The people of India have expended limitless energy and creativity in the invention of ornaments that celebrate the human body. Adorning the visible, material body, they feel, satisfies a universal longing for the embellishment of its intangible counterpart, namely the human spirit.

Indeed rarely is a traditional Indian ornament simply decorative and devoid of inherent meaning or symbolic value. Symbols found in Indian jewelry act as a metaphorical language communicated from the wearer to the viewer. Such a jewelry is created from an infinite reserve of symbolically significant forms and images, some obvious, some subtle, and some whose meaning is forgotten.

Complementary to such thought is the conventional view where the graceful form of a woman is said to epitomize the ideal beauty and mystery inherent in nature. Thus befittingly each and every part of the feminine physique including the head, torso, limbs, and between the appended parts - have consistently been used to support ornaments, often in ingenious ways. The Indian idea being that only things covered with ornaments are beautiful. Poetry must overflow with rhetorical ornaments (alamkara), metaphors, alliterations, and other musical effects. The verb alam-kara, "to adorn, to decorate," means literally "to make enough": for the simple appearance without ornament is "not enough"; it is poor, disgraceful, shocking, except in the case of an ascetic. Hence the stress on adornment of the women, who are but the poetry of nature.

Ornamentation not only serves to please the eyes of the beholder but also fulfils an auspicious purpose. The impulse to adorn stems from a deep rooted sensibility to mark every occasion of life with auspicious symbols, designs and figures to obtain good fortune and protection from evil. Thus a fully bedecked woman evokes in the viewer a deep and ingratiating feeling of tranquil contentment, springing from an intuitive realization that evolving before him is an image of perfect beauty, symbolically conveying the richness and completeness which is but natural to nature.


The ancients who translated the abstract nuances of Indian philosophy into images of everyday reality went even further and canonized the adornment of the female form into sixteen different ornaments (solah shringar), covering her entire being from the head to toe. The choice of the number sixteen too is not without significance. It is a significant number among the Hindus, and corresponds to the sixteen phases of the life of the moon, which in turn is connected with a woman's menstrual cycle. This is another pointer to the feminine physiognomy being a microcosm of the rhythms of natural processes. Further a woman of sixteen is considered at the peak of physical perfection in her life. At this stage of her life the aspect of delight is most pronounced. Her nature is to play, seek new experiences, and to charm others to her. Her innocence attracts to her all that is true and good. Indeed it is common for deities to be described as eternally sixteen years old, which is considered the most beautiful and vigorous human age. In fact an important goddess is named after the Sanskrit name for sixteen (Shodashi), and is visualized as having all the above mentioned qualities.

The sixteen ornaments said to make up the standard repertoire of feminine adornment are:

Bindi
The bindi is a small ornamental dot placed at the center of the forehead, between the eyes.

Sindoor (Vermilion)
Sindoor is a deep, rich blood-red powder applied in the parting between the hair. 

Tika
The tika is a composite ornament composed of a chain with a hook at one end and a pendant at the other.

IAnjana (Kohl)
"The eye could never have beheld the beautiful had it not been made beautiful first"'

Nath (Nose Ring)
The nose was once believed to be exclusively concerned with smell, but is now established to be connected with emotional responsivity also. In fact occultists go further, believing it to be the 'seat' of the sixth sense.


Necklace (Haar)
The neck is an important occult center. Because necklaces are often worn near the heart, they can be used to work on emotions, or to attract or strengthen love. 

Karn Phool (The Ear Flower)
From earliest times long ear lobes have been regarded as a sign of spiritual development and superior status. 

Henna (Mehndi)'
Unlike real tattoo, which is permanent, some decorative patterns created on the skin with stain or dye are not immediately removable but, depending on the dye strength, can last for three or four weeks. Mehndi, the Hindi term for "henna," is one such temporary tattoo.


Bangles (Wrist Ornament)
One of the oldest art objects in India, the bronze statuette of a dancing girl excavated at Mohenjo Daro epitomizes the antiquity and the universality of wrist ornaments in India. She stands in the nude with one arm at her hip, the other arm completely weighed down with a collection of bangles. From then on the variety and shape of wrist ornaments spanned the gamut of nature' s materials and human creativity.

Armbands (Baajuband)
The upper arm is the place where amulets strung on a black or red thread are often tied to keep the evil eye away.

Arsi (Thumb Ring with Mirror)
The simple ring was not ignored in the vast array of larger ornament forms. Fingers are believed to function as a medium between the physical body and the spiritual body. Rings thus are an important part of the physio-metaphysical value of jewelry.

Hair Style (Keshapasharachna)
Hair is regarded in occultism as one of the most extraordinary parts of the body. It belongs to the element of earth as it is solid and tangible; to the element of water since it is free and flowing; to the element of fire since it fed from the furnace of the brain; and to the element of air since it is light and can be blown by the wind. Hair is both living, since it grows, and dead since it is without sensibility. It has its own life, grows more rapidly than anything else, and continues to grow after the death of the body. As such it constitutes a link between this world and the next.

Kamarband (Ornament That Binds the Waist)
'The English word 'cummerbund' and the German 'Kummerband' for waist-band are derived from the Persian kamar, waist, and bandi, a band. The word is prevalent in most northern Indian languages. The immense popularity of waist ornaments is evidenced by a large number of temple sculptures, frescoes and miniature paintings ranging from the Indus valley civilization till today, in an unbroken tradition.

Anklet (Payal) and Toe Rings
"Feet are the support of the entire body and therefore accorded great significance. Indeed the foot is the human pedestal, in direct contact with Mother Earth, absorbing vigor from her powerful emanations.

Perfume (Itra)
The legendary reputation of Indian perfumes is upheld if we contemplate the variety of scents manufactured and used throughout the country. All scents are ascribed to divine origin, and it is fairly certain that perfume was prepared in India, as early as the 15th century BC.

The Bridal Dress
'The ancient sculptures of Sanchi, Amravati, and Khajuraho show the Indian woman's robe to be light and falling in beautiful free folds from the hips, to below the knees. There are no unhealthy, restrictive collars, and nothing to impede the free circulation of blood. The dress facilitates free body movement. This dressing tradition continues to the present day.


Conclusion
Of a richly sensuous disposition, the ancient people of India insisted that their sensuality be refined with thought:

'In restless brow and twinkle of the eye,In smiling modesty and gentle tones,In graceful gait and posture, woman owns A beauty parlor and an armory'
- - Bhartihari (c. 600 AD)

Indeed woman is beauty at its active and sportive best. The ancients found in a woman's walk the same majestic yet lithe and graceful rhythm as in the steps of a peacock. In the playfulness of a young maiden was discovered the charm of a deer leaping across a jungle stream. An alert woman, with her necklaces resting on her full breasts, was compared to a sloping hill with a sunlit cascade coursing down its sides.

It was believed that just a woman beautifies her home so should she her body. Such a combination was supposed to invite blessings and prosperity from the gods.

If it is true for humans that to beautify the mind is to beautify the body, the converse is equally true: to beautify the body is to beautify the soul. Creative Indian psychology nurtured a positive attitude. The desire to cultivate physical beauty was not considered shameful and superficial. The philosophers of love, like Vatsyayana in the Kama Sutra, advise that the art of makeup be practiced as a ritual. Even the 'plainest' woman adorns herself, she doe not resign herself to her fate that either one is beautiful or not, and there is the end to it.

The essential significance of the above exegesis can be summed up in the fact that in the canons of Indian art, whenever a lady was represented in the nude, i.e. without any trace of clothing, her glorified physical form always carried the same weight of jewelry which she would have worn, when fully clothed.

Thus rightly said A.K. Coomarswamy, noted authority on Oriental Art:

"One needs to be an Indian woman,born and bred in the great tradition,to realize the sense of power that such jewels as earrings and anklets
lend their wearers; she knows the full delight of swinging jewels touching her cheek at every step, and the fascination of the tinkling bells upon her anklets"

It is reassuring and pleasurable to observe that these traditional values are still held valuable in the India of today.