Indian jewellery

Man,s desire to decorate himself with objects of nature like feathers, seeds, and cowrie shells was the initial stage in the development of jewellery. The tribals took great pains to collect these items for their personal decorations. With the advent of the agrarian society, jewellery became associated with the status of a man in society and became a form of savings. In India, jewellery is counted as the wealth of a woman and she inherits it from her father or her husband as gift.
Jewellery is mostly associated with married woman in Indian society and a widow hardly displays any form of jewellery.
A special community of people called Sonars in India make the jewels. They are attached to specific groups and castes of people. Most of the jewellery items worn by Indian women are the same but for some regional influences
Nose ring
Nose ornaments are widely used throughout India. Different shapes and designs are involved, as also different materials are used in its making. Gold, silver, pearls and a variety of precious stones are used.
The nose ornament took shape only in the 10 the century, with the arrival of the Arab invaders. It is of different types like the simple Lavang, clove, to Phuli, the elaborately worked stud, or Nath the nose ring worn in the right nostril and the Bulli the ring worn in the center just over the lips.

Tikka, worn on the forehead
Bore is a head ornament, which is placed at the parting of the hairs. It is also called as Boldra in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh. The tikka is a round pendant at the end of a long chain and which falls on the forehead.
It is also commonly used throughout India. Bengal has a range of hair jewels, which decorate the hair tied as a bun at the back. In South India a variety of ornaments are available for decorating the loose plait.

A traditional Necklace
For the neck there are scores of chains, necklaces, and chokers available. Guluband is made of beads or rectangular pieces of metals strung together with the help of threads. Then there is the longer Kanthi. Under this can be worn a silver chain or a necklace of beads.
Golden Kadas
To adorn the hands there are of course a variety of rings from the cheap silver items to diamond rings, which are worth a fortune. The top of the hand can be adorned with the hathpool or Rattan Chowk. For the wrist there are the Karda, the Paunchi, the Gajira and the Chuda and these all together make up the bracelet category. Bracelets come in cheap mixed metal varieties to diamond studded gold ones. Above the elbow women wear the Bazoo, the Joshan and the Bank.

Anklet
Anklets for the toes come in different models of heavy metals and silver. The delicately worked paizebs ending in tinkling silver hollow bells is really a good piece to adorn oneself with. The bichua or scorpion ring for the toe is a symbol for married women.

Designs and the mode of techniques vary from region to region and the material used depends upon the status of the wearer in the society. Ornaments range from the simple metal collections to the silver ones, mixed metals, gold, diamond and platinum.