Bangles....

Bangles…..

What triggers off this ‘discourse’ on Bangles, is the fact that one of my friends asked me today why a bangle is called a bangle…and thinking…and some ‘google - ing’ about it gave rise to the following line of thought….

The word bangle comes from the hindi word ‘bangri’ which literally means a ring for the arm or leg…literally….culturally bangles mean a thousand different things….

Bangles have a different interpretation in every culture. …

Hindu unmarried girls always wear some bangles round both their wrists as it is considered inauspicious to be bare armed. Bare hands are symbolically associated with widows who have been denied the right to wear bangles or any kind of adornment. Generally, they are worn after marriage to signify matrimony. It is tradition that the bride will try to wear as many small glass bangles as possible at her wedding and the honeymoon will end when the last bangle breaks.

Not only this there is diversity n bangles too all over India……

The Kashmiris have the most exquisitely painted papier mache bangles.

A bride from Punjab is traditionally given slender lac and plastic choodas (bangles) in white and red. These bangles are given only in multiples of four. The bride wears these bangles for a period of three to six months and as long as the bangles are on she is generally pampered as the new bride and not given and kitchen duties to perform. The day she enters the kitchen to work she takes off her chooda and gifts them to a priest or to the local shrine.

In Gujarat and Rajasthan, the bride's mother will gift a pair of ivory bangles. With these ivory bangles, a young couple performs the 'Saptapati;' without these ornaments, the ritual cannot occur. The Saptapati consists of seven steps around the fire. Without this ritual, a Hindu marriage is considered incomplete.
When the Gujarati bride conceives, her sister-in-law gifts her a silver chain bracelet. In the seventh month she is also asked to wear a bracelet made of black thread and five kowdis (a kind of shell). This bracelet is unknotted only when the woman goes into labour pains to symbolically help in an easy delivery.

The Ahirs of Rajasthan and Rabaris of Gujarat, the pastoral tribes cover their entire hand with broad plain bangles made of bone. The unmarried wear them only from the wrist to the elbow whereas the married wear them from the elbow upwards as far up as the underarm. Since these tribes are nomadic and they cannot keep their assets under safe keeping they wear their saving in the form of jewellery on their person. When struck by any natural calamity like draught or famine, bands of the tribes flock to the closest town to sell their bone bangles.

In Bengal, woman wear 'lohas' to symbolize their marriage; they are bangles that are alternately known as the iron 'kada.' Brides are also presented with beautifully crafted, white conch bangles and red lac bangles.

The Bastar tribe of Madhya Pradesh wear bangles made of coconut shell. Intricate patterns designed on white metal are screwed firmly onto the coconut shell. The Gonds and Bhils wear bangles made out of brass or beads.

The Maharashtrians give a woman green glass bangles when she is pregnant. But then green is the auspicious colour for a married woman in Maharashtra and they are given green bungles to mark all occasions. A couple of days before the wedding they perform a ceremony called the lagna chooda when a bangle seller comes home and firs stacks the bride’s hand with green bangles onto the wrists of every married woman present. The unmarried girls wear dozens of coloured glass bangles that match their clothes.

The Lambadis of Andhra Pradesh wear these graded bone bangles only upto their elbows.

In the south they practice a similar ceremony called valaikapu when the woman is in her seventh month of pregnancy and comes to stay oat her mother’s home. All varieties and colours of glass bangles are literally stacked on her hands with 21 valay (bangles) on one hand and 22 on the other. She is also given a silver kapu, a thin silver bangle with clasps. This is unclasped only when the labour pains begin. The glass bangles are also taken off then.

The tradition of bangles has been in India for centuries….Ornaments on the arms and wrists were worn in India from the days of the Indus Valley Civilization (2300-1000 B.C.) as is evident from the bronze figurine found in Mohenjodaro. Bangles cover the entire arm of this figures display bangles as do the cave paintings in the Ajanta and Ellora. Armlets are rarely worn nowadays except as fashion statements…but once upon a time these coiled snake like ornaments adorned the arms of every person who could affored them. They came in various designs like sinh (lion), sarp (snake), keyur (peacock) etc.

Even the devi (Goddess) is offered glass bangles. In the south she is offered black ones, in Maharashtra green and in Calcutta red. In the northern belt of India red glass bangles are considered auspicious for the married as green ones are in Maharashtra.

Even the color has different interpretations. Red and Green are symbols of marriage, Yellow and orange for happiness, white for new beginnings, black for power, silver for strength and gold for fortune.

Each area crafts bangles using the materials available locally. Wood in Kashmir, the rhino horn bangles in Assam, lac in Rajasthan. There are many fashionable bangle in metals, plastics, silk threads etc. the variety is seemingly endless.

Call it chudi, kangan, bangdi, Valaya, Kada, Gajulu, Choodla whatever you want…bangles have a special place in every Indian girl’s heart, two simple bangles everyday may mean simplicity, practicality, a subtle expression of feminity….two bangles that match the dress everyday may mean I like bangles or someone likes bangles on me….lots of bangles on wedding like ceremony means I just like the sound or look of it…. To add a foolishly romantic thought on top of it all…The jingling musical sound from the bangles on the hands of the newly married woman is a tickling call to her husband. It is the silent laughter of the wedded girl that adds a special charm to her movements….Whatever be your interpretation of it….go ahead girl…dangle that bangle

I know it was very long….but thanks for reading.