In Indian tradition every ritual has its own due celebratory importance. This apart, it almost always accompanies with a scientific relevance. One such sacred piece of Indian jewellery is Mangalasutra. A Mangalasutra, or thaali, is a neck piece that the groom ties around the bride’s neck in India in a ceremony called Mangalya Dharanam, a word for wearing the auspicious. Mangalasutra is so integral to marriages, especially Hindu marriage that a marriage is not solemnised without the same.
Women adorn themselves with Mangalasutra as a symbol of them being married women. The women who deeply believe in traditions even to date wear Mangalasutra along with other sacred adornments such as thali, vermillion, glass bangles, toe ring, and flowers. But with modern times setting in, majority women have chosen to wear such adornments only during occasions. Moreover, they have chosen to wear Mangalasutra only when they step out of home, the sacred jewel thus remaining only symbolic in every sense of the word.
The women of today like to keep their jewellery simple and light, and hence, the Mangalasutra too has seen a metamorphosis. Also, the contemporary women mostly like to wear modern clothes on a daily basis, and therefore, Mangalasutra shorter in length with tiny black beads, and diamond/stone pendants have replaced the thali. The women are also seen wearing Mangalasutra on their wrists like a bracelet.
Wearing of Mangalasutra has a lot of uses as it is not only a jewellery piece for adornment. In Hindu tradition, married women wear Mangalasutra in a bid ward-off negative energy that might harm marital relationship. Scientifically, it helps soaking up heat from the chest area, and also maintains the temperature of the breast milk and makes it suitable for the child to drink all the time.
Though the Mangalasutra designs have evolved, and may not be worn as an inseparable jewellery by married women today, yet what is common to times of yore is that the importance, and sanctity of Mangalasutra remains intact. It is still given a lot of importance, and respectability in Hindu culture and tradition.
