The James Bond movie ' Diamonds are forever ' is still watched with awe. Diamonds have held the imagination of people for long. The diamond economy is a big one and history is full of stories connected with diamonds. Ladies have cherished and loved diamonds. These precious stones have been symbols of beauty and love. Jewellers belonging to ages specialized in fulfilling the aspirations of the women who loved diamond jewellery. Diamonds evoked honour and prestige. The faithful gave away their prized diamonds to the Lord Almighty. They did so due to their prayers. There were people like the famous Devadasi Bangalore Nagarathinamma (1878 - 1952) who sold away her diamond jewellery in order to fund the construction of the temple for Saint Thyagaraja in Thiruvaiyaru. Her wealth had been worth 200,000 Rs in 1920 and she had a fabulous collection of diamond jewellery. She loved uncut diamonds and one of her rings was embedded with a diamond as big as an arecanut. Her fabulous diamond choker was much talked about.
The James Bond movie ' Diamonds are forever ' is still watched with awe. Diamonds have held the imagination of people for long. The diamond economy is a big one and history is full of stories connected with diamonds. Ladies have cherished and loved diamonds. These precious stones have been symbols of beauty and love. Jewellers belonging to ages specialized in fulfilling the aspirations of the women who loved diamond jewellery. Diamonds evoked honour and prestige. The faithful gave away their prized diamonds to the Lord Almighty. They did so due to their prayers. There were people like the famous Devadasi Bangalore Nagarathinamma (1878 - 1952) who sold away her diamond jewellery in order to fund the construction of the temple for Saint Thyagaraja in Thiruvaiyaru. Her wealth had been worth 200,000 Rs in 1920 and she had a fabulous collection of diamond jewellery. She loved uncut diamonds and one of her rings was embedded with a diamond as big as an arecanut. Her fabulous diamond choker was much talked about.
Diamond jewellery was considered to be a symbol of prestige and was a sign of great affluence. A lady possessing a diamond necklace, bangles, nose pins, ring and ear rings was considered to be a person of high status. The lady would let her friends and relatives use it on special occasions. The ownership rested with her but her entire circle relished the ornaments. Gold was a sign of security but diamonds stood for status. A woman in Conjeeverams wearing diamond jewellery was compared to a deity. Appayya Dikshithar's grand father Vakshasthala Dikshithar was known for his spontaneous compositions. One day, the ruler of Vijayanagar Sri Krishna Deva Raya and his consorts Chinna Devi, Tirumala Devi visited the Kanchipuram Varadaraja Temple. Both the youthful consorts were draped in pattu and decked with the best of diamonds. Dikshithar composed a poem in which he stated that Lord Varadaraja just checked his ' Vakshasthalam ' (chest) to see if Godddess Mahalakshmi who had been ever resident on his chest had disembarked. This composition got him the name Vakshasthala Dikshithar.
The jewelers of Coimbatore and their relatives worship Goddess Kannika Parameswari on Vysial Street. They used to put on all the family jewellery on the deity for entire Navarathri. The seventh day alankaram / decoration was known as Thavazh Krishnan - Thandha Pushpa Palakku. The Goddess would be made by the merchants themselves for the entire festival period. They used to decorate the idol every day in a particular style. The seventh day would witness the above mentioned decoration of Ambal. It was a time when the Kattalaidharar, P.A.Raju Chettiar & Family would be present in full. The deity used to be decorated with ornaments belonging to the members of the family. All the diamond necklaces would glisten on the deity. It was kind of an offering or ' Naivedhyam '. For wealth was meant to serve several purposes.
The most famous among the jewels belonging to the family of P.A.Raju Chettiar was the ' Peddha Haram ' or the long and large diamond necklace. It was close set and consisted of a number of similar looking pieces strung together on a smooth chain. The ' Peddha Haram ' would flow over the body and would feel smooth. One could work with it in or go to bed too. It was made in a marvelous manner and could not be damaged at all One could wear it casually and need not be frozen with it.
My great grand father P.A.Raju Chettiar had originally kept it as a family jewel for many years. It had been acquired from one Chennimalai Krishna Chetty during the thirties of the twentieth century. Every niece and nephew would wear it for their wedding. All the relatives, friends used it on special occasions. It was perhaps one the most used diamond necklaces of Coimbatore.
My grandmother Lalitha Bai got married to my grand father, the diamond expert Krishnan in 1942. She was made to wear the big necklace as a bride. It belonged to the family for a few more years and then became the private possession of my grandmother Lalitha Bai. Her younger co sister Indrani Viswanathan joined the family in 1944 and she had worn it too. Subsequently a similar looking piece was made for Indrani. Thereafter every bride and groom in our family would compulsorily wear these harams. My grandmother used to call it ' Peddha Haram ', meaning the big neck ornament. My mother Aravindakimari, father Govindarajulu and several others had used it. Grandmother used to give to everyone and request them to wear it. She used to clean it up and keep it inside the locker. Wow, she had an amazing memory. She would know by heart the contents of all her jewel boxes. She had a musical jewel box those days. By the way, all her ornaments were accounted and she used to pay wealth tax. However all her wealth in the form of jewels was used by many. Grandmother would count the number of pieces in the ' Peddha Haram ' before putting it back into the jewels locker each time. The ' Peddha Haram ' was an identity of our family. If any of our family members were found with it on them, the visitors to the marriage would find that they came from our family. This was the most popular diamond necklace in town. All the women belonging to the trading fraternity knew about it. Several leading industrial and mill owner family women had worn it for their weddings. It was considered to be an honour to wear it.
My grand mother Lalitha Bai and her co sister Indrani Viswanathan used attend all the weddings together in the finest of Conjeevarams and their respective diamond harams. Both of them would sport large diamond bangles, diamond ear studs and nose pins too. People used to treat them like royalty. They were lucky to be among the earliest in this region to own diamond waist belts (odiyanams). My grandmother had worn her belt which contained her initials RKL studded with diamonds almost until the birth of my father. She was known to wear a lot of diamond ornaments those days. However she carried herself well with them. A lot of cooking and house work used to keep her busy and she would attend to the same with her diamond jewellery on. Home makers would grind chutney, or grind dough or make chappattis with their diamond bangles on their person. Those days, the ornaments were functional and not stuck up !
The members of our family would casually let others use their ornaments. It happened by the drop of a hat. They had been imbibed with the concept called ' sharing '. Many wanted to copy the ' Peddha Haram ' design and make one for themselves. They used to take photos, draw the design or later got them photo copied too. I am yet to see someone who has made it the same way. Several of my friends have told me that we should celebrate the design and the tradition of the times by creating numbered pieces on a limited basis with a stamp of authenticity. That is yet to happen.
The deities at home would be decked with the ' Peddha Haram ' on festive occasions. The flexible ornament was known for its sturdiness and it was a rare virtue. It looked elegant in spite of the fact that big stones were close set in order to make it. In fact, people preferred open setting with smaller stones unless it was a straight line piece. Still, the superb design and setting ensured its beauty and aesthetics. Grandmother was deeply devoted to Lord Guruvayurappa and other deities. Small pieces from her favourite piece were offered to them after her times. It was her way of thanking God for the wealth bestowed on her.
Lalitha Bai's ' Peddha Haram ' was the most sought after ornament not because of its financial value but also because of the honour, status and value system that was associated with it. Those were times when individuals enjoyed their personal wealth with others. Today, most of the possessions have become very personal. The older generations understood that the wealth of one had many uses. They led a utilitarian life. The ' Peddha Haram ' of Laliltha Bai represents precisely that.