Jewelry of Rajasthan: Types and Techniques
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Jewelry has always been regarded in the form of wealth. Adoration of jewelry by women is not only for joy but to attract the notice of others. In some set of people it is taken as the symbol of status and prosperity.
Rajasthani jewelry having a unique place in India is made of the purest and finest materials. The artistic delicacy and elaborateness in its manufacturing is world renowned. Rajasthani women, whether urban or rural, are fond of gold and silver ornaments. Rich women wear jewelry consisting of diamonds and stones along with the golden ones. Some essential items of jewelry like Borla or Tikka on head, earrings or tops in the ears, Nath or Laung in the nose and necklace around her neck are worn by Rajasthani women. They not only represent the ornamentation but also religious sanctity of the married women. Necklaces and bangles also play an important part in the jewelry of Rajasthan.
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The delicate workmanship in the collar and hanging chains of Bhilhanshi of Rajasthan jewelry are Bindi, Borla, Tikka, Pipalpatra and Rakhadi. On the head, Karanphool, phooljhumka in the ears, Kanthsari, Hansali, Mandali, Jalro and Halro in the neck, Vinta, Hatpuri Ponchi, Churi, Norri, Kangan, Bajuband and Kada in the hand, Kandore, on the waist, Gorpholri, Pajab, Langar, Thanka, Anwla, Makya, Lacharu and HirIoumari on the legs.
Rajasthan did not escape the thrust of the Mughal influence on its jewelry. Its impact brought new vitality and creative desire among the local artisans. According to an observer, the synthesis of the Hindu and Muslim cultures, both inherently decorative, reached its peak in the era of the Mughals, in the brilliance and splendor of their courts, dazzling in their lavish ostentation yet with all the dignity of refined taste. The Mughal rulers had the leisure, they had the wealth, to feed their desires and their inclination to support and patronize the fine and industrial arts of the country of their adoption.
It was at this period of history that the art of enameling reached its zenith, the enameled jewelry of the age taking on many of the attributes of the delicate beauty of the painted miniatures of the Mughal School. Even the backs of the ornaments were superbly enameled with beautiful design, floral and geometrical, with bird and beasts, trees and flowers, probably to preserve the gold from constant with the human skin, apart from the fact that this must have given the jeweler further scope for exhibiting his skill and his art; for without any doubt, the craftsmen of the age was an artist first and a craftsman only next. Often the front of the ornament was set with precious stones held in place by pure gold bands called the Kundan. Only the finest and purest gold was used for the enameller’s art for such alone could do full justice to the love and labor lavished on the creation of precious beauty.
A specialty of the Mughal period was the encrustation of jade with patterns in gold emeralds, rubies and diamonds. Lockets and brooches, mouth pieces of Hukkas, hilts of swords and daggers, and heads of walking sticks were products of this not from the rubies, or diamonds used in making them but from beautiful and costly work.
Banaras formed the cradle of the enamel work, whence it was borrowed by Jaipur. The Jaipur enameling is Champleve. It is processed systematically on the back of a golden ornament. The representation of any object is drawn with a style, and the lines are well polished by another style until they acquire a perfect gloss and make the figure visible. Enamel dust is put into the lines and cavities thus formed. The ornament is then placed on furnace for proportionate heat, until the dust melts and is diffused equally though the cavities and lines. The piece is then burnished with a wet stone, which resembles blue copper in color. This process is repeated, if necessary until the work received a perfect polish.
This art which was brought by the Persians in Jaipur in early 18th century has also spread to various places like Nathdwara and Pratapgarh. Enamellings is done in gold in Jaipur while glass is used in Pratapgarh.
Rajasthan known for its Kundan work has attracted wide attention of the foreigners. This is the art of setting precious stones in gold. Kundan work adopted in Rajasthan is an unparallel in the history of jewelry. A combination of Kundan and enameling is done to give the jewel two equally beautiful surfaces, enamel in the back and Kundan set gems in front. Enameling work on silver and other materials is now done in Nathdwara also. It is attractive as well as cheap. Enamel beads in various colors are also available here.
Jaipur has been famous for the diamond industry thourgh out the world. Diamonds worth millions are exported every year. The artisans of this industry specialize in polishing and modeling the stones to the decorative tastes of the purchaser. The artists engaged in lapidary were encouraged by the then founder of Jaipur, Maharaja Sawai Jai Singh. Johri Bazar in Jaipur is known for this trade. It is the biggest center in Asia for shaping and polishing of the diamonds. The design and the way the jewels are cut in Jaipur represents the admixture of Mughal and Rajput style. The ornaments worn by men and woman in the past weighed heavily which required the cutting of gems, to the minimum. Gems were ordered to be cut in a way that exhibited the body of the jewel the most.
The jewelers of Rajasthan knew of more then hundred varieties of precious and semi precious stones. The nine types of stones popularly called as Navratnas are Panna, Manak, Hira, Pukhraj, Moti, Moonga, Lahsania, Neelam and Gumedak. The semi-precious stones number about eighty four. Among the precious gems used by Jaipur jewelers were Neelam from Kashmir and diamonds from Panna and Golkonda. |
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