In Hindu religion it is a tradition for married women to wear bangles. Green or red bangles are worn by married women and they symbolize safety and happy, prosperous and long married life. Breaking of bangles is believed to inauspicious. In some Hindu communities, when husband dies, a woman breaks her bangles and this part of mourning.
Bangles are associated with Goddess Lakshmi and Apsara Rambha.
As it is associated with Hindu Goddesses, a pair of bangle is worshipped in
many regions on special occasions.
Bangles are known by different names like Chudi in Hindi, Vala in Tamil and Malayalsm, Gaaju in Telugu and Bale in Kannada.
Traditional bangles are made of glass and their color varies from region to region with red and green being the important colors.
In some Hindu communities, it is mandatory for married women to wear bangles.
There are some Hindu communities who do not follow this rule especially in South India . There women wear bangles made of gold instead of glass or plastic.
In some Hindu communities, the brides wear very small bangles during the initial period of her marriage. The small and tight bangles symbolize a happy and peaceful marriage.
The color of the bangles is also of great significance –
- Yellow is for happiness
- Green is for marriage and luck
- Red is for energy
- Blue is for wisdom
- Purple is for independence
- Black is for power
- White is for fresh start
In South India , especially in Tamil Nadu bangles are presented to a pregnant woman during her 7th month of pregnancy and the ceremony is known as Valakappu. This ceremony is performed to avoid any untoward incident during the pregnancy period.
In some communities in western parts of India
In eastern parts some communities insist that the bride wear a bangle made of iron or similar metal. This symbolizes strength of the marriage. Apart from this the bride is also presented with white conch shell bangles and red bangles.