Traditional Handmade Indian Jewellery


Jewellery in India has been an unbroken tradition for over 5,000 years. Such is the skill of Indian jewellers that with time, the real flowers and leaves used by our ancestors inspired them to recreate the gifts of nature in gold and silver.

Indian Silver Bracelet with Dark Labrodorite       Indian Silver Bracelet with Tiger eye Gemstones

In early India, people handcrafted jewellery out of natural materials found in abundance all over the country. Seeds, feathers, leaves, berries, fruits, flowers, animal bones, claws and teeth – everything from nature was affectionately gathered and artistically transformed into fine body jewellery. Even today such jewellery is used by the different tribal societies. Excavations at Mohenjodaro and other sites of the Indus Valley civilisation have unearthed a wealth of handmade ornaments.

Mohenjodaro

It appears that both men and women of that time wore jewellery made of gold, silver, copper, ivory and precious and semiprecious stones. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata abound in descriptions of ornaments and the code of Manu defines the duties of the goldsmith. By the third century B.C., India was the leading exporter of gemstones, particularly diamonds. Gold was usually imported into the country, a practice prevalent even during the Mughal period.

In India jewellery is made practically for every part of the body. Such a variety of jewellery bears the testimony to the excellent skills of the jewellers in India. The range of jewellery in India varies from religious one to purely aesthetic one. Jewellery was handcrafted not just for humans but also for the gods, ceremonial elephants and horses. The craft of jewellery was given a royal patronage right from the ancient times because in India jewellery is much more than just a tool of aesthetic appeal; rather it is the symbol of divine abundance and material blessings.

Indus Valley

The rajas and maharajas vied with each other to possess the most exquisite and the most magnificent pieces of jewellery. Temple complexes supported many different styles of jewelry-scented sandalwood bead necklaces, the prayer bead or the rudraksh (berry of the elaocarpus canitrus) necklace, multicoloured silk and gold thread necklaces, and others.

Jewellery in India fulfils many functions and wearing it has several implications. At the most obvious level, it is a form of adornment satisfying Man's innate desire to beautify himself. However, jewellery also serves as an identity marker, as security, and as symbol of social contracts. For Hindus, jewellery is associated with most religious ceremonies, especially the samaskaras (stages of life) such as the namkarna (naming ceremony) or the vivaha (marriage). It is very much a part of traditional Indian life and custom.

Indian Jewellery

In Hindu, Jain and Sikh communities where women do not inherit landed property, jewellery was a major component of the streedhana (gifts given to a woman at the time of her marriage). Jewellery, because of its easy convertibility into cash, was thus regarded as security and investment. Jewellery as investment and identity marker is evident in the plethora of ornaments worn by people from nomadic and migrant tribal communities. It is not uncommon to find Banjara women wearing a wide variety of silver jewellery.

A profusion of earrings in various sizes, bangles of bone, shell and ivory extending from the wrist to the armpit along with silver bracelets, chokers, pendants and necklaces, nose rings, and heavy anklets are worn by most of the migrant groups, especially in Western India. The setting of precious gems and stones in rings, pendants, necklaces and bracelets gained prominence due to the belief that these stones are associated with certain powers. In Bengal, it is common to find iron, silver and gold wires twisted together to form a bracelet, a combination that according to popular belief gives the wearer health and strength.

Puskar

Traditionally, Indian goldsmiths are usually men and are referred to by a variety of names depending on the region-sonar, swarnakara, panchallar, or thattan. In the Vedic period, goldsmiths had a much higher standing than most other artisans, perhaps because they worked with a precious metal. The goldsmiths had royal patrons. Historical records show that Indian jewellers mastered quite early the various skills required to make fine jewelry-mixing alloys, moulding, drawing fine wires, setting stones, inlay work, relief, drawing gold and silver into thin wires, plating and gilding.

In smaller places, the goldsmith may perform all the processes involved in producing a finished piece. In cities, the different operations are undertaken by separate people-the goldsmith prepares the skeletal framework, the chatera engraves, the kundansaaz (Sets the uncut stones in lacquer and antimony and cold sets it with hammered gold wire.) or jaria sets the stones while the meenasaaz enamels it.

Different regions of India boast of jewellery making styles unique to them — in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh fine filigree work in silver, in Jaipur the art of enamelling or meenakari, temple jewellery from Nagercoil and kundan or the setting of semiprecious or precious stones in gold from Delhi. A wide variety of silver beads are found all over India, especially in Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. In filigree work, patterns of leaves, flowers, butterflies, birds and geometrical shapes are made with silver wires of varying thickness. The skilled jewellers draw out fine wires of silver mixed with a little bit of lead and make an outline of the pattern in thick wire. Fine wires are then collected inside the framework to create a delicate lace-like appearance.

Calcutta

Meenakari which means enamelling jewellery - craftsmanship with metal oxides to give colour to jewellery and kundan which are the styles of jewellery making influenced by the Mughals and are usually used in combination to make jewellery that can be worn on both sides such as chokers and necklaces. The temple jewelry of Nagercoil consists of traditional gold ornaments studded with red and green semiprecious stones. These were used as offerings to the Gods and hence the name. Today, some of these designs are being made in silver and then washed with gold.

Actually the word in Hindi "Kundan" means "pure gold." It's come to be the term for setting gems without the use of bezels, prongs or even gravered beads. It depends on the property known as eutectic bonding which allows thin layers of pure gold to weld themselves together at room temperature with pressure. The atoms actually merge to form a solid mass.

For instance if a flat-bottomed stone is going to be set in sheet, a recessed base is cut for it with a graver. The stone is put into place and pure gold foil is folded into a long strip. One end of the strip is forced into place in the opening around the stone with a burnisher. Then additional foil is wedged and burnished into the opening all around the stone until sufficient metal is in place to permanently set the stone and match the appearance of the surrounding gold plate. With burnishing pressure the foil layers become a solid with no heating.

There are variations to the technique, some involving enamel. The method can be varied to set both faceted and cabchon gems.

If you thought making jewellery was merely the job of a designer and his craftsman, you can think again, different skills are needed and include the following specialised work:

CHHATERRA : Skilled to engrave the ground for the setting of the stones.

KUNDANSAAZ: Sets the uncut stones in lacquer and antimony and cold sets it with hammered gold wire.

MANIHAR: To prepares the enamels that will be poured into the hollows to creats the patterns.

MINAKAR: the enameller places the enamels and  fires them individually.

NYARRIA: to refine the gold . usually 22ct gold is used for the making of Kundan jewellary.

PATWARI: Provides the finishing touch in the form of the gold and silk cord required by the wearer , and is also responsible for stringing the beads where required.

SONAR : Literally the goldsmith prepares the bezels and moulds for setting the stones, they are also responsible for polishing and cleaning the jewellery once everyone else's task is done.

In Assam, soft 24 carat gold is fashioned into earrings and necklaces modelled on the local flora and fauna-earrings like the hona, which replicate the orchid and the lokaparo, which consists of two birds placed back to back.

In Nagaland, gold is used to craft imitations of the human head and long funnel shaped beads which are used in combination with shells, animal claws and teeth and precious and semiprecious stones.

The designs in solid gold jewellery of Tamil Nadu and Kerala are inspired by nature. The paisley motif or the ambi, rice grains, the cobra's hood, melon and cucumber seeds are some of the common motifs. Silversmiths of Himachal Pradesh craft large ornaments, which have a very delicate and intricate appearance. Head-dresses called chak, long earrings and large nose-rings with papal leaf or bird motifs are the specialities of the region. In Ladakh, silver charm boxes and head-dresses called perak with rows of turquoise, cornelian, coral and agate stitched onto it are quite common.

The story of handcrafted Indian jewellery is long and absorbing. Inspired by nature, fuelled by beauty and belief, it is an eternal process of artistic imagination and fine craftsmanship. From prehistoric ages to the present day, the crafts of precious Indian jewellery is one of its kind in beauty and quality.

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