Every bride wants to look like a princess in a fairy tale on her wedding day. A kandyan Bride, from Kandy in Sri Lanka is no different. She goes from looking shy to regal and royal in minute and that is really charming. The Kandyan bride in her traditional Osariya (sari) and the complementing gold and stone jewelry looks like a queen and, she is certainly the cynosure of all during the wedding. This saree is often rich and is woven ( or embroidered) with pure silver and gold threads. Culture experts say that great part of the Kandyan jewellery exhibits a strong Tamil influence, resembling the “Temple Jewelry” or the ornaments once worn by the Deva Dhasis of South India. This might be due to the fact that in olden times, Kandyan Kings married into Tamil Royal families. Epics like “Ponniyin Selvan” bear testimony to this.
The bridal set is said to consist of 26 pieces of jewelry that will adorn the bride from head to waist.
Head gear: Very similar to the thalai alangaram or Head decoration of the Tamils, this head gear is called the Nalalpata. It is placed on the middle of the forehead, with one stem extending down the middle parting of the hair, and another two branches extending across the forehead upto the ear. The symbols of the sun and the moon are placed on either side of the head.
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| Dressed by Janki Soyza of Bliss Salon |
The hair do is mostly a bun or a chignon and is beautifully decorated with flowers.
Neck: As you can see in the visuals, the bride wears atleast seven neck pieces. Most of these are chains with beautiful pendants with floral or swan and makara motifs called padakkam. They might also wear a choker called Karapatti. The Peti Malaya, meaning a garland of flowers is the last and longest chain encircling the rest. Some might wear chains with seed beads or even agate – called Agasthi Malaya.
Ear: The brides wear Jumkas or jimikis called as Dimiki. The two ear-studs from which the Dimithi flow, are studded with “odd” number of stones as even number of stones is considered unlucky.
Hand: The brides matching stone and gold bangles in both her hands
Hip: Some brides wear a dangling hip chain called Hawadiya
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| Photograph by Asela Wijesinghe |
Even though it sounds a lot like the Tamil wedding Trousseau, there is one big difference. The usage of white saree as bridal wear is almost unimaginable in Tamil custom. Also the way in which the Kandyan saree is worn is very different from other saree drapes. It begins with the chest portion being draped first and the actual pallu is tucked in at the front waist below the fan like pleats.
With this we come to the end of the First edition of Bridal Series on JewelsofSayuri. Will come back with more soon. Thanks to Vichitra, Janelle and Keith for helping me out. I really enjoyed writing it and I hope it was interesting for you to read.
Cheers
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