What prompted me to write
this post is a TV ad that is quite familiar to watchers of Malayalam channels –
the one where the famous actress Revathi talks of gold chains of the past and
the making charges the customers have to pay for gold ornaments now.
Revathi mentions some of the
old chains like manga mala and palakka
mala but leaves out real aristocratic ones like padikettu mala. That, unseen these days, was a great one, so
elegant against the white cambric fabric of the chatta, (the upper garment of Kerala Christian women). In
comparison, chains like puli nakha mala made
with red rubies or emerald would be rather showy.
The name of the chain and the
fact that it was used by Christian women presents a strange juxtaposition. Padikettu normally means Pathinettam
Padi at Sabarimala. How could Christian
ladies wear a chain which has a name connected to that?
Obviously the label comes
from the way the ornament is made. Slabs of gold are connected with one end of
a piece over one end of another piece so that visual effect of steps is
created. I don’t recall how many such steps would be there in a chain.
Research on the web brought
no details about padikettu mala. But
I did come across two interesting century-old photographs reproduced below:
Both photos are public domain
Most of these styles have
disappeared. Many well-to-do houses had thattans
(goldsmiths) attached to them. A thattan
sits with an earthen bowl in front of him with burning rice husk and a bamboo
pipe to blow the flameless fire in which the gold is shaped. It was a pastime
for the ladies of such houses to remake old ornaments to new styles and also
have new ones made. As a result, many old patterns disappeared, but some of
them seem to be making a comeback.
In the TV ad Revathi talks
much about the making charges the customers have to pay. In Malayalam there is a saying: thattan thottal pathinu ettu meaning that when a goldsmith handles
your gold, you get back only eight for ten. Of course, the goldsmith is paid
wages as well but no making charge by the percentage. I wonder how this is done
currently in the jewellery shops.
Tholuvala (armlet),
some adorned with navaratnas (nine
gems) seem to be rare these days. Oodiyanam,
a gold belt decorated with gems/precious stones and worn at the waist over the
clothes is basically a Tamil ornament. But sometimes one can see a Kerala bride
wearing it. Given below is a photo of the oodiyanam
Aranjanam
is a gold chain, worn at the hip under the
clothes. It is placed on every baby, irrespective of gender on the 28th
day after birth. Some males do continue wearing it after puberty. But for a
woman it is almost a permanent attachment. Here is a photo of aranjanam:
I have not dealt with kolusu or padaswaram (anklet) and earrings because that is a vast area. But I
conclude with a picture which has nothing to do with Kerala. I am just
fascinated with the size of the nose ring.
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All photos from Wikimedia
Commons.
Related posts:
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