Well, in the last post, as I was telling about stacking several glass bangles on the mom-to-be in a Baby Shower has a traditional significance. One is that these bangles keep giving a sound which the baby keeps hearing.
However my gynec did tell me that the actual, traditional reason is to keep the villagers (since India is an agricultural nation), and neighbours informed on the whereabouts of the mom-to-be, as the sound of bangles (or absence of it) can also be used as an alarm during labour pain, if there's no one at home! Clever, right??!!!
These bangles are stacked by all the guests, beginning with my mom and MIL. They begin it with a Veppilai Kaapu which is wrapping a neem stalk on my wrist, coz neem is the best antisceptic, antibiotic, insecticide, pesticide product ever! This is followed by a bracelet which has a hook and loop mechanism. Can you guess what this signifies??? It actually signifies the uterus!!!!!!! This is the actual Valai (which means Bracelet) Kaapu (which means Talisman!). This is the talisman that protects the uterus! Once hooked by mom and MIL, its represents the closed, protective environment in the uterus for the baby! Its supposed to be opened up when the mom-to-be gets labour pain which basically signifies the opening of uterus, so the mom-to-be become a mom!!!!!
And yeah, the silver one is what my mom wore when she was carrying me and the golden one is new! That's one more borrowed if you've read my previous post on what else I borrowed. Something Old (the blouse), Something New (bangles & golden kaapu), Something Borrowed (saree, anklets & silver kaapu), Something Blue (few of the bangles)!!!!
The thing with Indian, esp South Indian skintone is that the mehndi just doesn't show up except on the palms! Since I wore the traditional henna on my wedding day, I chose to wear Mehndi on this day. It was done by my neighbour and I wanted her to go minimalist on this with open white spaces. That's us on a sleepy night with my sleepy face, getting the mehndi done!
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16 comments
An Indian culture and a tradition for the mom-to-be for her protection makes me curious to know more about this. In our country, only society women were bangles and in-crowd teens wear tattoos on their different parts of their body. As I keep reading your post, I am beginning to get acquainted of such traditions, beliefs, and traditions in your country.
ReplyDeleteI love applying mehendi, although it requires a lot of patience. I love the way you use your Mom's most valued pieces of jewellery and saris. Cheers!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a gorgeous henna artwork! How long does it take to finished? Very detailed.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea. Thanks for sharing. It's great to know more about the tradition and meaning behind henna tattoo
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Thank you for sharing the cultural significance. I learned something new today.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting tradition. How long does henna artwork like that stay in place? It's lovely!
ReplyDeleteInteresting. The patterns are very intricate and delicate to look at. I would have thought that it was henna, so thanks for telling me about the different name for this.
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to know more about the customs and traditions for baby showers. There's so much symbolism and heritage in the process.
ReplyDeleteFirst time for me to learn about the baby shower significance :) Thank You for that. I am generally a non-mehendi person. But I always love to see it on others hands and I must say,the work on yours is really pretty :)
ReplyDeleteThat's so cool. I guess the bangles traditionally would act like a sort of mini bell or alarm for when the mother is about to give birth!
ReplyDeleteYour mehndi is absolutely beautiful. I think the bangles being a sign for a woman going into labour is so clever!
ReplyDeleteViola xo | A Piece of Viola
I love your henna and your bangles are so pretty! Hope you enjoyed your baby shower fullest!
ReplyDeleteThis is so sweet.. The mehndi design is pretty and so are the bangles..
ReplyDeleteLove how you have one more something borrowed in your list! No idea such a small detail like the lock on a bracelet would signify a uterus! But yay protection.
ReplyDeleteIndia has a very interesting culture and tradition. Wearing the bangles is indeed quite smart as it lets people know if the woman is pregnant.
ReplyDelete❀ Grace ❀
There are meaning behind every work of arts. There are also significance behind it. So everyone should show respect. Very cool baby shower. Nice!
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