Nepalese ethnic jewelry: head ornaments

This is my fourth post dedicated to Nepalese ethnic jewelry. The previous ones were about nose ornaments, earrings and necklaces. And today's article will be focused on head ornaments. Perhaps, the most impressive head jewelry pieces belong to the women of Newar community. On the photo above you can see a girl wearing one of the most beautiful head decorations called lunya swan. This eye-catching piece is made of numerous floral and foliate elements and the whole composition looks much like a bunch of flowers with insects hovering over them. A touch of colour  is added in the form of red or green glass beads. It is worn like a hat on the back of the head and may be as large as 30 cm in diameter but the average size is between 15 and 20 cm.

photo source

Another interesting Newari head ornament called nyapu sikha is a pair of sets of five chains, one set attached to the hair on each side of the head. The five chains attached to interconnecting chains create a fan shape. Each main chain ends in a pendant.

The sir bandi head ornament is popular not noly among Newari women but among other ethnic groups. The name that literally means "to bind the head". Three bands, one following the hair part, and two curving around the temples, are connected at the forehead where they support a pendant, usually in a shape of a crescent with additional red or green glass stones.

photo  source 

An important head jewelry among the Gurung, Kirati and some other ethnic groups is a large hair pin called chandra ma, tara or kilip. This is a pin up to 15 cm long in the shape of a crescent moon. Sometimes the moon cradles the sun. The pin may be worn anywhere on the head with the points of the crescent either up or down.

photo courtesy Belinda Meggitt

Women of the Tibeto-Nepalese groups have their own distinctive head ornaments. The women from Muktinath on the photo above are wearing shyule, a serpent inspired headdress. It is merely a strip of red cloth following the part of the hair and hanging down far on the back. It is decorated with large stones of turquoise and rectangular silver and gold plaques fastened to the cloth band. At the tail end agate, glass, shell and amber beads are added.

photo courtesy Belinda Meggitt

Another interesting head ornament of this ethnic group is budje. Just as the previous ornament the budje is a long strip of red fabric but instead of  hanging down it is wrapped around the head twice. The front part is decorated with multiple rows of pearls and beads of coral and turquoise. Strands of pearls interspersed with coral and turquoise beads and ending in gold disks fall on the forehead.

 photo source

Phul head ornament is also popular among the women of different ethnic groups of Nepal. It is a large gold disk intricately decorated with floral and foliate motifs. The disks are usually 15 cm in diameter and may have a stone decoration in the center, such a coral carved with the image of Hindu god Ganesh. The ornament is worn either on top of the head or on the braid at the nape of the neck.

And finally, a head ornament of women of the Tharu group. Called ali band it is a silver band that runs from the centre of the forehead over the part of the hair and around the sides of the head. It is very similar with sir bandi but the Tharu version is large with a prominent centre design and may not have the centre band.