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During the festival season, people buy gold, especially gold jewellery and traditional Maharashtrian jewellery, crafted in gold. Prakash Kakode, owner of Apna Jeweller at Dadar, says: "Traditional necklaces, particularly, are back in vogue. Hars, mohanmalas and the gold-beaded tushi have now become fashionably popular."
Families like to invest in pearl jewellery, too, followed by silver. The partiality towards pearls can be traced to the 17th and 18th centuries in several military campaigns. As armies depended on cavalry, they sought fine horses from the Arabs, who in turn also brought along large quantities of the then readily available Basra pearls from the Middle East, which, in due course, were converted into jewellery. Maharashtrian jewellery has distinctive names. Muhurtamani has a golden bead with black beads around it. It has to be worn at the auspicious moment (muhurta), at the time of wedding. Kolhapuri saaj is an inevitable part of the Maharashtrian jewellery, especially made in Kolhapur. This necklace typically has a masa (fish), kamal (lotus), karle (bitter gourd), chandra (moon), baal paan, shankha (conch), naag (serpent), kasav (tortoise) and bhunga (bumble bee) opposite each other. It has a pendant of ruby in the centre. Putlya is made of flat coin-like round gold chips. It has been used since the 17th century. Traditional jewellery includes specific pieces for adorning women from head to toe. Flower-shaped ornaments were particularly favoured for decorating the hair, as strings of fragrant, real flowers were often affixed to plaits or chignons. Next in demand are balis or rings, a small chandelier-like ornament made of pearls resembling jhumkas or the kudi, a typical Maharashtrian earring that has a pearl in the centre, surrounded with seven pearls around. This pattern of the kudi is also repeated in diamonds. The nath is probably the most identifiable piece of Maharashtrian jewellery and is relatively large. Worn on the left nostril, it almost touches the upper lip. For everyday use, a small chamki is often worn, which could be a single pearl, gold bead or single stone. While exquisite jewellery is made all over Maharashtra, three distinctive places are important. Pune happens to be the hub of the jewellery business for districts and villages in and around Pune. Around 300 wholesalers cater to such requirements and there are almost 1500 retail jewellers in the city. In fact, the handmade jewellery manufactured in Pune is quite unique. Traditional Maharashtrian jewellery known for the graceful thushi, mohanmala, bhudgi and saaj that were speciality of the Peshwa rule are made in Pune. Kolhapur has an entirely different style of jewellery making, known as Kolhapur jewellery. Some of the most famous ornaments made in the city are haars and malas, mohanmala, bormala, chaplahar, Kolhapuri saaj, pohehar and putlihar. The names of these items have been based on their different and peculiar shapes. Of late the Navinya collection by the famous Waman Hari Pethe Jewellers has attracted much attention. According to jewel experts, the Navinya collection is a unique fusion concept to resolve the perpetual choice conflict between elders and GenNext girls by presenting jewellery that will appeal to both the generations and make the occasion more special for everyone. The Navinya fusion concept pleases all by using traditional motifs prevalent in Maharashtrian jewellery such as bakuli flowers, saaj, thushi and bor mala from the Peshwa era and blending them with contemporary trendy designs in gold and precious stones. Yes, the old and new must co-exist in modern jewellery markets. — MF
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