Gems and Jewelry of Rajasthan
Meena work on back of necklace
They could take as long as they liked over a piece of jewellery.Many of the
oId styles remain unchanged to this day. In Pratapgarh a special type of quasi-enamelling
is done in which extremely fine work on gold is daintily carried out on green
enamel which forms the base.In Nathdwara a good deal of enamel work, on silver
and other metals is done nowadays as a futherance to this famous age old craft.The
State Government of Rajasthan is committed to the revival of traditional crafts
of Rajasthan and providing of employment opportunities for aspiring artisans.
The Masculine Jewellery: Vanity, a love of opulence and deep aesthetic
sense gave the Rajas and Ranas of Rajasthan a great fondness for jewellery.
The men were as elaborately and dazzlingly dressed as the women, with jewellery
that often rivalled that of their wives.
Tiger claw necklace-lucky charm It was a status symbol and a portable display
of wealth, and consequently, power.
Turban jewellery was the prerogative of the king, his close family or the members
of his entourage (including his horse). The turban it-self would be heavily
encrusted with jewels and fastened with a gem set kalangi or aigrette. Men also
wore necklaces of pearls and precious stones, carring jewelled sashes around
their waists and several rings on every finger.
The ornament worn in front on the turban is called a sarpech. It was often extended
into a golden band set with emeralds, rubies, diamonds. Pearls were greatly
valued by the Maharajas and they often wore double or triple strings of pearls
with pendants of precious stones round their necks.
The sashes round their waists were heavily jewelled as were the clasps or buckles
of their sword belts.
Masculine jewellery was not confined to articles worn on the body alone. The
Rajasthani princes had gold epulets, gem encrusted sword hilts, dagger sheaths,
sword scabbards and hookah mouthpieces.
The commoner of Rajasthan has traditionally worn jewellery too, though what
he wears is made from more modest metals like silver, and gems are substituted
by coloured glass.
Earrings, armlets and anklets of silver are still commonly seen adoming the
rural Rajasthani male. Males also wear
necklaces, earrings and lucky charms which are considered to ward off evil.
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 ankles, 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 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 atleast 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 like a bell shaped flower, toti is the image of a parrot,
lathan is the image of a grape, papal patti 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 top 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 and are called amvat. The rings for the other toes
are modelled in the shapes of fish, flowers, or just circles of gsaranules 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.
ORNAMENTATION FOR THE WAIST
The women also wear girdles and belts around their waists. These are 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 metalbands.
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 ornainentv, on the wrists and forearm follows
a special pattern. The smallest bangle to fit 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.
Here may be the chuda which is sometimes made of ivory inlaid W1ith gold. The
last item is the pail, which is a plain bangle that highlights the ostentation
of therest 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 a bewildering range strings, sometimes with rubies and emeralds strung with
them or with gem studded pendants, are worn double and triple strings. There
is the chandan haar (a necklace gold sequins), the mohanmala ( anecklace of
beads resembling melon seeds), champakali (a string of flowers stylised in the
shape of the champa), the mohurn, the jugnu, the hansli(a gold collar or ring,
thick in the middle and tapering towards the ends).
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