Traditional Jewellery From Jaipur :

Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to look appealing, but humans have been producing and wearing it for a long time.
The word jewellery itself is derived from the word jewel, which was anglicized from the Old French “jouel”, and beyond that, to the Latin word “jocale”, meaning plaything. In British English the spelling can be written as jewelery or jewellery, while in U.S. English the spelling is jewelry.

Rajasthan is recognized as the diamond polishing state of the India, Rajasthan is gaining prominence as an international sourcing destination for high quality designer jewellery. According to IBEF, gems & jewellery manufacturing in Rajasthan constitute 17% of India’s export which makes it the fastest growing jewellery market in the world.

Jaipur is the World Renowned Center for Gemstones- For centuries; Jaipur has been a world-renowned center for sourcing of fine-cut precious and semi-precious gemstones. With heavy investment in technology, gemstone cutters have forward integrated and have started jewellery manufacturing.

Jaipur now exports a wide range of studded silver, gold and even platinum jewellery.  Beautifully enameled artistic gold jewelry studded with flat diamonds and colored gemstones are recognized as a sign of aristocracy since Mughal period.

The presence of highly skilled, low-cost labor enables Jaipur to design and make high volumes of exquisite jewellery at relatively low cost. RIICO has also developed a special zone for Gems & Jewellery at the Export Promotion Industrial Park (EPIP) at Sitapura, Jaipur.

Big, colorful and traditional necklaces, armlets, anklets, earrings and rings are the part of Rajasthan culture. With advent of Mughal Empire, Rajasthan became the main center for production of finest and intricate kind of jewellery.

Waist Ornaments

Kardhani- It is the major ornament worn on waist. It covers from all sides. There are small bells attached to it. It is also known as kandora or Mekhala. The other ornament is Kankati.

Legs Ornaments

All the ornaments worn on legs are made up of silver. They are Paijeb, Payal, Kade, chale, Naveri, Bichuae that are worn on legs.

• Paijeb- It is chain of silver in which small bells are tied.
• Payal- It is similar to paijeb. It is solid ring shaped wire. When it is worn it makes melodious sound.
• Kada & Langar- They are hollow from inside. Langar is worn beneath kada which is made by joining thick wires of silver together.
• AwlaNevta- It is worn with kada. It is made up of solid silver. Nevta is also worn with kada.
• Jhanzar & Noopur- The bells are there in them which make sound when worn.
• Anguda & Bichuae- The anguda is worn on thumbs of toes while bichuae is worn on fingers of toes.
• Pungpan- It is similar to haathphool. The rings of toes are joined with payal through hooks. It is worn on marriage ceremonies.
  The other ornaments are todhe, tinke, lache which adorn the legs of Rajasthani women.

It is not surprising that royal ladies of Rajasthan were so bedecked from head to toe in jewels so much so that it sometimes was a mystery as how they carry the weight of all jewellery worn.

Neck Ornament

• Muktamala- It is mostly worn by rich class. It is nath of pearls and also known as Surmargi in which there is a bead of gold.
• Manikmala- It is made of red, pink jewel which looks attractive.
• Tabeez- The shape is square, rounded and triangular. It is worn for protection against evil spirits.

Haath Phool Wrist Ornaments- The ornaments covers the wrists from all sides are made of gold. These are hollow from inside and from a silken thread they are tied to wrist.

• Ghookro- It is sharp edged ornament.
• Gajre- These are twisted ornament which are in shape of flower-leaf and made of gold.
• Bajuband- It is worn on arms and also known as Bahuband.
• Kada- It is springular. It is also known as tada.
• Haathphool- It is in the shape of paan. It is joined with bangles of handon on one side and joined with chains of rings on other side. It is made of simple metal and jewelled.

Forehead Ornaments

• Shishphool- It is ornament which worn on hairs. The intricate work is done artistically on this ornament.
• Summang- It is the cluster puff pearls which are worn in the middle of hair parting.
• Tika- It is in shape of medal whose lower part is made of pearls. It is tied with summang and hangs down the forehead. It is worn mostly by Oswal, Porwal and Agarwal class.
• Rakdri- It is rounded and heavy ornament.

Ear Ornaments

• Karnphool- It is in shape of flower in which pearls hangs downwards.
• Jhale- It is ornament which sticks to ear and fixed in memandh which is single jewellery.The other popular ear ornaments are Bade, Tops, balliyaan, Jhoomake, Jhoote and earrings.

Lac Bangles are quite admired which is common man’s gold.
Rajasthan has rich deposits of precious and semi-precious stones such as emerald, garnet, agate, topaz and lapis lazuli. Each gem is believed to have inherent powers and some of them are even worn as rings and other jewellery as lucky charms.

Traditional Ornaments of Rajasthani Men

• Sher-Nakh-Jantr- Silver amulets are curved like a tiger’s claw. The amulets depict many folklore heroes. They are featured geometrical shapes and these shapes represent different identities.
  Square, rectangles and pentagons are representative of a house, six sided amulets are known as Patri and symbolizes temple. The circular amulets are called as mandalas are believed to ward off spirits.
• Gajjalu- They are casted brass ankle bells that are sewn on to a strip of leather and worn by male dancers when they perform.
• Tazim- It is crafted in gold or silver and is hereditary chain anklet that shows the sign of recognition. It used to be worn on right ankle either as necklace or bracelets.
• Baleora- It is gold necklace that consists of seven chains that are further adorned with seven clasp units which are set with gemstones.
• Hansli – A Neck Collar Jewellery for Rajasthani Male

Kundan and enamel jewellery has been a specialty of Rajasthani Jewellery particularly of Jaipur. Kundan is art of setting precious stones in gold; the stones are embossed into decorative shapes and patterns and embellished with delicate enamel ornamentation.

The Thewa art is really exquisite and popular.

Rajasthan is well known for gold and silver enameling. One of the traditional art, known as Meenakari.
Gemstones- Rajasthan excels in wide range of precious and semi-precious jewellery. Exquisite ornaments are made in Jaipur using emerald, diamond, pearl, garnet, agate and lapis lazuli. Jaipur workers use simple tools, in spite of which their dexterity and skill is remarkable.

A piece of very popular jewellery in Rajasthan is the navratna, a collection of nine gems set together in a single piece of jewellery, either a pendant or a ring. Pearls were considered extremely lucky and emperors even ate ground pearls as medicine. Traditional designs are still popular in modern India, though the colored glass or semi-precious stones have taken place of precious stones as in traditional Rajasthan.