Ornaments are very fashionable within the state and hence, jewelry making may be an industry by itself. The various materials used for traditional jewellery of Arunachal Pradesh are beads, glass beads, colored bird feathers and green wings of beetles. Bamboo is additionally employed by the Akas tribe, for creating bangles and earrings.
Arunachal Pradesh Traditional Jewellery
The integration of natural things like leaves, berries, feathers, leather, claws, flowers culminate into tribal jewelry. India has been bestowed with an upscale tribal heritage that has remained unblemished even after modernization. The rarity of the ethnic jewelry depicts tons about the owner’s status, wealth, spiritual beliefs, and functional habits.
These jewelries are endless a part of the treasure and have become priceless over time. The local tribes of Arunachal Pradesh don’t only use metals like gold or silver to form such wonderful ornaments. Instead, they create use of varied natural resources like bamboo, feathers, glass beads and wild seeds to style ornaments for both genders.
The brass is used widely while silver also deserves a mention. There are subtle variations amongst the tribes when it involves the concept of design. The Akas tribe uses bamboo to embellish their stuff while the Wanchos and Noctes use cane, bamboo, and reeds to make such enticing design patterns.
The Adi tribal women use beyond as a special ornament to wear until the birth of the primary child. Heavy iron rings decorated with metal coin necklaces and leather are extensively employed by the Karka Gallomg tribe. Iron bracelets are considerably in use among the Aptani tribes.
The tribal men of Arunachal Pradesh are in no way behind. They adorn themselves with waistbands, bracelets, animal bones and ivory as pendants or necklaces. The use of silver is popular among the Mishmi tribe.
The men use straps embellished with silver coins while the ladies wear the silver bands on their head and dumbbell-shaped earplugs, called krupei. These antique tribal adornments provide you with a glimpse of cultural diversity. The uniqueness of those tribal ornaments has become wardrobe staples nowadays.
Tribal Jewelry of Arunachal Pradesh:
There are around twenty major tribes and lots of sub-tribes in Arunachal Pradesh, India, So it’s no wonder that there’s an enormous sort of tribal jewelries during this region. Anyway, you’ll notice some similar elements: practically altogether tribes women wear numerous necklaces, bangles and belts. Headbands too are rather common.
Multicolored strings of glass or stone beads are favored but in southeast Arunachal Pradesh beads of agate stone, brass, and silver are used. Such necklaces adorn the necks not only of girls but sometimes of men as well. Every bead has its own value consistent with its color and luster. Usually, they’re worn in numerous quantities.
The Adi (Dafla, Minong, Abor, Gelong) women wear a particular locally made ornament beyond – the belt on which series of three, five, seven or nine brass discs strung on a cane, screw pine fiber or leather cord.
The largest disc represents the wheel of life, placed at the center, the others arranged in graduated sizes. This ornament worn by girls and ladies until the birth of their first child. Belts decorated with natural stones or with cowries found in some tribes of Arunachal Pradesh.
Brass bangles are common. On their feet, women wear cane anklets. Necklaces made from coins also are much favored by the Adi women. Adi shell necklaces ashier are regarded sacred and more valuable than other ornaments because they’re handed down from mother to daughter through many generations.
Wealthy Aka women wear a silver fillet-headdress leche consisting of an outsized, central, repousse-ornamented disc to which a series of link chains attached, forming a broad, crown-like band that encircles the head. Those that aren’t wealthy have an easy delicate silver chain around their heads.
A pair of giant trumpet-shaped silver earrings gichli worn within the stretched earlobe holes, several necklaces of colored beads round the neck and large bangles on their wrists.
The most striking feature of the Apatani women is the way they adorn their noses – they insert wooden plugs into their nostrils. Small pegs are put in once they are little girls, and as they get older, the dimensions of the pegs are increased until they’re about 2-3 centimeters across.
The custom has been explained as an effort to form Apatani women look ugly in order that they might not be taken as slaves by the nearby Nyishi tribe. However, it’s more probably that aim is to imitate the nostrils of a wild animal.
The earlobes are extended by inserting bamboo plugs in infancy, which are substituted by huge brass or silver rings when the women get older, stretching the earlobes to the shoulders.
Traditional Jewellery of Arunachal Pradesh For Men
The men of Arunachal Pradesh have a powerful headdress. The form and ornamental elements vary but the essential structure is analogous. These helmet-like hats are so closely woven from reed fiber that they are completely waterproof, as well as resistant to blows and thrusts from weapons. They may decorate with birds’ feathers, wild boar’s teeth, black bear’s fur and with hornbill’s beak that’s dyed red.
The men of this state also wish to adorn themselves with bracelets and waistbands decorated with coins or stones. Ivory and animal bones were also used for creating pendants and necklaces. Sometimes on their chest, they’ll wear the mandible of a leopard, a highly prestigious trophy.
The men and ladies of the Idu Mishmi’s wear necklaces of varied sorts of beads. The most common necklace is arulaya. Another quite necklace is lekapon made from Pieris rapae beads in twenty strands.
