India is a diverse country with a rich and layered culture. Every aspect of that culture, be it visual, material or non-material is heterogenous and has formed and evolved by numerous local and foreign influences. While the North and South, East and West may have similarities in the macro level, at the micro level things are very different.
For the past two years I have been trying to create a micro-narratives of societies in Southern India in distinct time periods. It is during that journey, that I read The Śilappadikāram by Ilangō Adigal. The word translates to “lay or tale of the anklet” and it is an epic with a mythical structure, with the anklet as the object completing that structure. The story revolves around a man named Kovalan, who is a gem merchant, his wife Kannagi and his mistress Madhavi who is a dancer and all the trials and tribulations in their lives. The epic follows a love and war structure in three cities of three kingdoms of Southern India. This post, Adornment in Silappathikāram is a tiny snippet of my research on jewellery in pre-colonial India as mentioned in narratives.
Silappathikāram in “Jewelry in Narratives”
When I worked on Jewelry in Narratives, I was certain that Silappathikāram would be a part of it. Not only did the epic have a category of jewellery mentioned in the title, it gave a deep insight into the aesthetics and adornment practices followed in the peninsular region. Please check the tale of the anklet – Silappathikāram, on the “Jewelry in Narratives” exhibition to read the story and look at the jewellery that is designed to tell the story. In fact, there are five pieces of jewellery the tell the stories of this epic in the exhibition.
Adornment in Silappathikāram
Constructed in a mythical format, there are transformations of epic proportions in the story, making it a fantastical read. However, what interests me most about this epic is the thick description of all the three kingdoms and the lives of the people. The level of detailing of clothing, jewellery, architecture that Ilangō Adigal provides is amazing. The text records terms related gem trade, jewellery and practice of adornment in a way that shows how important jewellery is Tamil culture. It supersedes Nāṭya Śāstra, a treatise on performance arts which is considered to be the go to text for adornment practices of ancient India.
My post on Ancient Indian jewellery, which incidentally is the post that inspired me to start this blog, lists Sanskrit names for jewels as found in Nāṭya Śāstra. However, Silappathikāram lists Tamil terms for jewellery objects, along with lifestyle practices surrounding them, offering a local perspective. Just as I had in my post, listed jewellery from head to toe, Ilango Adigal too, lists Madhavi’s jewellery from Head to toe in the section on Kadaladukadai 126, verses 76-98. The article Madhavi and jewelry in Silappathikāram is my attempt to translate the Tamil jewellery terms into English and consolidated them. An example is the specific description of Mekala, a dancer’s girdle that Madhavi wears. It is made of thirty-two strands of big pearls worn over a blue cloth embroidered with the figures of flowers.
The Jeweller’s street in Madurai and gem trade
Silappathikāram records several gemmology practices that were prevalent in Southern India in 5th century AD Methods to identify clarity characteristics in gemstones such as rubies and diamonds are listed. Some terms are in ancient Tamil, others in Pali (a language spoken by Buddhists) and very rarely in Sanskrit. The description of the jeweller’s street that Kovalan visits in Madurai in Canto XIV Urkankadai is utterly fascinating. Imagine a street where cloudless green emeralds without any feathering (fractures) and extinction (black spots) were available. Black, white, green and red diamonds are displayed. The Navaratna including Rubies (maanikam) that look like red lotuses (padmam), yellow sapphire (Kanaga pushparagam) resembling the sun, Sapphire (neelam), Gomedagham (hessonite), night like dark onyx, double coloured opals, Cat’s eye (vaiduryam) in various colours, crystal quartz (spatikam) are sold.
Stores sell heaps of pearls (bindhu) in white and reddish pink, local Korkai pearls, untwisted coral branches with no impurities (stones) in them. The pearls look like the Moon, Jupiter and Mars (chandra, guru, angaraka). Small coral beads and ivory components are also sold. They offered four kinds of gold for sale and in front of each shop hung a flag — the signpost indicative of the gold available in the store. They sold yellow gold from India jāmbūnadam, red gold (adagam?), green gold (kilicirai – parrot’s wing) and pure gold (Jātarūpa; suvaṇṇa was useable gold – both Pali words).
Fragrance
The epic throws light on the importance of fragrance in everyday life. Flowers are worn in the hair and as garlands by both genders to surround themselves with fragrance. The paste of musk ox, white sandalwood, and incense are used to perfume both people and surroundings. Perfumed henna is applied on the feet. Perfuming is an important part of grooming and styling hair. There is a note on how perfumed oil is prepared by mixing up ten kinds of astringents, five spices, and thirty-two herbs soaked in water. Woven fabrics of silk and cotton are also perfumed. Meetings happen in groves and the description of smell offers a subtext to the scene being discussed.
Note
What allowed me to truly understand (not just translate) Adornment in Silappathikāram was the book “Indian sculpture and iconography” by V Ganapathi Sthapati. Interestingly, I was introduced to the book by the Sthapathi himself through my students who were documenting his bronze casting work. While the book per se is a resource for architects and sculpture makers, the descriptions regarding jewellery and clothing can be fascinating for a fashion designer, a conservationist and museologist.
There is so much more to discuss about this epic, but I will stop here at this point. I hope you will visit the exhibition if you haven’t already done so. There are 15 stories in the exhibit and soon I will write ancillary posts to other stories as well.
I hope you found it interesting
Cheers
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