Ethnic jewelry of Ladakh

photo courtesy  Dietmar Temps

Ladakh is a dry, high-attitude region in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and its people have a highly distinctive style of dress and very unique and interesting jewelry. The most recognizable ornament of Ladakhi women is a turquoise studded headdress called perak. There is a post on my blog dedicated exclusively to the perak (here ) and in my today's article I want to tell about other jewelry worn by Ladakhi women. Perak, being an impressive ornament on its own, additionally serves as a perfect display for numerous other hanging jewelry pieces that can be attached to it. Those who can afford it attach a separate piece of cloth to the left side of the perak decorated with up to ten vertical lines of coral ending in cowrie shells. To hold the perak in place silver chains are used. Below the chains hang flat silver plaques, usually with an endless knot motif - the auspicious and luck-bringing design, one of the Eight Auspicious Emblems of Buddhism - from which dangle small bells.

 photo courtesy Sandeep Achetan

Ladakhi woman wearing perak with attached silver jewelry and a coral decorated piece. Photo source

On their left shoulder Ladakhi women wear a chatelaine, and from the belt around the waist they hang one or a pair of silver or brass disks usually bearing the endless knot, from which six or seven lines of cowrie shells are strung with little bells at the end.
Earrings often consist of several strings of beads, usually of coral, turquoise, glass, mother-of-pearl, but most favoured are those of small fresh water pearls. The arrangements are made in various ways. In some, bead strands are attached to a metal ear stud, which can be set with turquoises, in others they are attached to a metal hoop whose weight is supported by chains. In another popular type small strands of pearls pass over the ear top, their ends fixed to the hair, and pearl tassels hang below.

photo courtesy  Shirish Prabhudesai

photo from here 

Around neck Ladakhi women wear at least one or two necklaces. One is typically an amulet, usually octagonal in shape, made from silver or gold and set with turquoise or coral hung on a string of pearls. A second necklace may be of strands of coral, turquoise, amber, dzi (etched agate) and mother-of-pearl beads . Sometimes it may consist of a string of coral beads alternating with seven miniature amulet boxes or of a series of silver flower-buds strung with corals and turquoises. Another example is the type of necklace that combines two strings of coral beads with silver spacers and a fringe of drops.

photo from here

Necklace from Ladakh incorporating coral beads and silver spacers. 1800-1850 Embossed silver, turquoise and coral. The Victoria and Albert Museum  

Upper class women also wear a stiff biblike collar piece made from a piece of padded red cloth onto which a large central silver amulet is stitched along with coral, turquoise, amber, carnelian, pearl, mother-of-pearl and silver beads. A fringe of silver amulet boxes may be stitched on the lower end.

 Photo source

Silver chest fibula is used to secure a heavy shoulder cloth or a shawl. It can be in round, rectangular or lozenge shape, ornamented with good luck symbols. Around their wrists Ladakhi women wear conch shell bracelets. These bracelets are normally worn throughout the woman's life. Wealthier women instead of conch shell wear silver bracelets in similar shape.

photo from here

photo source

Ladakhi men usually decorate themselves with a bit of jewelry, too. They wear silver or copper amulet boxes in a variety of shapes, a hooped earring with a single turquoise stone in their left ear and a single turquoise stone on a silk cord around their neck. Some additionally wear silver or gold rings set with a single turquoise or coral stone.