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Ornaments
Madhya Pradesh is famous
for its colourful dresses and the art of jewellery. It is during the festivals
that the women of this vast region wear their finest clothes and ornaments.
The urban women use gold for their
jewellery and rural women use silver in large quantity. Brass or zinc or
tin ornaments are common in tribal areas. The bead-work done by the Murias
of Bastar is treated as a work of art. Head-bands or earrings with
pendants of red, blue and white beads or cowries and bead-belts with bells
suspended are the constant source of attraction for every Adivasi woman. A
sigarimugari Muria girl is one who cares for her brass rings with
bells attached and wears all kinds of ornaments with her coloured skirt and
wimple. The women of the bison-horn Maria tribe wear brass fillets on
their heads as crowns when they go for dancing. As a dancing outfit,
men should wear their head-gears decorated with plumes of feathers, horns and
chains of cowries. The dancing-stick of the Maria girl is also considered
a valuable.
The women of Malwa wear a
globular pendant called Rakhadi Bor (Borla or Bordo) on the forehead.
The
Bor is set with small pearls or shining stones. Linked chains called Jhela
made of gold or silver go right up to the earrings. A gold nose-ring
called Nath (Nathni) rests on the right cheek and necklaces worn round the neck
cascade down to the waist.
Traditional peasant jewellery
fascinates the woman for its eloquent designing. Even the poorest woman
wears some sort of ornaments. Some beliefs dominate her attachment to
continue their use to signify her marital status.
Men wear bracelets in their wrists
and Mundri in the fingers. In the upper part of the ears Bari or Bali is
very common among the Gonds. Bala is worn in the middle part of the ears
and the Lurki in the lobes. The Gond is also fond of the toe-ring called chutka.
Ornaments worn by the women in the rural areas of the
state.
Nose
: Nath or Nathni, Bala,
Kuttlya or Long, Besar and Tui
Head
: Rakhadi Bor (ornament
suspended on forehead), Bindi, Kan-phool, Bedalia, Bhala and Jhela (Hankliya) or Bija (ornament reaching from the middle of the forehead down to
the temples).
Neck
: Har, Khambia, Pan-toda, Serkyo,
Hansli (neck-band), Thussi, Tinmanyo (Timnya), Galsari, Dulri, Tildi, Tagli,
Sikri, Sutli, Bawal, Havel (string of silver coins common to the Gond and Bhumia
women) and Munga (necklace of red beads).
Wrist and arm :
Gujari, Bala, Bajadi, Kada-batla, Pachheli, Karmdi, Kakan, Banwaria (broad
silver bangles), Banhuta and Bajuband (amulet).
Fingers of a hand:
Chhalla, Biti (mundri), Hath-phool and Ponchi.
Waist
: Kandora, Kondni (Kardhani) and Podni.
Ankle
: Kadi, Toda, Anwala, Newari, Peejnya
(Paijjan), Pairi, Jhabia, Jhanjar and Jutia.
Toe fingers
: Anwat Chitya, Bhichhiya or Bisura
(scorpion).
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