Jewel talk: Haryana's heritage

Over 5,000 years jewelry in India has been an unbroken tradition. Excavations at Mohenjo-Daro and other sites of the Indus Valley civilization have unearthed a wealth of handmade ornaments. It appears that both men and women of that time wore jewelry made of gold, silver, copper, ivory and precious and semi-precious stones. The range of jewelry in India varies from religious one to purely aesthetic one. Now coming to northern area of India with Haryana in mind, the land of saints, saangs, raginis, folk lore's and folk dances be fitting all occasions have been composed and continuously practiced. The connection between folk dances and jewelry has been since ages. In villages, the rustic Haryanvi's wear immensely gorgeous pieces of jewelry either in gold or silver. But in government agencies who encourages folk dances of Haryana, folk dancers wore jewelry made out of gilt or any other alloy. Author(s) took an inside tour to explore folk dances as with special reference to jewelry worn by the dancers of Haryana while performing folk dances. The paper also peeps into government's role in flaunting as well as in reviving this traditional heritage. Further it also record down the changes seen in the jewelry.