Significance of Bridal Jewellery

Romasha — Fri, 26 Nov 2004 13:22:00 GMT

The Bridal Jewellery in India has its own significance:

The rakhri, worn in the parting of the hair, also called the tika, signifies that the bride must walk on the straight path. The earrings remind her that she should not have weak ears and listen to gossip, the necklace so that her head is always bowed down in humility. The bangles tell her that her hand must always be outstretched in giving charity, the anklets so that she puts the right foot forward.

And the nosering of which it is said that the pearl should not be heavier than the nose, which means she should not spend more money than what her husband can afford!!

The Rajasthani Odhani

Romasha — Fri, 10 Sep 2004 05:11:00 GMT

One striking feature of Rajasthan is the strong presence of colors in the barren land, hence referred to as Rangilo Rajasthan…colorful Rajasthan.

The colors lent by the Safa (head gear) of men and the Odhanis (veils) of women. Covering the head is a centuries old custom in Rajasthan as a mark of respect for elders originating from the need to protect ones head from the scorching sun.

The tradition behind odhanis is more elaborate than that of turbans; a turban determines ones region and community, the odhani determines the exact status of a woman: married, widow or a mother of a son. It marks each stage of a woman’s life, determines her status and endows her with color and beauty. There are different odhanis for special occasions, ceremonies and festivals. Be it the ghoomar (the royal dance) or char (the dance of the villages), or the Kalbeliya dance performed by the snake charmers, the odhani plays a significant role, its more than a mere covering.

Initially the ruling class and the nobility used very fine silk and muslin but later switched to georgette and chiffon. They even had odhanis printed with pure gold in the good old days. The village folk still adhere to hand-woven coarse fabric as they couldn’t afford such indulgences.

The use and the pattern of the odhani determines its various names – chundari, leharia pilo, phagnia (meant for the Holi festival), pomcha, pamri, odhana, reta, lalar, dhanak etc..For certain occasions the ceremony is not deemed complete without that particular kind of odhani being used.

Customs vary with each community and the pattern of the odhani and the name also changes. For e.g. in some communities during the niece’s wedding, the maternal uncle presents her with a mamad or mama chundari and in some others the bride receives a gold printed red or pink odhani know pamri.

The variations in design were the work of a number of craftsmen including the gotewala(gold thread embroiderer), chipa(block printer) and the rangrej(tie and die artist…now also called the bandhej). While Jodhpur is known for the dot tie and dye known as chundari, Jaipur is famous for its stripe tie and dye called leharia which is for the monsoon festival.

There are several folk songs in Rajasthan where a girl requests her mother, brother, husband, brother-in-law to get a particular kind of odhani for her…thus tests the strength of her relationship with the person she is requesting.

Oddly enough, the odhani, supposed to cover everything has much to reveal!!

The odhani is not just a craft, it is a song and the romance of life of the desert…

Excerpt from www.marwar.com

Culture

Significance of Bridal Jewellery

The Rajasthani Odhani