Jewellery manifests itself in many forms. It has got its own class and adds a very different glamour to the person wearing the same. Since time immemorial jewellery has been an important component of the Indian life. But the history of Ancient Indian Jewellery has undergone a tremendous change. At the same time it should be mentioned that the designs and delicate craftsmanship of the ancient jewellery are the basis of the designs used in modern jewellery. It can be said that for a country as diverse as India jewellery has been one of the many unifying factors and was also one of the earliest art forms designed by man.

Even in classical Indian literatures jewellery serves as an integral part of the plot or sometimes forms an important link to the plot. In fact various messages were conveyed by Indian Jewellery in the early days. They communicated the message of love, hate, power, hierarchy, marriage and widowhood.

Gold, has always been extensively used for rings and other mountings of gems. One cannot even avoid noticing, the ancient Indian male sculptures, fully adorned with jewellery. The Vedic gods are constantly described as wearing ornaments made of gold, since, the male figures often represented gods, and their costumes and adornments were undoubtedly modeled on those of the royalty and nobility of those times. The Kronos earrings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, provides striking evidence of the finest pieces of early Indian jewellery known till date. Their excavation place is not known but it has been pointed out that the Chakravartin (World Emperor) on the famous relief from Jaggayyapeta in eastern Andhra during first century BC wears very similar earrings. However, most of the information about gold used in ancient India is derived either from the excavated material from early sites with relatively rare gold jewellery or the visual record provided by countless carved and also from more rarely painted, representations of richly adorned gods and goddesses from the third to fourth centuries BC onwards. In fact even during the Vedic age it has been found that there has been ample mention of gold.

Jewellery of Indus Valley Civilisation
During the Indus Valley Civilisation both men and women used to wear jewellery. Necklaces, fillets, armlets and finger-rings were common to both the sexes. The women during this time made a lot use of clay and shell bracelets on their wrists. Women wore girdles, earrings and anklets. The more common metals which were used to prepare ornaments during this period were gold, silver, copper, ivory, precious and semi-precious stones, bones and shells etc. Other jewellery which the women more commonly used were thin bands of gold that would be worn on the forehead, earrings, primitive brooches, chokers and gold rings. During this time even the use of gems and green stones had started. Beads were also very common for the people of Indus Valley Civilisation.

Jewellery in Gandhara Period
The jewellery of the Gandhara period has ample Greek and Hellinistic influence. Commonly used jewellery of the Gandhara period was massive earrings, armlets and torques, often incorporating bird or animal forms.

Jewellery of Sunga Period
Later, due to the advent of the Sunga dynasty, jewellery became a little refined. In the sculptures of this period various references show that the material used most frequently were gold and precious stones like corals, rubies, sapphires, agates, and crystals. Pearls and beads of all kinds were used plentifully including those made of glass. Certain ornaments were common to both sexes, like earrings, necklaces, armlets, bracelets and embroidered belts. With regard to beads it has been found that the origin of beads in India is as old as 7th millennium BC. In fact by 3000 BC India had become one of the major producers of beads. Interestingly beads which are parts of ancient Indian jewellery are prevalent in the present age and are used in different forms of modern jewellery.

The use of gems in jewellery had originated from the city of Madurai in South India. The royal kingdoms of the south made a generous use of gem stones and gradually the trend of using precious gems in jewellery became an essential part of Indian Jewellery.

Some of the common jewellery of ancient India was:
Earring (Karnika): They were of three types namely a simple ring or circle called Kundala, a circular disc earring known as dehri and earrings with a flower-like shape known as Karnaphul.

Necklaces: The necklaces used were also of two kinds. One had a short, broad and flat structure usually made of gold and covered with precious stones. It was known as the kantha. The long one was called the lambanam. The bead necklaces or the chains were generally named after the number of chains of which it was composed. The centre of the chain was occupied by an amulet to keep away evil in any form.

Armlets (Bajuband): These were of gold and even the armlets made of silver beads were worn on the upper arm, and were occasionally studded with precious stones.

Bracelets (Kangan): Often the bracelets were made of square or round beads of gold, and richly embroidered cloth belts were used by males of that period.

Girdle (Mekhala): Women, in addition, wear girdles called mekhala, a hip belt of multi-stringed beads, originally made from the red seed kaksha.

Anklets & Rings: All women also wore anklets and thumb and finger rings. The rings were plain and crowded together on the middle joints of the fingers. During this period the more common anklets were made of gold although silver was a more common metal. They could be in the form of a simple ring, a Kara, a thick chain, a sankla and an ornamental circle with small bells called ghungru.

The use of forehead ornaments was also common among women of ancient days. They generally wore it below the parting of the hair and at the center of the forehead. These consisted of thin plate of gold or silver stamped in various patterns, as well as a star-shaped sitara and bina and a tiny ornament called bindi was also a part of the forehead ornament.

Examples of some ancient jewellery

Earrings
1.This earring consists of a six-petalled blossom with a circular centre of applied wire enclosed by granules of regular size. The inner petals, cut from sheet gold, are plain; the outer petals are died with stamped sheet gold and are filled with granules of differing sizes. Twisted wires are attached to the back and appear as loops from the front and are adorned with granulated rosettes. Beneath the blossom is a turquoise vase mounted with granulated sheet gold and linking the vase and rosette is a stylized dolphin of sheet gold.

2. This earring also has a vase pendant, like the preceding one, made of a pearl with finely granulated gold mounts, and with a pedestal foot. The dolphins are more naturalistic, worked in a round and chased manner. A trefoil of sheet gold, with applied wire and granulated borders, replaces the blossom. Chains to the top of the earring attach three seed pearls.

3. This earring has a blossom with five heart-shaped petals, filled with granulation, their points meeting at a small central disc. The pendant beneath has a compressed spherical bead, a ring of granules, and a turquoise bead set in gold and with a granulated terminal. The twisted wire loops set with granulated rosettes, are also seen here.

4. These earrings have two vertical rows of granules. It has a blossom with applied twisted wires. One more gold ear-ornament was found in south India, in the Nilgiri Hills and was used in the end of 1st millennium BC. These stylized blossoms are made from granules and pellets of gold, with tiny sheets of gold bent into high relief, mounted on a sheet of gold and cut into the form of petals.

Hairpin
This is a Hairpin finial, in the form of a goddess in Gold. The goddess depicted here is semi-nude and entirely western classical in style. Her left hand, held up close to her shoulder, holds a small stick; her right hand, on her hip, holds a bunch of leaves.

Jewellery Pendants
1. This pendant is made from sheet gold and there is an original use of `the curl and crescent in the local style, with the back plate `scalloped at the edges, in a leaf-like pattern.

Hence it can be concluded saying that ancient jewellery of India had a huge variety of ornaments. Rather ancient jewellery was the result of the first step of experimentation with jewellery. At the same time although ancient jewellery has been replaced to a large extent by modern forms of ornaments, yet the influence of ancient jewellery can still be seen among the present day jewellery.