Photographing Himachali Jewellery: An extract from the diary of Rakshanda Thakur

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February 16, 2016

Dear diary,

Rani Haar from Chamba
You know I’ve been running out of topics  to talk to you about but today,I have something particular to share with you. 
Well, it’s hard to find a girl who isn’t fond of jewellery, I am no exception!  I’m obsessed with jewellery, not merely for its beauty or value, but the sentiments people have attached to them. It might be a gift or a souvenir by a loved one, especially grandparents, which is priceless.
And so,  as you know, February was fun for me in SA because  my weekly task was about catalogues, for which Shriya had provided us with the jewellery pieces of Jammu and Kangra. To my delight, the very next task was about jewellery again, but it was even better, because I had to work on regional jewellery of Upper Shimla, a task, which, for me, was synonymous with home. 

Of all the things we'd done in SA so far, it was this particular task that brought me closer to my roots. I got a lot of information about the make and material, and obviously a chance to photograph my mother’s jewellery, which she was too generous to let me handle the way I wanted to!

After this task,  jewellery became more than bling for me and it was no coincidence that I asked my best friend, Mansi Thakur, to let me check out her ancestral jewellery. Amazing as she is, the moment I got a chance to visit her,  she had these beautiful jewellery pieces of her late Grandma ready and waiting for me, and it was no small treasure, too!


Nose-rings from Himachal Pradesh


Ranging from earrings to anklets,  from gorgeous necklaces to envy-inducing tribal hair accessories, Mansi's Grandma seemed to have had it all! I just couldn’t take my eyes off them! A nath (nosering) especially caught my eye : it was so delicately and intricately designed, with a  beautiful carvings. There was no denying that this was simply the best! I made plans about imitating it  for an earring design because I don’t have a pierced nose and I really don’t plan on it.






Working with Mansi's family  hierlooms was a treat for my eyes and the camera lens. Maybe it was just a stupid thing to think, but doesn't reviving the past through old objects serve as a cache of ideas for new designers as well? Can't these long dead, ethnic crafts that once went about, be revived in India by Indian artists again? Maybe that's exactly what our motto means, when we say, "Forgotten History is Forgotten Culture. " Maybe revisiting past with objects such as these valuable pieces is invoking more than just archaeology!


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