which runs along the entire
shape of the outer ear with an ear too and jhoomka attached
to the lower half. Sometimes, strings of fine pearls run from
the earring into the hair, and pearls are also threaded through
the hair.
ORNAMENTATION FOR THE FOOT
The foot ornaments are of two types- the toe rings and the
anklets The toe rings for the big toe are called anvat. The
rings for the other toes are modeled in the shapes of fish,
flowers, or just circles of granules on the surface. There
are also double toe rings which cover the entire toe. There
is a great exuberance in the designs of the anklets. Most
of them have little bells that tinkle as the lady walks, and
are often referred to as jhanjhar. An unusual combination
is that of an anklet with toe rings, where five radiating
chains connect the toe rings to the anklet.
ORNAMENTATION FOR THE WAIST
The women also wear girdles and belts around their waists.
These tire usually made of gold and set with rubies, emeralds
and diamonds. Belts are usually broad bands of flattened,
twisted metal in silver or gold, encrusted with gems, and
embossed with exquisite designs. They are usually finished
off with clusters of beads at the rims. The Kardhani is made
of various chains, each a little longer than the previous
one and all held together with metal bands.
ORNAMENTATION FOR THE ARM
There is an enormous range in armlets and the most common ones are
gold bands with precious stones. The wearing of ornaments on the
wrists and forearm follows a special pattern. The smallest bangle
to tit the wrist is the kada, which is a thick rounded bangle with
various decorations on it. The two ends are usually carved with
replicas of the heads of animals and birds like elephants, lions
or parrots. Then come bangles, any number of them in various shapes
and designs. There may be the chuda which is sometimes made of ivory
inlaid with gold. The last item is the patli, which is a plain bangle
that highlights the ostentation of the rest of the ornaments that
go before it. The hathphool is a bangle with rings connected to
it by chains that lie over the back of the hand. There is a central
flower which connects it all together. The rings are of a great
variety. A quaint & charming ring is the arsi, with a tiny mirror
and worn on the ring finger.
ORNAMENTATION FOR THE NECK
Jewellery for the neck is one of the most important items
of jewellery and there is abewildering range of strings, sometimes
with rubies and emeralds strung with them or with gem studded
pendants, are worn in double and triple strings. There is
the chandan haar (a necklace of gold sequins), the mohanmala
(a necklace of beads resembling melon seeds), champakali (astring
of flowers stylised in the shape of the champa), the mohrun,
the jugnu, the hansli (a gold collar or ring, thick in the
middle and tapering towards the ends).
TEXTILE ORNAMENTATION
Besides all this jewellery, the saris and the lehengas (long
skirts) of the ladies may be richly and heavily embroidered
with gold and silver threads. A single grain of gold could
be drawn to a length of 500 feet. Gold embroidery called Karchop
is done on masnads & elephant trapping fans & canopies.
The gold work of Jaipur is also famous.
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