Life Desk :
Bangles look beautiful on the delicate wrists of Indian women, especially the young brides. Besides enhancing the beauty, it is one of the many symbols that mark a married Indian woman, the others being sindoor, toe ring, mangalsutra, etc. However, with the woman no longer being confined to home after marriage, the age-old tradition of wearing wedding symbols daily has taken a backseat and these are now reserved for special days only. For daily wear, women now wear kadas or a single thick bracelet with trendier, geometric designs nudging into the market of traditional designs.
However, tradition still plays a significant role during an Indian wedding, you will see the brides wearing bangles on their wedding day and for some months after it as they flaunt their status as a newly-married bride. Traditionally, a part of the solah shringar for Indian brides, bangles made of glass, gold or other metals is meant to signify good fortune and prosperity.
In a multicultural country like India, bangles, its colours and the material it’s made in differs from community to community or state to state. Let’s take a look at some of them…
In Maharashtra
The bridal chooda is made of green glass bangles in odd numbers. These are worn along with solid gold bangles called patlya and carved kadas called tode.
In Southern states
While gold is considered most auspicious in southern states of India, some communities see the brides wear green coloured glass bangles along with the gold ones, since green signifies fertility and prosperity.
In Gujarat and Rajasthan
In Gujarat and Rajasthan, the bride’s mother gifts her a pair of ivory bangles and only after wearing these ivory bangles, the bridal couple can perform the ‘saptapati’ ritual or saat phere to complete the marriage ceremony.
In Punjab
The red and white chooda worn by Punjabi brides is quite popular and you can see young brides enthusiastically flaunting them even in western wear. The chooda is basically 21 slender ivory bangles in white and red decorated decorated with stones. In fact the bangle-wearing ceremony is held in the morning on the day of the wedding.
A puja is performed by the pandit wherein the bride’s maternal uncles give her a set of chooda after washing them in milk. As per tradition, the brides are supposed to wear them for minimum of 40 days and then continue to wear them for a year; in some communities even for 15 months. These bangles are usually worn in larger size as the newly married girls are going to wear them till one year. Another interesting ritual associated with the chooda ceremony is putting the ‘kalire’ or tinkling bells. These dome shaped streamers with tinkling silver and gold bells are tied to the chooda by the bride’s cousins and friends. They are like blessings for the bride as she starts a new life and also to remind her of her old friends.
In West Bengal and Odisha
Bengali and Odiya woman wear white bangles made up of conch-shell known as shaka, while pola are red bangles made up of red corals. In earlier days, the affluent ladies used to wear shakhas made of elephant teeth.
Bangles and colours
Red signifies energy and prosperity
Green denotes good luck and fertility
Blue is for wisdom
Yellow bangles are meant for happiness
White is for new beginnings
Orange is for success
Silver bangles denote strength
Gold bangles symbolise fortune and prosperity
-ToI
Bangles look beautiful on the delicate wrists of Indian women, especially the young brides. Besides enhancing the beauty, it is one of the many symbols that mark a married Indian woman, the others being sindoor, toe ring, mangalsutra, etc. However, with the woman no longer being confined to home after marriage, the age-old tradition of wearing wedding symbols daily has taken a backseat and these are now reserved for special days only. For daily wear, women now wear kadas or a single thick bracelet with trendier, geometric designs nudging into the market of traditional designs.
However, tradition still plays a significant role during an Indian wedding, you will see the brides wearing bangles on their wedding day and for some months after it as they flaunt their status as a newly-married bride. Traditionally, a part of the solah shringar for Indian brides, bangles made of glass, gold or other metals is meant to signify good fortune and prosperity.
In a multicultural country like India, bangles, its colours and the material it’s made in differs from community to community or state to state. Let’s take a look at some of them…
In Maharashtra
The bridal chooda is made of green glass bangles in odd numbers. These are worn along with solid gold bangles called patlya and carved kadas called tode.
In Southern states
While gold is considered most auspicious in southern states of India, some communities see the brides wear green coloured glass bangles along with the gold ones, since green signifies fertility and prosperity.
In Gujarat and Rajasthan
In Gujarat and Rajasthan, the bride’s mother gifts her a pair of ivory bangles and only after wearing these ivory bangles, the bridal couple can perform the ‘saptapati’ ritual or saat phere to complete the marriage ceremony.
In Punjab
The red and white chooda worn by Punjabi brides is quite popular and you can see young brides enthusiastically flaunting them even in western wear. The chooda is basically 21 slender ivory bangles in white and red decorated decorated with stones. In fact the bangle-wearing ceremony is held in the morning on the day of the wedding.
A puja is performed by the pandit wherein the bride’s maternal uncles give her a set of chooda after washing them in milk. As per tradition, the brides are supposed to wear them for minimum of 40 days and then continue to wear them for a year; in some communities even for 15 months. These bangles are usually worn in larger size as the newly married girls are going to wear them till one year. Another interesting ritual associated with the chooda ceremony is putting the ‘kalire’ or tinkling bells. These dome shaped streamers with tinkling silver and gold bells are tied to the chooda by the bride’s cousins and friends. They are like blessings for the bride as she starts a new life and also to remind her of her old friends.
In West Bengal and Odisha
Bengali and Odiya woman wear white bangles made up of conch-shell known as shaka, while pola are red bangles made up of red corals. In earlier days, the affluent ladies used to wear shakhas made of elephant teeth.
Bangles and colours
Red signifies energy and prosperity
Green denotes good luck and fertility
Blue is for wisdom
Yellow bangles are meant for happiness
White is for new beginnings
Orange is for success
Silver bangles denote strength
Gold bangles symbolise fortune and prosperity
-ToI
