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Her solha shringar or
sixteen adornments complete, an Indian bride is a vision of beauty.
It is on her wedding day that all the skills and traditions of the
past are drawn out and concentrated on the bride-to-be.
A bride-any bride,
anywhere in the world-is an epitome of beauty. In India a young girl
is not encouraged to ornament herself before her marriage. And after
marriage her lifestyle demands that she focus her interest
increasingly on the pragmatic rather than the aesthetic alone.
But her wedding day is
the most momentous of all events. This one occasion makes everything
else in her life-before or after-pale in comparison. Dr. Mulk Raj
Anand and the late Krishna Nehru Hutheesing, in their, ‘The Book
of Indian Beauty’ write,… “Somewhere in the dark
chambers in heard the wailing chant of a young bride. She is
beautiful or she is plain, but she has made the best of those gifts
that life has bestowed on her through shringar, the rules of which
have come down from generation of generation. She adorns herself
because it is part of a ritual that almost every woman practices. It
is all very new to her and, consequently, there is a certain
self-consciousness in her attempt to adorn herself, a
self-consciousness accentuated by her desire to shine.” In is
on her wedding day that all the skills and traditions of the beauty
rituals of the past are drawn out and concentrated on the
bride-to-be. The ritual, being draped in a brocade sari.
Her limbs and face are
creamed and scrubbed with a paste of oil, turmeric and gram flour and
washed with oils. Her henna tinged hands and feet and her skin, says
a poet, “is perfumed with the essence of flowers, till it is a
mirror of purity, worthy of adornment and respect.
Jewellery has a religious
significance among Hindus. It is a common belief that at least a
speck of gold must be worn upon the person to ensure ceremonial
purity. Ornaments of gold, studded with precious stones are designed
specifically to fit and adorn a certain part of the body, the variety
of each one being rather bewildering. While in most cases the
patterns passed from one generation to another are almost unchanged,
the craftsmen had no need to devise new forms yet a deviation did
creep in. Each century, each invader, each ruler left indelible
impressions.
The bride’s ‘Solah
Shringar’ starts from the top. Her hair, after being washed and
oiled, a braided into a weave of plaits or tied back at the nape of
her neck in a bun with flowers and ornaments adorning it.
While in today’s
cosmopolitan India, there has been a lot of sharing and borrowing of
customs and traditions, yet the true adherents of tradition follow
their individual rites.
While the Punjabi bride
must wear a red parandi (a triple strand of red threads which
are plaited with the hair and end in very decorative tassels); the
Bengali and Maharashtrian brides will sport a bun decorated with
white flowers. Further south, in Tamil Nadu, white, orange and pink
blossoms are woven around the plait. In Kerala, the bride has a veil
of jasmine buds-strands of flowers tied to form a net. The forehead
of each bride is marked with a red bindi-the mark of the God and a
sign of matrimony.
In addition, the bride’s
forehead is embellished with the Suraj of sisphul-a
large circular half ball worn by the Rajputs. The mangapatti-a
gold ornament is worn along the hairline. Worn by both, the
Maharashtrian bride and groom, is the mandoria-strands of
pearls tied horizontally across the forehead and on either side of
the face, vertical strands dangle to the chin.
The mang-tikki is
worn by brides in most parts of the country, It is usually a simple
round disc, about an inch across, set with precious stones and is
attached to the parting of the hair by a chain. The nose ring, as it
is called in English, is only seldom in the shape of a ring. In most
places it is usually a small cluster or gems affixed by means of a
screw to the nostril.
The biggest nose ring is
worn by the Dogra brides. Almost three to four inches in diameter it
has rubies and pearls strung on it. The gold wire is in a loop shape
with encrustations of pearls, garnets and other beads for the
Maharashtrian bride and worn on the left side. The nose stud is worn
by the Gujaratis in the right nostril. In the south it is usually
with a diamond setting mainly five stones forming a triangle and worn
on both sides. The Bengali bride embellishes her face with dots and
designs of chandan sandalwood paste) which go across the forehead and
come down to her cheekbones. The Rajput bride might have three black
dots on her chin to protect her from the Evil Eye.
For highlighting the
eyes, Kajal made from the soot of diya (earthen lamp) lit with
a wick placed in clarified butter is used. The smoke emitted is
collected in an over-turned plate.
The ears are bedecked
with the karn phul- a gold ornament with a star or radiated
center of about an inch in diameter sometimes richly ornamented by
precious stones and fixed to the lobe. Jhumka-a bell shaped
ornament made of solid gold usually with a row of tiny beads along
its edge, is the favorite among the Bengali, Punjabi, Maharashtrian
and Rajput brides. A string a pearls is attached to it and taken
behind the earlobe to support the weight of the heavy earring. The
Tamilians give importance to the diamond-studded earring, a central
stone encircled by smaller ones. Among the Kashmiris a jeroo
is an essential part of the bride’s ensemble and duplicates as
the mangalsutra. It consists of a long gold chain worn
through a hole pierced in the upper ear lobe and having a dangling
end of either gold or pearls.
The patan
(literally meaning leaf) is used as a decorative from and worn in any
part of the ear except the lobe. The Bengalis also wear the kaan
balas-two half-moon shaped gold crescents dangling below the
lobe.
The variety of necklaces
is bewildering, and brides, especially the affluent, are seen wearing
a series of them of differing lengths. There is the collar of gold
beads called the paiti by the Maharashtrian, and the parunia
ke gulsari- string of pearls; the hansli a choker of gold
pieces. The Punjabis have the rani haar, handed down from
mother-in-law to daughter-in-low and consists of pieces of gold
attached with a series of chains. The Maharashtrian also wear the
tanmani, three or four strings of pearls with a central
pendant, or the typical path where seven or eight strings of
pearls are attached to a central green bead. The Tamilians have
their changali in gold but what is imperative is the
mangalsutra of two inverted ‘U’ shaped gold pieces called
tail with four gold beads strung on a yellow thread. Similarly the
Maharashtrians have two cup-like pieces in gold. Traditionally, they
were strung on a yellow thread by a vaishya (prostitute) as, never
being married, she could not become a widow either, which were the
blessings to the passed to the bride. Among the Andhraites and
Keralites is the kashmira a long necklace made of gold
sovereigns held together by chains. Of course, floral garlands of
mogras, rajnigandhas, roses, and marigolds are also worn by the
brides.
The bangle or bracelet is
the most significant of ornaments for bangles are above all, the
visible sign of marriage. While young girls may wear bangles of
various kinds before their marriage, the first act of widowhood is to
discard them, (see article The Warm Ring of Bangles, Discover India
April’91)
The north Indian brides
have, among the Punjabis and Dogras, the chura made of a set
of white ivory bangles with red ones at either end. On a thin iron
bangle in the front are tied a bunch of kaliras-danglers of
thin silver or gold. They are ties by friends and relatives as a
blessing to the bride. Also common is coconut and some dried fruits
and shells tied together by the red sacred thread. These are usually
given by the maternal uncles. Te significance of these dates back to
the olden times when the bride leaving for her husband’s home (a
journey which could take several days) could feed off the dried
fruits in case she felt hungry. The conch has tremendous religious
importance among the Bengalis and it is natural that bangles made
from the shells are used for the bride. The white, or sometimes
red-colored shank has adorn her wrist. The Rajput bride wears the
ichura- a series of plain, ivory bangles starting from the
smallest at the wrist and progressively growing larger till the
shoulders, covering the entire arm. The ivory chudo is also
worn by the Gujaratis and in addition are the green and red glass
bangles or bangri. Green glass is again the colour for the
Andhra and Maharashtrian brides. Of course gold bangles also add to
the profusely adorned wrists in all parts of India, either as the
thin churi or its broader, flatter version or the thick kara
with either the elephant or lion heads.
Further up the arm is the
bazubandh or armlet-a precious stone-adorned semi-circular
trinket with skeins at both ends to tie them in place with.
The palms are covered
with an intricate design of mehandi and in the north especially, the
application of henna is a special ceremony. Traditionally, the
application of henna is a special ceremony. Traditionally, it was
believed that the stronger or darker the color of the mehandi design,
the more the bride’s mother-in-law would love her.
Rings, usually of gold,
her worn more as a decorative item. There is also the fashion of the
arsi or thumb-ring with a mirrored front for the bride to look
at herself. In some cases, the mirror opens to reveal a small box in
which perfume can be kept. Another popular combination in the north
is the haath phool. It consists of five rings in all the
fingers, joined to a bangle at the wrist with chains from each ring
radiating to a medallion encrusted with stones in the center of the
hand, with chains again joining the medallion to the bangle.
To keep the sari in place
as well as accentuate the bride’s slim waist a belt of gold or
silver is used. While the Punjabis call it taragi the
Tamilians used the odianmam to hold their nine-yard sari in
place.
The feet are also given
as much importance as the rest of the body. The Bengalis color theirs
red with alta drawing a thick line along the outer border of
the foot and applying a dot above the arch. Anklets are either in
the form of simple chains of paizeb heavy thick rings of
silver set with a fringe of small spherical bells which tinkle at
every movement of the limb. Appropriately, the Gujaratis call them
jhanjhar or payals. And finally, the toes are adorned
with the anwat a ring furnished with little bells. Or the
bichua, rings worn around the toes, and traditionally attached
along each side of the foot, to the paizeb at the ankle.
Among the Maharashtrians it is an elaborate toe-ring with a parrot,
peacock or fish design. In Andhra, the popular design is the ambi
of paisley. It is put on to the bride’s toes during the
ceremony with he groom getting her to place her foot on the grinding
stone. The Tamil bride may adorn one or more of her toes with the
matti or a simple multi-coiled silver ring, which is presented
by her material uncle, symbolizing eternity.
The richly woven gold and
red brocade sari which is considered one of the most graceful dresses
in the world led poets to write, “it veils the body but does not
misrepresent it”. The wedding ensemble could be the green nine
yard paithan of the Maharashtrians, the maroon and
gold-bordered koorap-podavi of the Tamilians; the raunak
gold and white one of the Sindhis and a similar one of the Keralites
or the white with red border sanetar of the Gujarati. Again,
the rich, Benarasi red and gold ones of the Bengalis and Punjabis or
the kurti, Kanchli, ghagra and odhni of the Rajput
brides and the churidar-kamiz and odhni of the Dogras.
All these adornments symbolize the day, the most important one in the
life of a woman when she goes to her husband in shyness and modesty.
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