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These areas of training and consulting will be conducted by experts that have more than 20 years experience in their relevant fields. 

Gold/Silver Melting in India

Though there are kilns and furnaces in all shapes and sizes to melt metal, but I found this method very interesting.

Earlier times they used to have the husk of rice, topped it with charcoal and then these crucibles. Then they used to blow with a pipe. And the fire surrounded the crucible with the metal in it. And in very few minutes they removed the molten metal and poured it.

Now instead of blowing manually they use a motor.
I have also done melting in furnaces, but this is really amazing. No hassles, just 2 minutes!

I requested one of the goldsmiths to allow me to shoot it, and he agreed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1oDvItIUVDY

Bridal jewellery - Karugamani

This is a simple chain with black beads on it.  In our community in TamilNadu, the bride-groom's sister gifts it to the bride. Before even the bride-groom ties the sacred thaali on the bride's neck, this Karugamani is given by the sister-in-law to the bride. You also get this with pendants. There are also varieties where a single gold chain comes in between the two Karagamani line of beads.

Completely hand made with loops and black beads.

Again there are different customs in each state. In Karnataka, this Karugamani itself is worn as a sacred thaali with their custom pendants.

Thaali is a sacred thread or chain that is put or tied on the bride's neck which solemnises the wedding ceremony. The bride never removes it from her neck. Now due to safety measures, many carry it in their bags and later wear it.

Bridal Jewellery - Haaram

This is a jewellery that is worn by the bride along with the other jewellery. Basically the bride is decked with jewellery from the neck to her waist.

In Tamilnadu you can see a bride may be wearing a choker, a necklace, a haram, a Kaasumaalai on her neck.There are some gaps in between the jewellery worn.

But in Kerala, it starts from the bride's neck to her Ottiyanam, and there are usually no gaps. The arrangement of jewellery is beautiful. And also in TamilNadu they believe a lot in jewellery being heavy. They dont buy light weight jewellery. But in Kerala, you also get light weight jewellery.So, though you see the bride wearing so many, it might be weighing less.

This Haaram can also be worn by youngsters as a single ornament. It goes well with silk sarees, silk salwars suits. Again there are hundreds of patterns from simple to heavy Haarams.

Jewellery for the baby- Gajjal

In TamilNadu, even a new born child is adorned with gold (to the extent it can bear)

A chain with a deity stamped pendant, a small baby ring, anklets and an ornament called Gajjal.
It is sort of a belt made in gold, but in a beautiful pattern. It is worn on the baby's waist.

If it is a girl child then small bangles and bracelets are also given. I dont personally encourage it, because I feel it hurts the baby's skin. Especially the Gajjal. But as I said all jewellery are worn for a reason.
Mostly the affluent grandparents gift this to their grandson/granddaughter.

During the naming ceremony, all relatives and friends give gifts to the baby. (it is like a baby shower) It can be dresses, items in silver that the baby will use ( I will write about it in another blog) and jewellery.

In TamilNadu, the most valued gift is either in silver or gold. And people also like to gift in it, if it is in their means. Even people who have very less income like to gift either in silver or gold, because they feel its below their status to do lesser that. I have seen people borrowing money to gift others in gold or silver.

Gajjal

Karthigai Deepam - another reason to wear nice jewellery

Yesterday (17 Nov)  was Karthigai Deepam. In TamilNadu it is grandly celebrated. The entire place is lit with oil lamps on the streets, inside the house, etc. If the street is narrow its a delight to the eyes, because all the lamps are closer to each other, since the houses are also closeby. You need to see it to experience the feeling.

Karthigai Deepam is a festival for Lord Murugan and Lord Shiva. Sweets are made and poojas are offered at home and at temples. The kids enjoy by bursting crackers.

In the famous temple Thiruvanamalai, today the Maga Deepam is lit. Lord Shiva is the deity here, and today he manifests in the form of Fire.

The Magadeepam is a lamp that is 12 feet high which has 300 kgs ghee in it, and with the help of 1100 meters of thread in the ghee the lamp burns , not sure for how long. The lamp is set on a mountain.

The devotees can see the lamp on the mountain, from the plains. Lakhs of devotees throng the temple to see the Mahadeepam. At 6. p.m. in the evening the lamp is lit.

Since its an auspicious day today, thought will try a new thing in silver tonight. But I am stuck. I am trying to make a hollow box bead. I want to later set stones on it.

This is a photo of the Kolam(celtic wire design:)) and lamps are placed on it. This is how its kept on all houses; at the entrance and inside the pooja room.

Rakkodi

This is an ornament that is placed at the back of the head and then flowers are arranged around it.

The brides and the bharatha natyam dancers wear it. But now as a fashion even ladies wear it with sarees and salwar kameezs.

This looks more like a brooch and the expensive ones contain rubies.

The ordinary ones that others wear are either made of silver which is plated with gold or made with other metals.

It has a small round thick wire at the back where a small strand of hair is let through it and its placed on top of the head. And then the hair is woven around it to give the Rakkodi a support to be on top. There is no pin to support, only the hair around it supports it.

There was a custom in earlier days where a young girl's hair was decorated with flowers and Rakkodi.
Especially when she has attained her puberty, they used to conduct a function. This was a way to tell the society that the girl was ready for marriage.  For this function the girl's hair is braided, decorated with flowers and Rakkodi, she is made to sit on a decorated chair and all elders come and bless her. She is presented with sweets, silk sarees and jewellery too.

Its still practiced in some areas in TamilNadu.

My friend modelled this Rakodi and her aunt helped her to decorate her hair. Each flower is stitched onto the hair. It takes atleast 2 hours to complete the hair.

Celtic wire designs and our Kolam

In TamilNadu, we have a custom of putting kolam. Kolam is a design that is draw on the streets in front of 

each house. The people in each house have to clean the space in front of the house, sprinkle water and then 

draw this kolam. It is believed that Goddess Mahalaxmi, the Goddess of wealth blesses that house.

Those days in villages since most of the house were built in mud and bricks, the entrance of the

 house and the walls were decorated with these kolams.  The kolams are drawn with powders and they are 

made ideally with rice flour. The idea is that the ants need food and this is how it is given. But there are also 

commercial ones that are made of some fine ground rock. These kolams generally are in white color. 

During festivals and occasions like Diwali and New year, big ones are drawn and color powders are used to color them.

The beauty of kolam is, there is a count of dots that are put first and then lines run around/across in all calculated ways and joined finally where it started.  It can be as big as blocking the entire street, widthwise!  And as small as joining with four dots. When there was not much of education those days especially women, you would be amazed at how they draw these lines and make a beautiful design! And there are no numbers to join them.

May be this is how they developed their maths and logical abilities.

The reason I am writing is some celtic wire designs in jewellery and kolams are identical. I am amazed at the

linking! From where to where?

This is an image of a kolam that I drew in our Pooja room in front of the deities. I have seen celtic wire designs similar to this.

Nethi chutti

Nethi Chutti is the jewellery that is worn on the parting of the hair.  This is usually worn by the bride and it 

adds beauty to the face. It is a small pendant supported by a flat chain and has a hook at the end to be hung 

on to the hair. 

Nowadays little ones (girls) and young ladies wear fancy ones and it looks cute when teamed with a lovely silk saree or half sarees.

Puli nagam or tiger's nail

This jewellery was worn by rich landlords in those days. The zamindars especially wore them and this jewellery was related to autocrats! This is a pendant and it is said that it contained the tiger's nails that were encased in gold.

May be because they hunted a lot in earlier days, they wore this as a way to show their bravery.

Nowadays its banned, but still the jewellery is sold, I guess with the plastic sheet inside.

All levels of people wore this, even the bird-hunter, but then he wore it with a cheaper metal or silver.

In Yester year Tamil Movies, all bad men wore this Puli Nagam pendant. So this is always associated with villainy type roles.

My jewellery journey

It all started five years ago when I visited one of my associates to discuss about a magazine.

I found that she was creative and when I complimented her on her paintings she also showed some costume jewellery that she made.

I was totally in awe because those things I have seen only in emporiums and in big stores.

I asked her if she teaches how to make jewellery and she said no. 

I returned disappointed for two reasons. One because she said that she did not teach. The other because I could not afford to buy that piece of jewellery. It was priced exorbitant.

Those gemstones and findings were haunting me.

Being research oriented, I started searching the internet. Did not know where to start!

First I was searching for sterling silver findings ( I know now that the name is findings, earlier I did not know. There are so many jewellery jargons that you need to know before learning to make jewellery)

I found so many shops in Jaipur that sells that. The website of the seller was colorful and I found that the bead caps (again I did not know that they were called bead caps and seed beads) my friend had used in her jewellery, was there in the shop!

I was so thrilled. My journey started there. For more than a year I spent time reading about jewellery and the business. Not a clue where to buy what. 

More research led me to shops situated in my city where they sell beads etc and I started making fashion jewellery. I also gave it to one of my friend who owns a shop. The very day evening she called me and said that one of my piece was sold and it was a customer who does not buy that easily. I was thrilled! Not very long I could continue in the fashion jewellery.

I did not want to continue in fashion jewellery because the trend changes so fast and the materials that you stock becomes obsolete very fast.

And you spend a whole lot in buying them. So I wanted to move into silver jewellery making. Again a search and a quest! Again a year passed in researching for information.

One of my another friend runs a shop. Since she said that she designs and makes all the jewellery, I asked her if she can teach. She was skeptical and said that I have to work in heat and all that and its difficult. It was her way of telling 'No'.

Then I read about the courses in Mumbai and went there and learned both basics of manufacturing in silver and enamelling. Travelling to a new city, staying in a shared accommodation with unknown people, leaving your kid at home in your native, spending a lot, going through lots of doubts whether you are going in the right direction all together was frustrating.  But then learning the art of jewellery was the only solace that I had. The course was not so intensive but I learnt that jewellery making has to be learnt in years and not in months!

To top it all, there is a bazaar in Mumbai where you find all the jewellery findings and gemstones at a wholesale price!. My friend took me there and since it was getting late we did not go to the wholesale gemsstone place. She forced me, but I told her that its getting late and let us go. We were travelling back in taxi and her husband called panicky and asked where we were. We said we are travelling back to the city. 

He then told that the place that we were supposed to visit to buy the stones, was just bombed! We were away from danger just 20 mins! The timing! if we had gone we would have also been in that exact location!

Sometimes I feel maybe God wanted me to excel in jewellery making one day. That was the reason we escaped.

Today I am confident that I can make jewellery in both silver and gold. 

I want women who are interested to make jewellery to learn easily and not run around like me. So I have started to teach basics of jewellery making.

My first jewellery repair (small)project

Two ladies visited our workshop today and suddenly my tutor called me and asked me to correct a ring to the shape and bring it.

I was shocked. I have never done repairs and especially I dont want to play with other people's jewellery, atleast till I gain confidence.

I could not say no, so I got the ring. It was a gold ring with no stones, a little work on the top, and with almost a 'V' shape bend in the shank. I annealed it, quenched in water and then placed the ring on the ring mandrel and slowly and softly hit with the raw-hide mallet.

It became round in shape, but I was worried to hit more so I gave it to my tutor.

He took it and hit some more and then we pickled it and gave. I was worried that I should not make the size bigger by continously hitting it. End of the day I was happy that somehow I started my repair work too.

I dont know if the goldsmiths style of work in our state and the goldsmiths all over the world have the same style of working although I have seen a lot of similarities.

The goldsmiths in our state have been in this occupation for generations. Outsiders never came into the profession.When I learned in Mumbai there were atleast 25 students, out of which I was the only one that did not come from jewellery background. 

All others were either children of diamond dealers, manufacturers and goldsmiths.

But now I am seeing that most of the goldsmiths are not interested in their children getting into this occupation. They want them to study well and go for a job.

But now people from different backgrounds get into this industry.  So I guess life has its own way of balancing things.

Metti (Toe ring)

Toe-ring or metti (in Tamil) is an important jewellery for the women of TamilNadu. It signifies that the woman is married. Toe-rings mostly are made of silver and older ladies wear simple rings, while younger ladies and brides wear ornate ones studded with stones. It is worn on both the toes.

The bride-groom puts the toe-ring on the bride’s toes on the day of the wedding.

There is a story that in olden times in TamilNadu, men used to wear toe-rings to signify that they were married. Because women those days were supposed to walk with their head bent, and when they see the feet of men that has toe-rings then they have to understand that they are married.

In India, wearing jewellery was always related to a scientific reason. Earlier days not many questioned it. When asked to be worn, women just wore it. Now we ask a lot of questions but unfortunately most of our questions are not answered.

Since many dont know the history or the science behind them many women do not wear them. The scientific reason they say is wearing a toe-ring regulates the menstrual cycle.

In TamilNadu, even now people(especially boys) look at a woman’s toe to see if they are married.

Attigai

This is again a traditional jewellery that has rubies on it. This is like a choker and worn very close to the neck. It might also contain redstones, rubies, diamonds and green stones. Mostly this is worn by ladies who fall in the age group between 30 and above. The sheer simplicity of it adds beauty. Teamed with matching earrings it adds a class to the wearer. Sometime the bride also wears it, since this starts from the neck. The other necklaces and maalais follow these. There are plain diamond attigais too. Just a single ornament with matching earrings and bangles worn with a lovely silk saree makes the wearer stand out.

A model for our traditional TamilNadu Jewellery

I have been thinking that if someone models all the jewellery that I have been writing about, it will look more good and everyone can understand better.

Usually Indians especially Tamil people are camera shy and not so easily will they agree to model, unless they are professional models.

But surprisingly my friend today agreed to model them. Let me see, we need to first get all the jewellery in place and then photoshoot them.

There are some more important bridal jewellery that I need to take photos of. Hunting for jewellery shops that will agree to allow me to take photos.

Bridal Jewellery - Ottiyanam

Ottiyaanam

This is an ornament that is worn by the bride on the waist. Again a wedding jewellery. Very heavy and ornate work.  Mostly you will find the Eight Lakshmi Goddess repousse work on it, embedded with red stones or ruby stones.

Now with the fashion changing, lighter thinner ones have come into the market, but still for weddings the bride wears the heavy ones. Again this depends on how affluent the family is.

Bridal Jewellery - Kaasumaalai, Maanga maalai, Mullaipoo maalai

Kaasumalai, Maanga malai, and Mulaipoo malai.

These are again wedding jewellery. Especially the Kaasumaalai. Its one of the jewellery that is given to the bride as part of her dowry.  The weight of the Kaasumaalai can range from 40 gms to 800 gms.

Kaasu in Tamil language means coins. There are small stamped pieces with Goddess Lakshmi engraved on it and it may also have stones. Each is connected with a link.

The Manga maalai resembles the paisley shape. Maanga in Tamil means Mango. These are also traditional ones and enhance the beauty when worn with silk sarees and salwars.

The mulaipoo malai name takes after a flower which is known for its fragrance. The flower name is mullai and its usually strung on a thread and sold. The deities are decorated with it. The ladies also wear it on their hair.

Kaasumaalai

Maangai Maalai

Mullaipoo Maalai

Photos courtesy: Mangal and Mangal Jewellers. Trichy

Bridal Jewellery - Vangi

Vangi

Another bridal jewellery which adds beauty to the arms. A unique shape with ornate work and stone- studded. The bride wears on both the arms. It is worn in such a way that the image of the Goddess Lakshmi faces sidewards.

Photo courtesy: Mangal and Mangal Jewellers. Trichy.

Bracelet

This jewellery is a bracelet type but its called kada or bangadi in Hindi. Usually North Indians wear this, but of late many South Indians also buy these. It usually comes in one piece but there are also pairs of bracelets. This is worn to parties or weddings.

There are huge ones which looks very beautiful and they are usually with lots of filigree, stones, enamel and ornate work. When I get hold of an image of one those, will publish the image. I approached a jewellery shop for a few photos of our traditional south Indian jewellery today. He refused to share photos and said that all were jewellery designers' collections and only if I buy them will show them. (I cant be buying every jewellery that needs to be photographed!) I had to convince him that I am not going to steal his designs but only want to write about those. I also told him that I did not want the latest designer ones but the old traditional wedding jewellery photos. He has agreed. However he did not want me to take the photos, said that he will ask his photographer to send it. Good because either way I am not good at taking photos of jewellery, but I love to write about jewellery. Waiting for the images with my fingers crossed. By the way those jewellery people are our family friends so that is the reason I approached him. I cannot gatecrash to any jewellery shop and demand for photosJ