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Bangle



 
 
Bangles or Chudi are traditional ornaments worn by Pakistani women
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
 and Indian women
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, especially Hindus. They wear after marriage signifying the matrimony.

They are circular in shape, and, unlike bracelet
Bracelet

A bracelet is an article of jewelry which is worn around the wrist. Bracelets can be manufacturing from leather, cloth, hemp, plastic or metal, and sometimes contain Rock s, wood, and/or Animal shells....
s, are not flexible
Flexible

Things known as Flexible include:*Flexible electronics*Flexible response*Flexible mold*Flexible employment*Flexible-fuel vehicle*Flexible rake receiver...
. The word is derived from Hindi bungri (glass). They are made of numerous precious as well as non-precious materials such as gold
Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
, silver
Silver

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal....
, platinum
Platinum

Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is in Group 10 of the periodic table of elements....
, glass
Glass

Glass generally refers to a Hardness, brittle, transparency amorphous solid, such as that used for windows, many Glass Bottles, or eyewear, including, but not limited to, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, sugar glass, Muscovite , or aluminium oxynitride....
, wood
Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs, etc....
, ferrous metals
Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a Group 8 element and period 4 element. Iron is lustrous and silvery in color....
, plastic
Plastic

Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic chemistry solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products....
, etc.

Bangles are part of traditional Indian jewelry.






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Bangles or Chudi are traditional ornaments worn by Pakistani women
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
 and Indian women
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
, especially Hindus. They wear after marriage signifying the matrimony.

They are circular in shape, and, unlike bracelet
Bracelet

A bracelet is an article of jewelry which is worn around the wrist. Bracelets can be manufacturing from leather, cloth, hemp, plastic or metal, and sometimes contain Rock s, wood, and/or Animal shells....
s, are not flexible
Flexible

Things known as Flexible include:*Flexible electronics*Flexible response*Flexible mold*Flexible employment*Flexible-fuel vehicle*Flexible rake receiver...
. The word is derived from Hindi bungri (glass). They are made of numerous precious as well as non-precious materials such as gold
Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
, silver
Silver

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal....
, platinum
Platinum

Platinum is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Pt and an atomic number of 78. Its name is derived from the Spanish term platina del Pinto, which is literally translated into "little silver of the Pinto River." It is in Group 10 of the periodic table of elements....
, glass
Glass

Glass generally refers to a Hardness, brittle, transparency amorphous solid, such as that used for windows, many Glass Bottles, or eyewear, including, but not limited to, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, acrylic glass, sugar glass, Muscovite , or aluminium oxynitride....
, wood
Wood

Wood is an organic material; in the strict sense wood is produced as secondary xylem in the stems of woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs, etc....
, ferrous metals
Iron

Iron is a chemical element with the symbol Fe and atomic number 26. Iron is a Group 8 element and period 4 element. Iron is lustrous and silvery in color....
, plastic
Plastic

Plastic is the general common term for a wide range of synthetic or semisynthetic organic chemistry solid materials suitable for the manufacture of industrial products....
, etc.

Bangles are part of traditional Indian jewelry. They are usually worn in pairs by women, one or more on each arm. Most Indian women prefer wearing either gold or glass bangles or combination of both. Inexpensive Bangles made from plastic are slowly replacing those made by glass, but the ones made of glass are still preferred at traditional occasions such as marriages and on festivals.

The designs range from simple to intricate handmade designs, often studded with precious and semi-precious stones such as diamond
Diamond

In mineralogy, diamond is the Allotropes of carbon where the carbon atoms are arranged in an isometric-hexoctahedral crystal lattice. After graphite, diamond is the second most stable form of carbon....
s, gem
Gemstone

A gemstone or gem, also called a precious or semi-precious stone, is a piece of attractive mineral, which — when cut and polished — is used to make jewellery or other adornments....
s and pearl
Pearl

A pearl is a hard, roundish object produced within the soft tissue of a living animal shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of mollusks, a pearl is made up of of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers....
s.

Sets of expensive bangles made of gold and silver make a jingling sound. The imitation jewelry, tend to make a tinny sound when jingled.

Some men wear a single bangle on the arm or wrist
Wrist

In human anatomy, the wrist is the flexible and narrower connection between the forearm and the hand. The wrist is essentially a double row of small short bones, called carpals, intertwined to form a malleable hinge....
 called as kada. In Sikhism
Sikhism

Sikhism , founded on the teachings of Guru Nanak and ten successive Sikh Gurus in fifteenth century Punjab region, is the Major religious groups organized religion in the world....
, The father of a Sikh bride will give the groom a gold ring, a kada (steel or iron bangle), and a mohra
Mohra (necklace)

A mohra is a piece of jewelry used during a Sikh wedding ceremony. It is a necklace made of gold coins worn by the bride.The mohra is given to the groom by the bride's father, who places it around the bride's neck after the wedding ceremony....
.

History

Bangles—made from shell, copper
Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity....
, bronze
Bronze

Bronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other chemical element such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon....
, gold
Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
, agate
Agate

Agate is a microcrystalline variety of quartz , chiefly chalcedony, characterised by its fineness of grain and brightness of color. Although agates may be found in various kinds of rock, they are classically associated with volcanic rocks but can be common in certain metamorphic rocks....
, chalcedony
Chalcedony

Chalcedony is a cryptocrystalline form of silica, composed of very fine intergrowths of the minerals quartz and moganite. These are both silica minerals, but they differ in that quartz has a trigonal crystal structure, whilst moganite is monoclinic....
 etc.—have been excavated from multiple archaeological sites throughout India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
. A figurine of a dancing girl—wearing bangles on her left arm— has been excavated from Mohenjo-daro
Mohenjo-daro

Mohenjo-daro was one of the largest city-settlements of the Indus Valley Civilization of south Asia situated in the province of Sind, Pakistan....
 (2600 BC).

Other early examples of bangles in India include copper samples from the excavations at Mahurjhari—soon followed by the decorated bangles belonging to the Mauryan empire (322–185 BCE), and the gold bangle samples from the historic site of Taxila
Taxila

Taxila is an important archaeological site in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It dates back to the Ancient Indian period and contains the ruins of the Gandhara city of Takshashila an important Vedanta/Hinduism and Buddhist centre of learning from the 6th century BCE...
 (6th century BCE). Decorated shell bangles have also been excavated from multiple Mauryan sites. Other features included copper rivets and gold-leaf inlay in some cases.

Types of bangle

Chudi Laad Bazaar
There are various types of bangles available on the market. Primary distinguishing factor for these is the material that is used to make the bangles. This may vary anything from glass to metal to lac and even rubber or plastic. Traditionally bangles were made of various types of metals like gold, silver, bronze etc. Bangles made from gold are considered the most expensive ones.

Another factor that adds to the price of the bangles is the artifacts or the work done further on the metal. This includes embroidery or small glass pieces or paintings or even small hangings that are attached to the bangles. The rareness of a color and its unique value also increase the value. Bangles made from lac are one of the oldest ones and among the brittle category too. Lac
Lac

Lac is the scarlet resinous secretion of a number of species of insects, namely some of the species of the families Metatachardia, Laccifer, Tachordiella, Austrotacharidia, Afrotachardina, and Tachardina of the superfamily Coccoidea, of which the most commonly cultivated sp...
 is clay like material which in molded in hot kilns-like places to make these bangles. Among the recent entrants are the rubber bangles that are worn more like a wrist band by youngsters while the plastic ones are there to add the trendy look.

Normally, a bangle worn by people around the world is simply an inflexible piece of jewelry worn around the wrist. However, in many cultures, especially in the Arabian Peninsula
Arabian Peninsula

The Arabian Peninsula , Arabia, Arabistan, and the Arabian subcontinent is a peninsula in Southwest Asia at the junction of Africa and Asia. The area is an important part of the Middle East and plays a critically important geopolitics role because of its vast reserves of petroleum and natural gas....
 and in South Asia
South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries on the west and the east....
, bangles have evolved into various types in which different ones are used at different occasions.

Production

Glass bangles are mostly produced in only one Indian city called Firozabad
Firozabad

Firozabad is a city in India, within the state of Uttar Pradesh.This city was built by Firuz Shah Tughluq, a Tughlaq king. From the earliest it was famous for glass and bangle works, and its related small scale industry is famous throughout the world....
 in North India
North India

Northern India is a loosely defined region in the northern part of India. The exact meaning of the term varies by usage. The dominant geographical features of northern India are the Indo-Gangetic Plain and the Himalayas, which demarcate the region from Tibet and Central Asia....
.

In India, Hyderabad has a historic market for bangles named the Laad Bazaar
Laad Bazaar

Laad Bazaar or Choodi Bazaar is a very old market popular for bangles located in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. It is located on one of the four main roads that branch out from the historic Charminar....
.

In Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
, glass bangles are almost all produced in Hyderabad, Pakistan