Each culture chooses to adorn different parts of the body. Some are unique to India. Like these gold anklets decorated to the nth degree. The septum nose rings called bullukku, found in very few cultures. Jewels for different parts of the ear known as koppu or kunukku. We have [...]
When a young girl came of age, the story goes, the jeweller would visit her home to pierce her ears. He would then insert soft hay into it to make sure that the hole didn't close. A few days later he would visit to "tear" the hole just a bit more. Insert more [...]
These earrings, judging from their material worth, the excellence of craftsmanship, and the use of royal emblems (a winged lion and an elephant) as part of their design, were most probably made as royal commissions. In addition to clusters and rows of beads, each earring is decorated with [...]
...my father came to see my mother in the hospital delivery room. She handed him the baby and he pressed a gold bangle into her palm. “Ponn kodutha kai-kku pon kodukkaren,” he said with a shy grin. Ponn in Tamil means daughter. Pon, without the end emphasis, also means gold. My father, ever [...]