Indian Bridal Jewelry Adornment
For over five thousand years, the people of India have been utilizing jewelry as a language to communicate ethnic unity and identity. This form of adornment has evolved with Indian culture and become an important means of communitcating symbols of religion, wealth, geographic location and the status of individuals living in a society with a strict caste system. While jewelry plays a significant role in the lives of all Indians, the most common purpose is to display the marital status and devotion of a woman to her husband.
Indian society has been male dominant for centuries and because of this the status and social role of women must be clear in order to provide a basis for accpetable behavior patterns among the sexes (Untracht, 156). As portrayed in traditional Indian art, women's role as the procreator of the race is far less celebrated than her function to stimulate and gratify man's erotic sensibilities. In Hindu temple sculpture, which was designed and created by men, secular women are depicted at the peak of their maturity, engaged in various personal feminine toilette, for instance, gazing with obvious approval into a mirror while adorning themselves with garlands and jewelry (Untracht, 19). When worn by men, jewelry conveys power and wealth, whereas women pursue bridal adornment as a form of devotion to men and to enhance aesthetic beauty as a new bride.
In order to uphold the traditional ideals of Indian society, jewelry has remained as important to the union of man and woman than ever before. The adornment of the bride before a wedding ceremony follows the sixteen phases of complete decoration called Shringar. Shringar correlates with the sixteen phases of the moon, and also reflects the stages of a woman's mentrual cycle. A woman at the age of sixteen is considered to be at the peak of physical perfection and ready for marriage, thus the symbolic importance of the number is reflected in the practices of a bride.
The bride spends a great deal of time deliberating over the particular style of each piece of jewelry, as it portrays to the community and to the family of her in laws messages about her social status, geographic origin, and wealth. She will wear the jewelry from this point forward. It provides a sense of financial security in the case her family suffers economically or if she is divorced. If her husband should die, she must remove all jewelry indefinitely to demonstrate her viruosity and pure behavior.
This is a clip from a popular Indian tv show, this musical scene shows brides preparing with the sixteen parts of shringar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_3TichOy38
*Pictures provided by Traditional Jewelry of India by Oppi Untracht
Comments (5)
Marissa said
at 7:47 pm on May 28, 2009
I LOVE that you chose this topic of research, I always thought that the Indian jewelry was SO gorgeous and was very excited to learn more from your presentation. First of all I never knew that all women are expected to be adorned with jewelry and there are nit-picky details like minimum amounts to be worn. It was also interesting to learn about the different materials, their importance, and new pieces I'd never noticed like the nose rings. I think because of some of the intense intricacy of some of those you might not have noticed that it was "simply" (its not such a simple thing) a nose ring since its attached to a woman's hair sometimes or even resting on her cheek. I'm wondering though about some of the pictures you have here on your wiki page that seem much different than pictures you showed in your presentation. The women in your presentation seemed to have a similar "look" like the first picture on your page, but some of these women are adorned with tattoos as well, are the differences family based or more due to region? Also I was curious about the headdresses women wear, I think those are some of the prettiest pieces for some reason, wish we could have heard more about why they are worn etc. (although I know there are time constraints, and either way you did a great job telling us a bunch! thanks)
kuersr@... said
at 12:19 am on Jun 1, 2009
Your wiki page as well as your presentation was extremely interesting. Thank you for choosing Indian Bridal Jewelry/Adornment as your topic! Thinking about it now, I have no idea how I've previously overlooked the practice of Indian women wearing such large, elaborate and symbolic nose rings. Thank you for enlightening us, and bringing that to my attention. I really liked that the video you have linked to this page shows a variety of women, that are all about the same age. It was interesting to see the diversity in each women's clothing and jewelry side by side. I also agree with Marissa, it would be interesting to learn more about the facial tattooing and very unique double nose plugs in the nostrils of the women in the pictures at the bottom of your page. I've never seen that version of nose alteration before (pic 357), it was interesting to be exposed to it here. I guess this makes a nice future research point for your viewers! Great job!
simonl7@u.washington said
at 7:39 am on Jun 3, 2009
Your topic was fascinating. I knew a little about Indian body jewelry from Bollywood movies. I had no idea that the most common purpose was to display marital status… for some reason I thought it was religion and dancing. It was interesting to find out that each peace of wedding jewelry has a meaning and it is so heavily decorated. I like how this culture tied the sixteen fazes of the moon into their adornment. Out of all the types the nose ring was the most striking. I wonder why they chose the nose to be the place to display the man's wealth? I could not imagine how uncomfortable it would be to have one of the bigger nose rings. It is so heavy you have to have it tied to your hair and have it rest on your cheek and it could possibly disfigure your nose! I think status symbols are over rated. I really enjoyed your presentation and would have loved to have learned more about each type of jewelry particularly the bangles. It was interesting that the bride’s mother-in-law gave them to her. I wonder how many different types there are, what each was made out of and why? I would have liked to know when they started to make them out of glass and how it came about? These women are so beautiful and I found it interesting how you tied into your presentation the celebrities wearing traditional Indian clothing. I wonder if they would have modified their outfits if they knew what everything means?
Elizabeth MacKeen said
at 10:21 am on Jun 3, 2009
I was very interested in your topic of research, and pleased to learn more about it from your presentation. I find specifically the nose adornment to be the most fascinating. I have my nose pierced on the left side, thankfully only a stud as not to symbolize my husbands ownership over me! It is very interesting to me the amount of time, consideration, and life long duty that a women dedicates to her husband through her own 'personal' adornment. Usually something that is very much so an individual preference has been shifted to relate more closely to male dominance in Indian culture, marriage, and everyday lives.
Lauren Fejarang said
at 4:38 pm on Jun 3, 2009
I loved your presentation and was always curious about this adornment. I didn't know that the nose ring held such a big significance linked to marriage. I can't even imagine wearing all of those trinkets on the ring and then try to hold it all up by your nose! Imagine trying to go about your everyday life and worrying about this ring that might get in the way of something or possibly rip your nose. I also mentioned after your presentation about the left side being such a popular place for adornment around countries: America --> left hand wears the ring for marriage, Hawaii --> left ear wears a flower to show you are taken, and India the nose. I wonder why the left side? Great presentation! I really enjoyed it.
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