When I was a boy, I used to see many bangle shops in my town. Women used to flock to these shops for purchase of glass bangles. My father had drug store. Next to it was the shop of a bangle merchant. He used to get lorry loads of bangles from North. There was such a great demand for bangles. In those days, people never used to talk about gold bangles. That was the craze upto almost the end of, I should say, 20th century. In those days, I have seen girls exchanging their glass bangles to have different colours. Recently after several decades, I found a bangle street vendor who came to our house for selling bangles. It is believed that if a bangle vendor comes home that means he brings along with him luck for the lady of the house. That is how we did not refuse entry to him into our compound.
While bangles are worn to enhance the beauty of an attire, they also signify the marital status of the wearer. In India, pregnant women wear multi-coloured bangles on both hands during special ceremonies held in connection with pregnancy It might surprise some to know that bangles were worn as decorative accessories during the pre- and post-Vedic periods, and they had little or no ceremonial association
Bangles, whether of glass or gold or silver, are almost always associated with Indian women, who wear them for a variety of occasions. It is customary for ladies to design wear bangles from their childhood for ornamental decoration and also as a symbol of sanctity
Bangles have been found in many archaeological sites in India, with the oldest examples dating back to 2,000 B.C. or earlier. Those early bangles were usually made from copper, bronze, agate, or shell and some feature rivets or gold-leaf decoration as well
Bangles originate in a set of specific customs in Indian culture. It is said that medieval India included bangles in various customs and gave the ornament a ritualistic significance. As a result, married women and young girls customarily wear bangles today. It is colored bangles that are deemed to be more auspicious than the gold or silver ones It is considered inauspicious, by those who choose to believe so, to have arms bereft of the colorful adornment.
Glass Bangles are products made out of block glass of different shades of colors or directly from batch material. The mix of raw materials used in the production of flat glass is known as the batch – which is composed of three main components: silica sand, soda ash and dolomite/limestone. Glass bangles hold different meanings according to their color. Some regions have specific bangles associated with their local traditions, and there is a more general color code for bangles as well. Red bangles symbolize energy, blue bangles symbolize wisdom and purple symbolizes independence. Green stands for luck or marriage and yellow is for happiness. Orange bangles mean success, white ones mean new beginnings and black ones mean power. Silver bangles mean strength, while gold bangles mean fortune. Green bangles are mostly worn by Indian women on auspicious or festival days. A combination of black, green and red bangles are worn by brides to ward off evil spirits and to bring prosperity and luck An Indian bride on her wedding day will sometimes attempt to put on as small a glass bangle as possible; smaller bangles are thought to symbolize more happiness during the honeymoon and afterward. Friends or sisters often aid the bride in this task by sliding the bangle on with scented oils. After the wedding, the woman continues to wear her bangles as a charm of safety and luck for her husband, and if the bangle breaks before the husband’s death, it is considered an ill omen.
Bangles are found in shape with pleasing colors and having designs over the surface. In olden days the trade names of the different size of the bangles are given with reference to the coins in circulation. They are one Anna, Two four Anna, Two – Six Anna, Two – Eight Anna and three Anna representing different diameters. The glass bangles are sold out with the above names for indication sizes.
The largest producer of glass bangles in India is Firozabad, located in Uttar Pradesh. A historical bangle market called Laad Bazar is located in Hyderabad, India, and has been operational for over 500 years The process is very long and intricate which involves extremely precise and detailed work. The raw glass used for the making of the Bangles is the same as the ones that are used for all the other products of the glass industry like Chandeliers etc. which are made in the factories.
The molten glass is made to pass through the furnace pipes and the glass gets beaten into shape of equal dimensions without removing from the pipes. This molten glass is passed through automated rollers which stretches out like threads. The molten glass wraps itself on the rollers and a spring like glass is made which is then cut with the cutter used for cutting diamonds. After cutting the springs the open edges have be joined to form a bangle. This process takes place in a separate unit and the work is known as judai. You can see an air compressor which is connected to a chimney of Kerosene the bangles are joined.
The next step is sadai where the jagged ends are smoothened and made to look like a ring. The glass is made to melt a little and by applying pressure on both ends the joint is straightened out. These are done by the women workers of the group. Even after this the bangle has to pass through 10 – 15 hands before the bangles are packed and sent to the shops. It is then decorated, using ornamental mirrors, glitter and many other varieties of embellishments.
But sadly the bangles have lost their charm and attraction. People nowadays go for gold or silver bangles. In the modern times, it is also not economical to manufacture glass bangles. One does not get cheap labour. Wages of workers in the bangle industry is not high and it can be seen from the number of women employed to work in these factories Stringent labour laws make it difficult to exploit women to their advantage. Thus now it is a dying industry. This has deprived the people from hearing the jingling sound of glass bangles.
( based on information and images collected from the net)