Manipur is a rich state in terms of land and culture. As the state reflects its beauty in its dense flora and fauna, the charm of  Manipuri Wedding Rituals throws light on the purity in the heart of the Manipuri people. They find pride in their culture and follow them wholeheartedly. The reflection of their love and admiration for their culture and tradition can be greatly seen in festivals and weddings and their Manipuri Wedding Jewellery. In whatever way it is, Manipur and its people justify the word exotic.

Talking about weddings, from the wedding attire of the bride and groom to the decoration of the mandap(sitting area), everything goes strictly according to their tradition. Each of their customs is related to the ancient period and symbolizes the purity and integrity of their culture.

Wedding Jewellery for Manipuri

Well, weddings are nothing less than festivals. It is condensed with rituals. But the prime focus is still held by the bride and the groom. After all, it’s their wedding day, and they have worked hard to look gorgeous in front of every invitee. With traditional wedding attire, the perfect combination of jewellery completes the couple’s look.

Manipuri or Meitei people usually prefer jewellery made of gold with hints of pearls and stones. Like every Indian marriage, gold must be worn as it signifies sanctity. But the Meitei bride is not loaded with heavy jewellery, rather they wear simple jewellery like earrings, necklaces, rings and bangles.

Some traditional Manipuri jewellery like Kiyang-Likphang, Marei Parang (Necklace), Khimarun, Likchow or Kantha (Beads set in gold and other metals), Liksoi, and Khownappi can be made by traditional goldsmiths from Manipur. These jewellery pieces are unique and look mesmerizing when the bride wears them. This gives them a simple yet stunning look that would never fail to swoon every audience as you walk down in front of them. Here is some jewellery that the Meitei bride wears on her wedding-

Maatha Patti

A Maatha Patti or mang tikka is an ornament adorned on the head of the bride. It has a pendant that rests on your forehead and is connected to two chains on both sides. It is made with pearls, precious stones and semi-precious stones. This piece of jewellery ornates the bride’s head and gives an alluring look. The image mentioned above will give you a clear description of Maatha Patti.

Maatha Patti comes in an innumerable number of designs, some will be wrapped around the full head while some covers the semi-area. Usually, Meitei people prefer unique designs like Radha Mudhra Mang Tikka, the Kasiga Mudhra Gold Mang Tikka, and the Ubika Mudhra Gold Mang Tikka on their wedding day.

Necklace

When it comes to necklaces, Manipuri brides don’t prefer heavy jewellery. Rather, they wear a few layers of gold necklaces and chains. Owing to the religious significance of gold, necklaces and chains are generally made of gold. Some precious or semi-precious stones might be added to adorn the jewellery.

The necklaces worn by them are simple yet unique designs like the Audrina Necklace, Advika Gold Necklace, the Navdha Necklace, Ahana Nivara Gold Necklace, and the Ifana Kyra Gold Necklace. These necklaces are mostly used but the traditional necklace Marei Pareng is still admired because of its peculiarity.

Nowadays, brides also prefer trendy gold necklaces with intricate designs.

Earrings

Earrings are ornaments that you can use to embellish your ears. They also come in various patterns like danglers, studs, and many more. But for marriage heavy and slightly large-sized earrings like danglers are mostly considered. They are mostly made of gold with intricate and beautiful designs. These earrings will give you a splendid look when adorned with some pearls and precious stones.

Like all Indian weddings, Manipuri brides have immense love for gold danglers. The Salsa Dangler Earrings and the Nita Pearl Bloom Chand Bali are hot picks for Manipuri brides and also the trendy ones among them.

Bangles

Bangles are like rigid bracelets worn on the wrists of the hands. Mostly, bangles made of gold are given importance. They are also bedecked with stones and pearls and are dazzling. The pulchritudinous designs are carefully carved on bangles by the goldsmith. In Manipuri weddings, bangles with good width are usually worn between the other bangles of less width.

Bangles made of glass are available in several colours but are not worn by the Manipuri bride. Other females match the colour of bangles with the colour of the dress. This gives a complete and perfect look.

Every ethnic look is incomplete without bangles. They hold a place of pride in every Indian wedding.

Rings

Mostly gold rings are taken into consideration for the Manipuri bride. Rings usually wear large circular flat-shaped rings on their wedding day. The number of rings that can be worn depends on the bride, it can be either four or a minimum on each hand. It looks gorgeous on the bride’s hand.

Beads and Gems employed in Manipur Ornaments

The traditional Manipuri tribal jewels are quite distinctive. They use negligible or rare amounts of metals while embellishing their tribal jewellery. Rather, they adorn or make jewellery from seeds, beads, ivories or insects. Since the tribals mostly use beads, they make ornaments like necklaces, earrings, nose studs, etc.

Ornaments made from brass and silver are trendy for the tribals. As ornaments, bamboo or cane leggings are used when dyed with vegetable dyes. Cane or bamboo earrings are quite popular ones. Cane armlets or wristlets are dyed and decorated with bird feathers.

Extras for Manipuri Wedding Jewellery

Jewellery is the accessory that ornates the attire. Besides the above-mentioned ornaments, the Manipuri bride adorns herself with many other ornaments like flower garland (gajra), armlets (mostly gold, but artificial ones can be preferred), anklets, toe rings, and nose rings. Not all brides wear nose rings. But some brides prefer it. Generally, large circular gold nose rings can be seen in trend. Nose rings might be adorned with stones and striking designs are carved.

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