Indian weddings are known for their splendid grandeur! Over the years, the wedding industry has been growing and booming. Moreover, Indian celebrity weddings have been quite the spectacle. From destination weddings to changing aesthetics of the bridal lehengas from red to white, Big Fat Indian weddings are only getting bigger!
But in all these new trends are a few Indian celebrity brides who stuck to their roots and embodied their rich culture on their wedding day. Indian celebrity brides like Yami Gautam, Lin Laishram and Prajakta Koli defied the current trends by embracing their culture and heritage. From a beautiful green 'Tilhari' necklace from Nepal to a gold-studded 'Likhom' from Manipur, in this article, you’ll come across Indian brides who donned stunning traditional jewellery on their wedding day.
Prajakta Koli wore a Nepali jewellery piece - 'Tilhari'
This one-of-a-kind necklace has been the latest talk of the town and has made it to the first pages after YouTuber and Actor Prajakta Koli aka MostlySane was spotted wearing it on her wedding day. 'Tilhari' is more than a necklace, it is an ornament that is passed down from generations in Nepali families.
Tilhari is a necklace that is usually worn by Nepali brides on their wedding day. It equates importance as significant to a Mangalsutra in Hindu culture. It is usually a long green beaded necklace, but also comes in different colour choices like red or yellow. In the early days, these beads were made up of glass, but have now been switched to plastic.
The necklace almost reaches the lower abdomen of the bride. It consists of two main parts called the ‘Pote’, which are the beads and a cylindrical gold pendant, which is called the ‘Tilhari’. It is worn by Nepali brides as an indication of love, luck and marital bliss.
Bipasha Basu was spotted wearing 'Shankha Pola' bangles
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'Shankha Pola' has a lot of significance in Bengali cultures and traditions. It is worn by Bengali brides on their wedding day. Shankha Pola is passed down from generation to generation. ‘Shankha’ is conch shells and ‘Pola’ is known as red corals or lac. Shankha, the white bangles signify purity and the red bangles signify love and fertility. It is also said, wearing these bangles brings the bride and the groom marital luck and prosperity. The history of these bangles dates back to centuries.
A popular belief is, that these bangles were first made by the fishermen community in Bengal. Since the fishermen community couldn’t afford to buy expensive jewellery, they used the resources that were available to them to make ornaments. They crushed the conch shells and used red corals to make these two bangles. The custom is to wear one pair each in one hand. A holy ritual is performed during a Bengali wedding specifically by married women, called ‘Dodhi Mongal’.
These Shankha Pola bangles are soaked in holy turmeric or haldi water and then gifted to the bride by her mother on the wedding day. This ritual marks the bride’s transition to married life. Bipasha Basu was seen wearing these bangles on her wedding day.
Genelia Deshmukh wore a 'Nath' and 'Mundavlya'
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Introduced almost 300 years ago, it is impossible to miss out on this century-old jewellery piece. Genelia Deshmukh was spotted wearing a 'Nath' on her big day. A Nath is the epitome of grace and elegance. It is a non-negotiable piece of jewellery worn by Maharashtrian brides on their wedding day. Nath symbolises marriage and fertility, drawing a connection to the Goddess Parvati.
In Maharashtrian culture, a Nath is usually worn in the left nostril. Earlier, women had to pierce their noses to wear a nath, but in the modern era, one can easily find clip-on naths in every beauty store. Naths are adorned with a variety of gemstones like rubies and emeralds. One can also find pearls in this list. These gemstones are arranged in a specific shape, thus one has multiple options to choose from like 'Peshwai Nath', 'Gondhal Nath', 'Moti Nath' and much more.
Another wedding accessory worn by Maharashtrian brides and grooms on their wedding day is a ‘Mundavlaya’, a type of headband tied to one’s forehead. This headband has two rows of pearls dangling down from the front of the ears and two strings of pearls knotted horizontally across the forehead.
Yami Gautam wore 'Aatheru' a Pahadi traditional jewellery piece on her wedding
As a Himachali and Kashmiri bride, Yami Gautam paid homage to her Pahadi roots as she wore a beautiful piece of jewellery on her wedding day. For those who don’t know, ‘Aatheru’ is worn typically by Himachali and Kashmiri brides. It is as ancient as the Pandit culture of the valley of Kashmir. Aatheru is also worn by widowed brides. Traditionally people equate Aatheru to a mangalsutra as it is only worn by married women. Aatheru is made up of three elements - the Dejhoor, the Athoor and the Atah.
A ceremony is performed before the wedding called a ‘Devgoan’. This ceremony is performed to invite the Gods to visit and bless the bride before the wedding. During this process, the bride is given Dejhoor by her mother. The Dejhoor, cast in gold, is hexagonal with a dot in the centre depicting Shiv and Shakti (Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati). It is traditionally worn by dangling it from the piercings in the upper ear cartilage. It is always worn in the left ear first and then the right ear. On the initial day of Devgoan, it is dangled using only red threads called 'Nairwan'. The next day, which is the Lagan (the wedding), after the wedding in a special ceremony, the red threads are removed and exchanged with Atah, and this is attached to the Dejhoor.
The Atah is either gold chains or gold and silver silken threads called 'Suma' or 'Tilla' replacing the Nairwan threads. The final step is when the in-laws add 'Athoor' which is a small piece of golden ornament attached to the lower end of the Dejhoor. In some cases, there may also be a bunch of silken threads which make the Atah. These three elements combined make the Aatheru.
Over the years, the Aatheru has gone under many modifications to suit the modern aesthetic of the bride. Changes like adding gemstones in the intervals along the Athoor or replacing the gold dot in the Dejhoor with a solitaire diamond. This is not the first time Yami was spotted wearing this piece of jewellery, she’s been seen wearing this multiple times on her Instagram pictures to movie promotions.
Lin Laishram embodied her Meiti heritage
Lin Laishram and Randeep Hooda tied the knot last year in Manipur according to the 'Meiti' traditions (Manipuri traditions). Other than the beautiful wedding ensemble, the bride also wore traditional Meiti jewellery on the day of her wedding. Lin donned a variety of jewellery, right from gold chains on her neck to a gold and gemstone embellished headgear or as we call it a 'Matha Patti'.
She wore a long necklace called, ‘Likhom’ and a couple of more traditional pieces like Thapak, Thorei and Kathi. She also wore 'Kajenglei', a traditional Meiti crown, gold earrings, and bangles. She gracefully embodied the spirit of a Meiti bride.
Vanki Ring and Armlet worn by Aishwarya Rai
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A 'Vanki' ring is a type of ring worn by South Indian Brides. Technically, only married women are supposed to wear one, but now no one follows this rule. A Vanki ring is considered holy and a piece of traditional jewellery in South Indian culture. It symbolises love, commitment and marital luck. It is believed that the unique V shape of the ring will attract positivity and ward off evil spirits. Both, Aishwarya Rai and Shilpa Shetty were spotted wearing this ring on the day of their wedding. Aishwarya Rai was also seen donning a Vanki armlet on her wedding day.
Ankita Konwar and her Assamese Traditional Jewellery
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Ankita Konwar tied the knot with Milind Soman in 2018. She embraced Assamese and Maharashtrian cultures on her wedding day. She paid tribute to her Assamese heritage by donning traditional jewellery. She wore an Assamese piece of jewellery called 'Jubri' on her neck and wore an earring to match the neckpiece. She wore a crescent-shaped neckpiece, ‘Jun’ which means the moon.
On her wrists, Ankita wore a golden ‘Gamkharu’, a type of Assamese bangle. Gamkharu is traditionally made with gold plating on silver. She also wore a ‘Lokaparo’ necklace. A Lokaparo design uses two sets of twin pigeons placed back to back in gold. It was originally worn by high-profile male dignitaries of the royal Ahom Dynasty. Ankita’s neckpiece had the traditional colours of red, green and blue. She also wore a single chain with a ‘Dhul’ pendant. Dhul is a motif drawn from the Assamese musical instrument.
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