Indian Jewelry Project

The "INDIAN JEWELRY PROJECT" (IJP), an endeavor by Puja Bhargava (the creative mind behind Lai Jewelry) to build a visual archive of Indian heirloom/period jewelry. Tracing the inner and outer journey of the rich history associated with Indian jewelry, IJP aspires to highlight our cultural heritage, celebrate the fine craftsmanship that India is revered for, soak in the patchwork quilt of stories associated with these treasured pieces, serve as a fountain of inspiration that you can draw from and a comprehensive log that you can refer to for pure eye candy.

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When I received a mail from Puja, introducing the IJP, I was stirred to know more about it.This is what Puja has to say about how the project came into being , "Ever since I discovered the "Indian Memory Project", I've been toying with the idea of starting its jewelry equivalent the "Indian Jewelry Project" & what better time than the new year to start a new project! Inspired by the "Indian Memory Project", the IJP (Indian Jewelry Project) aims to be a crowd-sourced visual history of Indian jewelry through the personal archives of families. What that means is that we will all contribute pictures (with emphasis on the jewelry worn there in) from our family albums to compile what we hope, with time, can become a big enough source of reference as well as plain eye candy as to what kind & how jewelry used to be worn in days gone by."

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A few guidelines from Puja that helps us understand how we can contribute to this project :

"Your contribution can be an old picture with your grandmother/ mother/ a relative wearing a striking piece of jewelry along with a little narrative about who they are, significance of the jewelry piece worn (if any), current status of that piece of jewelry (i.e handed down or melted/sold or unknown etc.). 

Any photograph submitted should feature a jewelry piece where the piece itself or the context or the way it has been worn has something meaningful & historic to convey. Only photographs taken before 1980 may be submitted.....anything later than that is too recent! 

If you have an heirloom piece of jewelry that you would like to share with others but don't have an old picture of someone wearing it, please feel free to take a shot & share that too with it's story.....that would also be a great way to document our jewelry heritage!"

Submission of relevant image(s) from sources like the magazines and the web is also accepted under  a separate category. Puja has made a start to this, by compiling an album of antique Indian jewelry here on her Facebook and here on Pinterest.

To kick start the project and bring a personal dimension to it,  we have a few photographs accompanied by anecdotes sent in by Puja and her Lai Facebook members. 

Puja shares a very personal picture with us...........she looks stunning on her wedding day adorned in gorgeous heirloom pieces that have been handed down for generations in the family.

And with Puja validating that a key-bunch does qualify as quasi-jewelry and a personal statement piece, here's my story:

The entire process has impelled me to retrieve and  prod for the precious stories and pieces that surround my family. It's an undertaking that's going to take it's due course. But the ramifications of these are going to be well worth the effort.

The Indian Jewelry Project's success is highly dependent on the combined effort of  those who value their past and those who want to give to their future. Do consider contributing to IJP personally and please share the link with those you think might be able to contribute to this collective memoir that celebrates our jewelry heritage, that has it's  roots in a 5000 year old tradition......... 

Please forward your precious stories and pictures to Puja Bhargava right here or mail her at  puja.bhargava(at)gmail(dot)com.

And if you're looking to start a legacy of your own and would like to know where to look for traditional Indian jewelry........I've got you covered. So stay tuned for a captivating post coming up next week.. But in the meantime I've got more in store for you this week:)

                                                                                ~ Sruthi                   

Images: Collage 1, Collage 2
Other Images: Via, Images are the property of Puja Bhargava. Please do not use without prior written permission.  

Last image - Mine. Images are the property of Sruthi Singh and subject to copyright. Please do not use without prior written permission.