Badaga Jewellery
Website of Wing commander Bellie Jayaprakash that is regularly updated and more info added
Do not forget to see the pages [links] shown on the right like Hattis, Hethai, Rare photos, Recipes etc >>>> for more of BADAGA –>–>–>–>–>–>
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This website is dedicated to the memory of the Great Badaga Leader
Rao Bahadur H B Ari Gowder
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Badaga Jewellery
[click here for a different view of the information on this page]
Badagas, especially the women, have some exotic and unique jewellery that they wear on their person.
It was a chance but a wonderful meeting with Mrs.Gangamma, aged 78 years, daughter of Karibajja Kari Gowder of Pedduva Kallatti who was associated with Rao Bahadur Ari Gowder (‘Ari Gowda koottuda maathu adile, Koodi ebba ella bae muchindu unnippa ortara endu appa hegina’, she remembers ] and wife of late Kari Gowder of Kerben Village (Kotagiri) who passed away about 40 years back, at Mettupalayam in Feb,2007.
She was wearing traditional Badaga Jewllery – ‘Mookkuthi [nose ring] & Chinna [ear ring]’ which made me ponder and wonder about Badaga Jewellery and offered me the opportunity to take her snaps with these unique ornaments.
To my great pleasure, she also has the typical tattoo on her forehead called ‘ ASALU /ASILU ‘ a tradition which is completely extinct now. She told me that the tattooing was done when she was twelve by her mother. The soot at the bottom of mud pots used for cooking in those days, was scrapped on the rim of a silver finger ring and the circular impression was first made on her forehead before being ‘pricked’ with a needle, she says.
“ Madekkeya pitti eendhu masiya belli ungaradhoge ujji nethiga haakki , adu mele soonjiya kuthidha awai. Appara urichidhamane krichi butte..adutha asilu ollagenge kuthule” ( The black soot from the bottom of a mud pot is scrapped on the rim of a silver finger ring and an imprint is made on the forehead, over which mother would ‘tattoo’ with a needle. Since it hurt a lot I cried out in pain and Mom did not prick deeper and hence the tattoo is lighter).
[Thurston (Some marriage customs in South India) : {In the olden days} The tattooing of the forehead indicates that the Badaga girl of the Nilgiris is available for matrimonial purposes ]
The following motifs of forehead & hands given below can be found in www.hesseltvandinter.com/downloads/spreads.pdf
Notice the two rings and dots in the center of th forehead
It is with a great sense of honour I present her pictures to high light the jewellery on her person. Thank you Gangamma Hethe !
The main ornaments are the nose ring called ‘ MOOKUTHI ‘ and the ear ring known as ‘CHINNA’ . Chinna , literally means gold but usually refers to ear rings. The type shown above is worn both by men and women. Of course, the ‘ BELLI UNGARA ‘ [silver finger ring] has a special place in Badaga tradition and considered to have medicinal / health benefits. On the occasion of death, silver finger rings form part of a ritual of ‘decorating the dead’.
Usually a pair of silver rings are worn on the same finger.
Photo above : Late Janaki Akka of Hubbathalai. She was very jovial and was always there to help out in any emergency. She was quite close to me and had given a lot of imputs about our culture. She passed away in Aug 2007.May her soul REST IN PEACE !
Perhaps, it would be an interesting topic to research why Badagas have chosen these two particular designs for nose and ear rings that have not undergone any changes in ages. Is it due to their simple but very beautiful get up or are there some great hidden stories?
Badaga women also [used to] wear a kind of chocker called “ SARATTADI “ that is a short chain around the neck with a biggish pendant. Then, of course is the ‘ SERUPPINIGE ‘ a silver necklace / chocker.
Courtesy Mr.Karia Gowder of Nattakal Village, I could take some pix of Seruppinige, Mani Maale, Sippu Bae etc, which are produced below :
Seruppinige
Gubbe (Maale) Mani
Kadaga – Sippu Bae with their unique designs
The other long chain with silver beads is GUBBIGE MANI . There are also ‘KAASU MAALE, KUSURU & KOLU SERUPPINIGE’.
The picture of a Badaga woman [dark blue blouse – left extreme] was taken by late Chantal Boulanger-Maloney [she was a social anthropologist specializing in Indian culture and I thank her husband Peter Maloney for permitting me to use it. You can see more pictures on Badaga by Chantal in her website [other pics are by me - Bellie Jayaprakash].
The next pix is that of Mrs.Gowri wife of Rao Bahadur HB Ari Gowder and to its right is Mrs. Nanji wife of Rao Bahadur HJ Bellie Gowder and mother of Ari Gowder. On the right extreme is Lakshmi Hethai from Chinna (Ooru) Hubbathalai. These pictures are chosen to show the ‘ SARATTADI ‘.
The bangle or rather bracelet around the wrist is known as ‘ KADAGA ‘ or ‘ CHIPPU BAE ‘ and the thick flat armlet just above the elbow made out of gold or silver is ‘ BAE .
When I took this picture of Kothiben Hatti Laxmi ‘Karuppi’ Hethai on 09-04-07 and mentioned that the photo has come out well, she mentioned with a great sense of humour, ‘ potto olange bandu ena maaduva, utti enbudhu tha kappu edhaga -what is the point in photo being good, I was born dark’. Thank you Kothiben Karuppi Hethe, it was wonderful meeting you !
Then, there are the anklets called ‘ GOLASU ‘ for girls and ‘ GAGGERE ‘for boys.
N Bellie of Achenakal writes to mention about HODETHARA, a chain worn around the hip of a year old baby on the occassion of MANDE BEESUVA [head shaving] ceremony.
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Given below is this rare photo of Mrs. Gauri Ari Gowder, wife of Rao Bahadur HB Ari Gowder,and the eldest daughter in law of Rao Bahadur HJ Bellie Gowder, then the ‘uncrowned king of Nakku Betta’, was taken some 80/90 odd years back on her wedding day. Probably, she was the first Badaga woman to dress up in a saree for the wedding. She died very young (less than twenty) after delivery of her second female child – the epitome of beauty. Unfortunately, the baby also did not survive. The photo is given here to high light the badaga jewellery she was wearing.
The photo[from Prof 
.Hockings' book] below is about 100yrs old. See the Jewellery
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No articles, images and other material in this website can be reproduced without the written permission of
Wing Commander Bellie Jayaprakash B.E.(GCT,Madras Univ).,M.B.A (FMS, Delhi Univ)
Contact : bjaypee@gmail.com
belliejayaprakash©2009
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Wing commander Bellie Jayaprakash’s other website from the heart for some ‘light’ reading
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Mookuthi 
Chinna 
View from Akoni 
Hubbathalai 
Hakkilu Hoo [Bird Flower] found in the Nilgiri Hills
Sunrise from my home "Dhoddi" at Hubbathalai 
Tiger is Huli in Badaga
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manju said,
17/04/2007 at 6:42 pm
lovely………………
Magesh Chandran said,
18/05/2007 at 6:15 am
Its really amazing…
belliegbabu said,
25/05/2007 at 6:14 pm
Realy very nice(hettaia bangarava nodudhuga appara ollenge adathe).
manju rajesh said,
25/06/2007 at 8:19 pm
appara olliya ghelacha maadithi………keep it up….
innu niraya hattiya sethile ollange attara…….
rakesh babu said,
18/07/2007 at 2:09 pm
there are more to learn
PRIYASTEPHEN said,
27/10/2007 at 6:54 pm
PRETTY GODD COLLECTION OF PICTURES
DISPLAYED ON THE WEB
RAMYA said,
21/03/2008 at 9:47 am
ITS REALLY VERY NICE !
Satheesh Nagulan said,
13/07/2008 at 6:51 pm
This is great. I don’t have any words to explain that how i feel. I haven’t seen this before. I don’t have any idea about our jewellery and clear idea about our history. You’ve done a great job.
RAMANI NANDAKUMAR said,
12/10/2008 at 2:09 pm
appara super.WONDERFUL JOB
keep up the good work…
Sureshkumar said,
14/11/2008 at 1:46 pm
Great work on creating a website, Its just amazing to see our community on web…Mind blowing ….Good initiative…
Anand Rajbelli said,
26/02/2009 at 12:20 am
Great collections Uncle.Hat’s Off
revathi said,
25/07/2009 at 1:20 pm
fantastic
bharathy(boodhi mani) said,
30/08/2009 at 12:34 pm
its excellent