Spotting a newly-married woman in India is easy. Dozens of red and cream ivory bangles adorning her wrists speak aloud about her marital status. The set of bangles that adorn the bride’s wrist, called Chooda, is usually in ivory, lac or plastic. Worn by an Indian bride on her wedding day, it is a tradition originating in the Northern states of India.
We still embrace the traditional jewellery on the wedding day, but has it lost its meaning? Why does the Indian bride wear a chooda? Not knowing it’s important or the relevance, unfortunately many have forgotten what significance it holds. To most, it has become adornments that help complete the timeless image of a traditional Indian bride on her wedding day. But besides looking beautiful, there is a story behind each piece and has a reason to why it is worn by a bride on her wedding day. Each piece of jewellery on an Indian bride holds a significant meaning which derives from a combination of superstitions, cultures and religions.
The story behind the chooda is much more simple than expected. As the chooda is made of fragile materials, the bride may refrain from heavy housework for the first few months of her wedding. A bride traditionally wears her wedding chooda from anywhere from 3 to 6 months after her marriage. It is worn to remind people that she is a new bride and should be treated like a princess- with none or minimal housework!
While the Punjabi brides are always spotted in a typical cream and red chooda, the chooda to a Rajasthani bride varies in different patterns in different regions. It is either a pail cream chooda in ivory or ivory bangles that are painted in red embellished with gold or even a combination of red and green ivory bangles.
Different ideologies prevail for the symbolism that a chooda bared for a woman in the generations that have passed. In ancient times people moved around in groups from place to place in search of food and resources, and the chooda on a woman’s arm from elbow to wrist separated the married women from the unmarried ones. Thus portraying that she is hooked and booked! Sati or self immolation, a custom in India in which a widow used to burn to ashes on her dead husband's pyre was a common religious funeral practice among the Hindu communities. It was then believed that if a woman, while performing sati bared a chooda on her arm, it would then become a taboo for the daughter in laws of the future generations of the family to wear a chooda of the same pattern.
Another important question arises, why ivory? Before plastic was invented, elephant tusk ivory was practically used for everything. It was important for cutlery handles, musical instruments, billiard balls, jewellery and even piano keys! Ivory is and was far from the reach of an ordinary man, the reason being it is expensive and the other because today it’s availability is absolutely rare. While the rural women of Rajasthan resort to lac or plastic chooda’s -- the Rani’s, Maharani’s and the Thakurani’s of the princely states of Rajasthan only adorn their wrists with chooda’s made of ivory indicating wealth and a higher social status.
Owing to the rapid decline in the populations of the animals that produce it, the importation and sale of ivory is restricted. Since the worldwide ivory trade ban in 1989, it has become illegal to import any ivory. Only pieces that have been in the country since that time can be bought and resold.
The best way to tell whether your item is not plastic and is in fact ivory is with the Pin Test. This is done by heating a pin until its red hot. Place it on the item where you don't mind putting a small burn mark. The smell that the ivory gives off is similar to the smell when your dentist has a drill on your tooth.
A chooda over the centuries has acquired a socio-cultural-religious significance. The contemporary bride represents the culture and traditions of the east living in the western world. Following the dictates of a poignant past, these symbols of marriage make her feel complete and remind her of her post marital bliss that she has to treasure forever. No matter the values and traditions, the chooda for her remains the epitome of feminine grace.
