There lies an integral connection between India and its famous traditional jewelry. In fact, the connection is so deep that a woman in India considers her makeup incomplete without adorning some jewelry which add luster to her personality. Whether it’s wedding season or any other festive occasion, a woman can be seen sparkling with jewelry.
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Handmade Jewelry – Beauty lies in its Intricacy
However modern we have grown with time, the craze for traditional Indian jewelry has remained the same with its demand increasing manifold in almost all the sections of the society. When it comes to traditional Indian jewelry, the charm of traditional handmade jewelry outshines all other forms of ornamentation. It’s not just the sheer beauty and the value of the handmade ornaments which pulls everyone towards it, but the real attraction lies in the intricacy of its designs and the efforts made by the craftsmen in creating each and every design.
To meet the demands of the people, all the cities in India have adequate number of jewelry shops offering wide range of traditional handmadeIndian jewelry. Starting from bead work, shops glitter with wide variety of traditional handworks in meenakari, kundan as well as stone work jewelry.
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Giving a lustrous touch to the precious and semi precious stones by cutting and polishing requires a lot of hard work and an artistic bent of mind. Some of the most popularly used stones for enhancing the look of gold and silver jewelry include garnets, rubies, emerald, corals, sapphires, amethysts and turquoises. The first love of South Indian women is always gold jewelry which is also considered as a status symbol. Not only this, it is also thought to be very auspicious and related to the Goddess Lakshmi. Keeping in view the popularity of the artistic works done on traditional Indian gold jewelry, diamond is the most widely used precious stone for it.
The traditional Indian jewelry is basically an artistic way of studding gold and silver jewelry with precious stones like rubies, diamonds and emeralds. In Meenakari, floral patterns in colors of red, blue and green are used to enamel gold. This not only protects the luster of gold, but also attracts everyone’s attention with its beautiful colors.
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Traditional Silver jewelry has also gained a lot of popularity in the past few decades mainly among the low income groups due to its easy affordability. Some of the most loved silver ornaments among Indian women include hansli, jhumka, chokar, bracelets and nath. Whether it’s diamond, gold or silver, the wide range of ornaments available in all metals stuns everyone’s eyes with its exquisite beauty.
Following is a list with a brief description of the most widely recognized and admired types of handmade jewelry adorned by women in India:
- Antique Jewelry
As the name itself suggests, this kind of jewelry is out of the mainstream production and has lost its popularity in the past decades which makes it called as antique pieces of jewelry. Its significance lies in keeping the old world charm alive as it has an ancient look.
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- Bead Jewelry
Chiefly related to Indus valley civilization, bead jewelry is a five thousand year old art made popular by the Indus valley people. They created beautiful beads out of gold, copper, silver, clay, ivory and wood. Many excavations done at the site of Indus valley civilization has given its proof by revealing a wide variety of finished and unfinished beads from the place.
Wedding jewelry forms an important part of Indian tradition. It certainly accentuates the look of the bride giving a divine touch to her beauty. Nowadays the usage of silver and platinum jewelry has gained a lot of popularity, but the significance of gold jewelry on such occasions has still maintained its value.
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- Custom Jewelry
Custom jewelry as the name itself suggests is made according to one’s personal requirements. It is basically sought by those whose needs are not fulfilled with the variety available in the market. In customized jewelry, customer gets complete freedom to choose metals, designs and other specifications according to his own taste and needs.
Fashion jewelry which is also popularly known as costume jewelry is mainly created with cheaper and lighter materials. It doesn’t make use of precious or semi-precious stones as it keeps changing according to the changing trends and can be readily made available according to the needs of the customers.
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- Filigree Jewelry
Silver metal is used as a base for making filigree jewelry. This kind of jewelry requires a lot of patience and an eye for minute details as a lot of technicality and precision is involved in its creation.
Gold has the luster to lure almost anyone to its beauty. It’s not only used for adorning women, but also has great value because of its easy liquidity in times of financial crisis. It is also considered to be a very auspicious metal as it is believed to be the symbol of Goddess Lakshmi, the deity of wealth.
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- Ivory Jewelry
As the name suggests, it is made from the tusk of an elephant. It has a lot of traditional value in Gujarat where it is a must for a bride to wear bangles made of ivory during the wedding ceremony.
It is a highly artistic piece brought by Mughals to India which requires great craftsmanship for its creation. Its intrinsic beauty lies in the delicacy with which designs are engraved on it.
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- Kundan Jewelry
Kundan jewelry gained a lot of popularity during the Mughal period when craftsmen from Delhi took it to Rajasthan. Now, Rajasthan has become a hub of kundan jewelry. Love for this jewelry among rulers gave a lot of privilege to this form of art.
Lac jewelry, popularly called as lacquer jewelry, has its origin in Rajasthan from where it became famous all over India. Its availability in a wide range of designs and colors makes it loved by women. The bangles made of lac attract every woman towards it with its beauty.
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- Meenakari Jewelry
Meenakari jewelry refers to enameling gold ornaments with brightly colored materials. It originated in Rajasthan and the credit for popularizing it is given to Raja Mansingh of Amer who encouraged Rajasthani artisans to make it.
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- Navratna Jewelry
As per the name, a single ornament is created by using nine different propitious stones. It is believed that the nine stones together give good luck to the person wearing it. It has gained a lot of prevalence in Indian tradition due to the astrological significance attached to it.
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- Pachchikam Jewelry
Originating in Gujarat, Pachchikam jewelry has again started gaining popularity in the past few years. It’s true that fashion repeats itself as the craze for this old jewelry among people is being seen again.
Now adorning silver jewelry is not a symbol of low income group, but shows the latest fashion. Women in India love to wear handmade jewelry made of silver which include nose pins, hasli, gala band, etc.
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- Stone Jewelry
Stone jewelry which chiefly refers to ornaments with gemstones has not only been loved by women, but adorned by men as well. This kind of jewelry is popular for giving the wearer good health, luck as well as wealth. A person wears specific stones according to his ruling planet and the astrological chart.
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- Temple Jewelry
Temple jewelry of India was used to adorn the idols of Gods and Goddesses in ancient India. It is also called dance jewelry as it was used by classical dancers to give an exquisite touch to their appearance. Apart from that, this kind of jewelry is worn by brides or women on special festive occasions.
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- Tribal Jewelry
Tribal jewelry in India has a huge variety as each tribe has its own style of ornamentation. It is created by using wood, bone, clay, crude metal and shells. Wearing traditional handmade jewelry adds to one’s beauty and gives an instant rustic look.
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So, the wide variety of traditional handmade jewelry available in India gives us a plethora of choices to choose from and add to the glam quotient of our personality.
