Bengali Bridal Jewellery – Part One (Maang-tika/Matha-patti/Tikli/Tiara)

Jewellery forms a very integral part of a wedding. And when it comes to Bengali wedding, sporting the traditional heirloom jewellery that one has inherited from their grandmother-mother is a must! Starting from the “Sitahar” to the “Chik”, the “Jhumkos” and the “Kaan”, the “balaa” and the “ratna-chur”, Bengali weddings have witnessed an elaborate jewellery spread. Today’s blog post is dedicated to the traditional Bengali bridal jewellery/accessories that will be an essential part of the bride’s big day. After my blog post on My Wedding Drape, several of you have asked me regarding how I went about choosing my jewellery. This blog post specifically focuses on what jewellery/ accessories I chose for my wedding, and how that helped me achieve my Bridal look.

Maang-tika/Matha-patti/Tikli/Tiara

Starting from head to toe in order, first comes the maang-tika or matha-patti that adorns the bride’s forehead. Popularly known as “tikli” in Bengali, it could be a single piece of ornament that hangs in the centre of the forehead, to the ones that have extended chains across the forehead.  Traditionally, bengali brides adorn tikli’s made of gold, or when in a budget, the gold necklace also doubles up as the tikli/maang tika. However, polki and kundan have paved their way to the ones in gold these days.

I chose a one-tier kundan matha-patti for my wedding. Personally, I felt that multiple layered matha-patti would be too dramatic for my wedding look, and it is best suited for traditional Bharat-natyam dancers. The one-tier matha-patti was in itself quite heavy in weight, and complemented my entire look. The matha-patti becomes quite non-functional after the wedding, hence I chose a piece keeping in mind that the matha-patti could be dismantled and later on turned into a bracelet/anklet/necklace. But trust me, once the matha-patti had memories and sentiments of my wedding attached to it, it became hard for me to dismantle it into something more useful.

Matha-patti from Saraf Jewellers, Mani Square Mall, Calcutta

Price – Rs.3,200/- (In 2012)

For my Aaiburobhaat, I sported a simple “tikli” that came as a part of my wedding jewellery set. In fact, I was quite experimental, and went ahead to sport “tiklis” of two different types on the same day. For the morning, I wore a “tikli” that had a long chain running through the parting of my hair and was studded with polki stones. It had a pink stone in the centre. I purposefully wore the “tikli” quite low, and the pink stone ended right where my bindi started. This is the most simplest way of carrying the “tikli”. The “tikli” co-incidentally matched my finger ring, which had the same colour combination studded with polki.

During noon, I changed my “tikli” into a shorter one. This one was also made of polki, and was a part of another necklace-ear ring set. This “tikli” ended much before where my Bindi started. It was studded in a maroon coloured stone.

Both the tiklis were purchased from Senco Gold’s Gossip Collection, Gariahat Branch, Calcutta 

Price – included as a part of a necklace- ear ring set 

For my Reception, I chose a Kundan set, and the “Tikli”/Maang Tika came as a part of the same kundan set. It was further accentuated by a little “crown” studded with pearls and stones, that later, went on to become a part of my look.  The chain of the Maang tika was concealed in my hair by my makeup artist, and only the pendant was prominently made visible. The “Crown” studded in pearls was not a part of my jewellery planning and was a total surprise. I thank my lucky stars for my makeup artist was carrying the crown with him.

Maang Tika from Saraf Jewellers, Mani Square Mall, Calcutta

Price of the entire set (necklace, ear ring and maang tika) – Rs.12,500/- (In 2012)

Apart from the ones illustrated in the photographs above, I also loved borla (a maang tika traditionally worn by women from Rajasthan). After Aishwarya Rai sported one in Jodha Akbar, I totally fell head over heels for it. However, since I had to plan my wedding accessories meticulously, it never figured out as a feasible option.

So that was all for this post. I hope you found this post useful. My next post will feature several other accessories that formed a part of my wedding shopping.

Credits: ~~Photography by Prasanta Singha, Makeup By Ujjwal Debnath~~