To us Indians, the idea of jewellery, in general, is anything that’s moulded in that bright tone of yellow gold. We’ve had a long history with this shimmering metal. Traditional Indian gold jewellery originated from the various dynasties that ruled us. Over the years these designs assimilated into our culture. Many of us have inherited such heirloom jewellery from our grandmothers or have chosen to buy these traditional pieces for their unique ethnic essence.

Here are some popular traditional gold jewellery designs that continue to trend.

Meenakari

In this popular style of jewellery, gold is engraved with nature-inspired patterns like peacock, flowers etc. over bright background colours. Many craftsmen have experimented with gold earrings designs and gold bangles designs with this style of traditional jewellery.

Kundan

With a base made of the purest gold and studded with precious and semi-precious stones, Kundan jewellery is among the most expensive kind of jewellery. Apart from the traditional gold necklaces and gold earrings, gold mangalsutra designs with kundan work have been a continuing trend.

Jadau

Jadau jewellery uses a gold base too, where it is melted and then studded with desired stones. The gold necklace and gold jhumka in this style exhibit a touch of royalty.

Thewa

Thewa is a unique kind of Indian gold jewellery design where nature or deity-inspired pattern is etched with a scriber on a 23K thin gold sheet. This thin carved out sheet is then fused with dyed glass or lac to produce a beautiful piece of jewellery with a coloured background against the miniature gold artwork.

Temple Jewellery

Temple jewellery is native to South India. They include heavy gold earrings and necklaces that display patterns of idols, elephants and architectural designs in a repetitive manner. Such traditional gold jewellery continues to hold sentimental value even today to a large part of our population.

Image credits: www.southjewellery.com, www.jewelace.com, pinterest.com, www.craftsvilla.com