An intricately designed mangalsutra, a pair of bangles and a delicate nose-ring crafted out of Tilgul or halwa as it is called is a dying art but has been kept alive by a few like Prajakta Bedekar of Belagavi.
Tilgul jewelry or Sesame ornaments have a great demand from USA, Australia, England, Dubai. When it comes to India, more demand this year has come from Haryana and Delhi.
Sesame ornaments have also been ordered from Mysore, Bangalore, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. Ornaments are made using Tilgul, Paper flowers, thread etc. In ladies’ set one normally gets Bindi, Mangal sutra, Necklace, Bajuband, earrings, ring, bangles and Nadapatti. In men’s set, they make a garland and Tura and in kids set they make Kirita, Bajuband, Gajara and Basari.
The price of a set of children’s jewelry ranges from Rs.550 to 2500.
As per tradition, newly-married women are decorated in very special jewelry called the halwyache daagine’ (ornaments made of halwa’ or sugar-coated sesame) and black sarees. Just married men and babies too could adorn with similar ornaments.
Seventeen years ago, Prajakta Bedekar made ornaments for her daughter. After seeing the ornaments, her friends ordered and since then each year she has been preserving this old tradition.
Speaking to AAB she said, the demand for Tilgul jewelry is on the upper side only. Even during the pandemic, the demand is there.
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