Celebrating a Decade: Bangles, Bangle Sellers and the South Asian Spirit

First published on October 5, 2013, here I share with you all the most popular post on this blog in the last decade. Since 2013 I have put much more effort into my academic work and articles, so   long articles have been greatly reduced.  

Why is this blog popular? I think only because of the images and may be that it talks about bangles which is something women around the world might be interested in.  Whatever it is, may be we can re-familiarize ourselves with some information on origins of glass bangles. 

New Rajendar Nagar, New Delhi, 2013.

The man was old and a bit forgetful.  Strangely enough I caught him, as he was saying, 'let me think, where did I keep those?'  This was a very small stall at the local market, in the neighborhood.  The man had placed a square piece of cloth, covered it with newspapers for some more padding and just created a make shift stall between two parked cars.  Thank God for no rules in these places, that poor, old people can set up a shop anywhere.  As Chaotic as it makes India seem, it also allows life to flow where it will.  And in a country as big and diverse as India, 'control and regulation' just do not work!! Chaos makes sense there, as it would no other place.

And color and creativity, balance it all!! Thankyou India!!

Churiyaan, Hanuman Mandir, 2010

Pictures taken at Hanuman Mandir, New Delhi, Jan 2010.  Shops that sell only bangles. 

Chudiyaan or Bangles, especially glass bangles are completely an Indian creation. Bracelets, of various kinds may have been invented else place, but thin fine bangles made of all kinds of material, was a product of Indian genius. And glass bangles are synonymous with India. Glass bangles, are found only in south asia--Namely India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, which was one country till 1947. There are special glass factories that make these glass bangles.

Like Bindi, the dot the Indian women sport and the world identifies an indian woman by, just the phrase "Kanch ki churiyaan’ --Bangles made of Glass, evokes so much in India. Glass bangles find their way into songs, poetry, movie titles and movie plots.

Today we have all sort of bangles, made of material that is more durable. For example, various kinds of metal, plastic, silk threads wound around metal, or plastic or rubber, bangles made completely of plastic, or rubber. All of which are modern version of the ‘churiryaan’. The three tradition ones are made of metal, glass and lac. My favorite the ones made of lac, a special kind of clay and found in east-central Indian states of Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Lac is the scarlet resinous secretion of a number of species of insects, of which the most commonly cultivated species is Kerria lacca (Check wiki for more detailed info. The following two paragraphs were taken from wiki. I learnt just as much as you would, if you read through it). Thousands of these tiny insects colonize branches of suitable host trees and secrete the resinous pigment. The coated branches of the host trees are cut and harvested as sticklac. The harvested sticklac is crushed and sieved to remove impurities. The sieved material is then repeatedly washed to remove insect parts and other soluble material. The resulting product is known as seedlac. The prefix seed refers to its pellet shape. Seedlac which still contains 3-5% impurities is processed into shellac by heat treatment or solvent extraction. The leading producer of Lac is Jharkhand, followed by the Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, and Maharashtra states of India. Lac production is also found in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, parts of China, and Mexico.

The use of lac dye goes back to ancient times. It has been used in India as a skin cosmetic and dye for wool and silk. In China it is a traditional dye for leather goods. The use of lac for dye has been supplanted by synthetic dyes. It is used in medicine as a hepatoprotective and anti-obesity drug. It is used in violin and other varnish and is soluble in alcohol. This type of lac was used in the finishing of 18th-century fowling guns in the United States.

There are two basic types of bangles: a solid cylinder type; and a split, cylindrical spring opening/closing type. Primary distinguishing factor for these is the material that is used to make the bangles. This may vary anything from glass to jade to metal to lac and even rubber or plastic. One 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 is clay like material which is 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 South Asia and in Arabian Peninsula, bangles have evolved into various types in which different ones are used at different occasions.

In India, bangle sellers have many romantic and social connotations associated with them. In a culture where men and women did not touch each other until they were courting or preferably married (exceptions to all rules have always existed), bangle sellers not only got to touch a girl’s hands but also hold it for a while.

For me the most fascinating part was how they held your hand and knew exactly how to squeeze it to slip the bangles to your wrist.  Often times, many girls have large hands but small wrists. In that case, the bangles need to be large enough to pass over the hand but are often loose around the wrists.  Somehow bangle sellers knew how to take the smaller sized bangles and pass them over your hand, without breaking them --(in reference to the glass ones).  Whenever I tried it, I was bound to break a few.  Then we had special techniques for slipping these gorgeous but fragile glass bangles onto our wrists.  Using soap, soap and oil, or merely oil on your wrists facilitated slipping these bangles on your wrists.

But the best part about the bangles was the clinking sound that they made when you worked.  Many a poem and songs were written about the ‘khan-khan’ (tinkling) of these bangles.  Here are a few links to songs in the movies that talk about chudiyaan or kanch ki churiyaan--, 

Bindiya Chamkegi, Churdi Khankegi (the bindi (forehead dot) will shine, and the bangles will tinkle),:  The young woman is trying to distract her beau from his work/studies.  This is one of the most favorite song from the 1970s that make reference to the 'churiyaan'.

Bole Churiyaan, Bole Kangana :  Here the song gives bangles a whole new identity--Love messengers!!  Churiyaan are declaring the wearer's love to her object affection.  Only Bollywood!! 

Churi Bajee Hai Kahin Door Door (The bangles are jingling, somewhere far away): When the man misses his love interest, he walks into the room where she has left her jewelry...and ofcourse in a true bollywood style transports himself into a fantasy song, probably somewhere in Switzerland.  

Chudiyan Khanki Khankane Wale Aa Gaye: The bangles jingled and those make them 

happy (jingle) are here.

Mere Haathon mein naun Naun Churiyaan Hain: This is a young single woman's plea to her love interest to curb his advances, as they are not yet married.  

Choodiyaan Khanak Gayi:  A song with Rajasthani (western Indian state) flavor.  The woman talks her bangles jingling in the middle of the night, telling her love tales. 

And here you can see an entire market in Pakistan that sells just that....'churiyaan'.  If I am not mistaken its filmed by a Japanese tourist who lived in Paksitan at some point, and speaks the language, so is sharing his thoughts with the bangle sellers.  


Every Indian girl (and I bet Pakistani and Bangladeshi) has a stock of bangles.  Various kinds, made of different materials.  By the way, to store them properly, you need metal clothes hangers.  Boxes are not really the best place to store bangles.  They will take too much space and bangles in boxes are hard to sort. Glass bangles, are especially susceptible to cracking and breaking during the sorting process.   So, you take clothes hangers and loosen the clasp, slip the bangle through the metal, close the clasp, and hang the hanger in the closet next to your clothes.  Just be careful not to close the clasp too tight.  It is tightened just enough to to be able to hold the bangles, such that it can be opened again soon.  

I had several hangers filled with bangles.  Especially glass bangles, because in our family daughters, not daughter in laws, were not supposed to buy their own glass bangles.  Since my mom's side of the family knew about the tradition/rule, and knew of our love for the bangles, everyone who visited us brought us bangles.  

I have not worn glass bangles in a long time.  But this time I was home I bought several sets for daughters of colleagues. 

LIke Bindi, Churiyaan are a part of solah shringaar, the 16 different forms of adornments that constitute the complete 'adornment' for a hindu or a muslim bride in India.  Solah Shringar, which includes, the kajal in eyes, henna on the hands and feet, toe rings, and many others, needs a separate post.  It is important to mention that along with bindi, churiyaan are the first thing that woman who looses her husband stops wearing.  In case of glass bangles, they are broken by striking against stones to indicate the death, and beginning of an austere life.  Although not followed anymore, thankfully, that breaking of bangles was used in Bollywood as a universal symbol of loosing love --namely your husband. And in the same line 'chura' the special set of bangles that hindu, sikh and in some cases muslim bride wears has a special ceremony associated with it.  Chura for hindu brides is bought by the Maama (maternal uncle) then taken to the priest for a special prayer and is followed by a proper chura ceremony, where married women give their blessing to the new bride.  Here, you can see the ceremony at a punjabi wedding,with the background to my all time favorite wedding songs.  'Madhaniyaan--the great churner--how cruel are you, that daughters who light our houses eventually have to leave us, and take their laughter to the houses of their husbands and in-laws!!'

Chura is supposed to be so beautiful that the bride herself is not allowed to see it. She is blindfolded during the process, and before her blindfold is taken off, the chura is covered with a hankerchief.  All this to protect her from the 'nazar', the evil eye that is easily attracted towards the young, the beautiful and the lucky ones to be wearing a chura. 

Here, I end the post Sarojini Naidu poem.  Ms. Naidu was not only a poet, but also a freedom fighter.  I remember reading this poem in fourth grade.  While I did not remember the words, I remember how my teacher had explained the place of bangle sellers in Indian culture.  The above picture was taken with that in mind...the color, the glass, the bangle seller, and the good old nostalgia that spells in bold letter the very Indian spirit!!  or better the South Asian Spirit!!

The Bangle Sellers, 

By Sarojini Naidu

Bangle sellers are we who bear
Our shining loads to the temple fair...
Who will buy these delicate, bright
Rainbow-tinted circles of light?
Lustrous tokens of radiant lives,
For happy daughters and happy wives.

Some are meet for a maiden's wrist,
Silver and blue as the mountain mist,
Some are flushed like the buds that dream
On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream,
Some are aglow wth the bloom that cleaves
To the limpid glory of new born leaves

Some are like fields of sunlit corn,
Meet for a bride on her bridal morn,
Some, like the flame of her marriage fire,
Or, rich with the hue of her heart's desire,
Tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear,
Like her bridal laughter and bridal tear.

Some are purple and gold flecked grey
For she who has journeyed through life midway,
Whose hands have cherished, whose love has blest,
And cradled fair sons on her faithful breast,
And serves her household in fruitful pride,
And worships the gods at her husband's side.