Kodava Brides – keepers of tradition

In Coorg, legend has it that when an irate Kaveri left her husband the sage Agasthya, the Kodavas implored her to stay. She was adamant on leaving but promised to be with them always in the form of a river, nourishing their land and giving them sustenance. When she left the force of her current turned the pleats of the Kodava women’s saris around. To date, Kodava women wear their saris with the pleats behind, with one end of the sari pulled under their left arm and pinned over the right shoulder.

Kodava brides wear their bridal saris in a similar fashion. With a long sleeved blouse and a veil called a musku, elaborate Benarasi silks with motifs in shades ranging from red to magenta are the preferred option, even for most brides of today. It is customary for a bride to wear either her mother’s or grandmother’s sari, most of which are preserved carefully over the years. Our family to date uses my great-grandmother’s veil; tissue thin and delicate, yet surprisingly strong and witness to many weddings in the family.

 

Tradition dictates the jewellery that the bride wears. Considered a tribute to the seven rishis who did penance at Talakaveri in ancient times and to receive their blessings, Kodava brides of old wore seven ornaments on their hair, seven earrings, seven chains around the neck, seven bangles and bracelets on their hands and seven ornaments for their feet. Modern Kodava brides do wear similar traditional jewellery, but it is increasingly rare to find a bride who wears all the seven prescribed ornaments for her head, ears, neck, hands and feet.

 

Kodava jewellery is inspired by nature and it is common to see patterns and designs representing the sun, moon, flaura and fauna. The jewellery is typically hollow, characterised by delicate repousse work–a method in which the metal is beaten from the inside into a desired shape or pattern. Gold studded with precious stones is primarily the metal of choice with silver being used only for the hands and feet.

 

The bride wears a pendant on her forehead and decorating her braid are seven gold ornaments of diminishing sizes, the most striking of them being a medallion that represents the sun and another which is crescent shaped representing the moon. For her ears, she wears hanging gold earrings studded with diamonds, rubies and pearls known as jhumkas with gold chains attached to her hair.