We’ve been adorning ourselves with jewels ever since the embarkment of early civilizations. The ornaments found from the remains of Harappan and Mesopotamian civilizations are the records to justify the above belief. The oldest epics, Ramayana and Mahabharat have pages of illustrations on the jewels worn by the Indian gods and goddesses… the earliest form of jewelry being the Rudraksh beaded necklaces for the Rishis (spiritual people). On reshuffling the pages of history books, one would find the British vying for Indian exotics… the story of Kohinoor diamond is an obvious example.
Jewelry is an integral part of an Indian woman’s Sringaar( adornment). She dons jewelry to accentuate her feminity. There is a piece of jewelry for every part of the body. As in, anklets for the feet, bangles for the arms… similarly, chains, toe rings etc. Ask a painter sometime and he would never draw an Indian woman without her jewels on. Delving centuries back till today, Indian women, predominantly appreciate adornments made of gold, silver and diamonds. Precious and semi-precious stones engraved jewelry is still considered a fashionable option.
We hold both aesthetic and religious values to the jewelry. Even today necklaces hand-crafted in Rudraksh (religious beads), sandalwood bead, silk and gold thread
are used to adorn sculptures of gods, religious souls. This is a symbol of love and gratitude for the deities.
For some, jewelry is a symbol of status and wealth. So, the more you wear, the fatter seems your pocket. Moreover, in communities like Hindus, Jains and Sikhs women do not inherit landed property. Therefore, they are gifted jewelries as streedhana (gifts given by their maternal family at the time of their marriage). It can further be easily encashed by the women, therefore in Indian culture, jewelry is also considered as an investment by many.
