Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Indian Jewelry

India is known as the ‘gem bearing’ country. You can find ornaments for every part of the body. Not only this, ornaments are also designed for elephants and gods which shows their expertise and excellence in jewelry making art.

Available data shows the rich history of nearly 5,000 years, which says all about the Indian love of jewelry. For the rulers, jewelries were the symbol of their power, richness and class. Though women used jewelry to distinguish them from men as that time jewelries were mainly feminine and matches well with the nature of women. It was started as a craft which became an art and now this art is getting popularity all over the world.

Temple Jewelry:
Temple jewelry is mainly worn at the traditional dances of India which originates from the temples of India. Mainly Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi dancers use these jewelry which takes from a month to a year according to its design. It is available in whole set containing jewelry for ears, feet, hips nose, hands, fingers and legs. These jewelries are made in gold with a combination of rubies, emeralds, diamonds, pearls and sapphires. Due to its toughness and hard labor, temple jewellery is professionally made by certain craftsmen, who have maintained its originality and charm.

Antique Jewelry:
On the contrary to its name, antique jewellery is modern fancy jewelry which goes through the process of oxidizing and other such process to give it a dull look. Because of its selected clientele, antique jewelry is really nominal in range and got an exclusive look.

Minakari Jewelry:
Minakari or enameling jewelry was born as the result of the great vision of Mugal Emperor Shah Jahan. It is nothing but a unique combination of gems, enameling pigments and precious stones. Each design is specially designed and arranged in such a way so, that the stones and gems also glitter with the enameling light of the jewelry. It is generally high priced and available in neck wears, earrings, rings and whole set.

Besides above mentioned types of jewelries, special Indian wedding jewelry is also very popular. The perfect wedding jewelry contains earrings, neck wears, bangles, toe rings, bracelets, anklets and Maang-tikka (worn generally at head to cover parting). There are also some special jewelry for married women like bangles and Mangal-Sutra, gold chain with black beads.