Did anyone tell you that North-East boasts of a rich jewellery heritage?

Statement jewellery is the buzz word amongst modern-day women. As junk jewellery, they are simply in awe of them but little do they know, these jewellery are just a contemporary take on our ethnic heritage of North-east India.

The seven sister of north-east boast of a varied jewellery culture that is also a manifestation of their beliefs and pride. As we all know except for Tripura and Assam, the other states predominantly have tribal population and thus, apart from aiding to their beauty, their jewellery is also their identity. Necklaces, headbands, bracelets and belts are some of the essential accessories that form a part of their look. 

Let’s take a tour of this mystic world of north-east and know more about their jewellery culture.

Assam
Since centuries, the people of Assam have been into manufacturing gold jewellery. Especially for the tribe called Sonowal Kacharis, gold extraction from the river beds is their livelihood. Made in cottage industries, these ornaments are purely handmade and comprise of elaborate work. Their jewellery mostly depicts local flora and fauna in their designs that are further embellished with gemstones such as ruby. They even use beads and meenakari work in their jewellery. Some of the famous necklaces of this regions are Japi, Thuriya (star-shaped pendant), Dugdugi (spade-shaped), Lokhaparo (pigeon-shaped) and Dhool (shaped like the Indian musical instrument - dholak). Their earrings such as Lokaparo, Keru, Thuriya, Jangphai, Long Keru and Sona or Makori are also well known. 

Arunachal Pradesh 
In this state, there are around 20 major tribes and sub-tribes. Each tribe is famous for its exquisite jewellery made of materials such as beads, wild seeds, feathers of birds, green wings of beetles, brass, bones, ivory, corals, turquoise and cowrie shells, apart from silver, bronze and gold. As Nishi tribesmen wear a unique headdress decorated with feathers of the great hornbill bird, the Apatani group sports iron bracelets made by blacksmiths. While the Wancho tribe crafts earrings made of bamboo, cane, glass beads, seeds and reed, the Karka Gallong group wears metal coin necklaces and leather waistbands with stones. Generally, women wear a lot of necklaces of various sizes, shapes and shades. One of the most interesting ornaments worn in this region is made of a certain grass. The raw material used is mainly a type of reed that grows only on the banks of river or stream here and turns golden when fully ripened. With this grass, small beads are made and then, dyed in different colours to make necklaces, waistbands, wristbands, headgear and earrings of various patterns. Benyop (a belt made up of brass discs), Lencchi (crown like band for head) and Gichli (worn in stretched earlobes) are some of the well-known creations of this tribe.

Manipur 
The population of Manipur consists of a huge bulk of people from the Meitei and Bishnupriya communities. Women folks here are fond of wearing their traditional jewellery. It involves Likchow or Kantha, Khownappi, Liksoi and many more. Precious metals like gold and silver generally go into the making of Manipuri jewellery and mind you, every piece is marked by precision, intricacy and elaborate designs. 

Meghalaya
Both men and women of Meghalaya wear jewellery. Aesthetically crafted ornaments of gold, silver and beads form part of the regions rich costumes. Generally, the gold beads used in the designs are hollow spheres filled with lac. Khasis, Garos, Jaintias are the predominant tribes living here. While women of the Khasi tribe love to sport crowns on their head that are crafted in gold or silver and embellished with a peak design towards the back, the men folk wear crowns adorned with feathers and sport highly ornate waistbands around their waistline. As Jaintiya tribe is an important sub-tribe of the Khasis and the jewellery they wear is almost same as those worn by Khasi tribes, the Garos love to sport a variety of jewellery. It includes Nadongbi (brass earrings for the earlobes), Jaksan (chunky bangles made from various materials), Seng ki (waistband crafted out of crude conch shells), Ripok (necklace strings made from red glass or cornelian beads), Penta (a special kind of ivory ear jewellery).

Mizoram 
Around 95 percent of Mizoram’s present population belongs to diverse tribal origins. Note that, this is the highest concentration of tribal people amongst all the states of India. They predominantly use shells, bones, animal claws, teeth and semi-precious stones for making jewellery. Some of the jewellery flaunted by the different Mizoram tribes include Thifen (a small beaded necklace), Thihus (a necklace strewn with large-sized amber beads) and Varika (a female headgear decked with a bamboo band, colorful feathers and beetle wings).

Nagaland 
Just like Meghalaya, here too men as well as women wear colourful jewellery. As it is an important part of their Naga identity, the entire tribe wears jewels made of similar beads. They wear heavy necklaces with different designs and styles which define the tradition of their tribes. Beads with variety, profusion and complexity is used in their jewellery. These accessories are made out of broken glasses in which most of the colourful glass rade beads are strung together with a locally made fibre cords that is further intertwined with coins. Cowrie shells are also used by Nagas to make various types of ornaments such as waist-belts. Another interesting material that is used by this tribe is ivory to make bracelet. For the same, the ivory is first sawed from the wide end of a tusk, given a desired shape and then, coloured to bring out the jewel like look and feel. That apart, a wide range of materials, including stone, claws, teeth, horns, metal, bone, wood, seeds, hair and fibre, are also thrown into their designs. 

Sikkim
Sikkimese tribal jewellery depicts different tastes of the three ethnic groups of the state. Lepcha men don’t wear any jewellery except amulets given by monks, while the women folks sport Namchok (earrings), Lyak (necklace), Gyar (bracelet), etc. Bhutia women wear necklaces of various designs. The jewellery worn by the Bhutia women are known as - Yencho (earrings), Khao (necklace), Phiru (pearl ornament), Diu (gold bangle), and Joko (ring). Ornaments worn by Nepalese women are Sir-bandi (tiara), Kantha (necklace), Naugeri (necklace of pearl), Charanihari (another type of necklace), Tilhari (a green beaded necklace with a long gold pendant worn normally by married women), Bulaki (nose-ring), Dungri (nose-pin), Tik-mala, Chandrahar, Chepti son (earrings), Gadwari (earrings), Chura of Silver (bracelet) and Kalli (thick heavy payal made of silver). All the ornaments are made of gold and studded with precious stones and dzi. Although gold and silver are widely used to make ornaments, bangles made of seven different metals are popular here.

Tripura
The tribes of Tripura exhibit a unique sense of upholding their authentic traditions through the jewelries they wear. The Kokborok speaking Tripuri people are the major group among the 19 tribes and several sub-tribes inhabiting this region. Jewellery making is an essential form of Tripura’s arts and crafts. They use various materials such as bronze, silver, gold and copper to craft ornaments like necklaces, earrings, rings, nose rings and bangles. These ornaments are adorned with innumerable dangling metallic coins all arranged in a row but the most popular one is the coin necklace. Even bamboo, cane and bones are used to craft the tribal jewellery of Tripura. Women also love to sport ‘Karas’ or large-sized metallic bangles around their wrist.  

So now you know what to look for when you are basking in the lap of the North-East India! 

Author: Deepa Mishra

Disclaimer: All images used in the blog have been sourced from Google purely for the purpose of informative reference. The models, celebrities or products showcased in these pictures are not to promote any brand in any manner.