Indian Accessories

India’s true culture and heritage rest with its tribal community because the tribal people have preserved the ancient arts and crafts in their proper form while the rest of India had been continuously influenced by globalization.

Ethnic tribal jewelry could be surely included in the preserved craft. India has several types of tribal folks, each differing from one another in many ways and the jewelry created by each is also unique in its own style. They use materials available in the local area to make jewelry that is charming in its rustic and earthy way. They craft their jewelry using primitive tools and its appeal lies in its chunky, unrefined looks. The raw materials like bone, wood, clay, shells, crude metals etc are generally used to make tribal jewelry and the shapes are basic.
The Rajasthan tribes, Banjara, create colorful heavy jewelry and belts that are decorated with shells, metal-mesh, coins, beads and chains. Their very famous silver jewelry, a vast collection of earrings, bracelets, bangles, armlets, anklets, hairpins and necklaces, have a unique oxidized appearance and are usually embellished with tiny silver bells and color stones.
The tribes of Bastar in Madhya Pradesh State produce jewelry of grass, beads and cane and popular traditional ornaments out of silver, wood, glass, peacock feathers, copper and wild flowers. Their women wear chains of one rupee coins.
Meghalaya’s tribes Khasi and Jaintia make a unique type of necklace with thick red coral bead and Garo tribe makes the same with thin fluted stems of glass strung by fine thread.
The tribe of Sikkim called Bhutia has jewelry of gold, silver, coral, turquoise and zee stone.
The picturesque North East Indian state’s tribal jewelry of cane and bamboo is very famous. They also use brass, bone, ivory, silver and gold to make their jewelry that are decorated with colorful beads, blue feathers of birds, green wings of beetles. The tribe called Wanchos creates earrings of glass beads, wild seeds, cane, bamboo and reed while the Karka Gallong tribal women wear heavy iron earrings that are coiled several times, metal coin necklaces and waistbands of leather embedded with stones.
Here special mention should be made about the silver bangles of the Gonda tribe. Some bangles are solid while others are hollow. The jeweler makes the bangle in such a way that once it is worn cannot be removed forever. Bangles for special occasion are removable with a hinge mechanism.