Kandyan jewelry

Kandyan jewelry comes from the hill capital of Ceylon or Sri Lanka. The Kandyan Kingdom lasted till the 1815 resulting in the original sets of jewelry & designs still being preserved and worn by kandyan families today.
Kandyan jewelry is hand-made and was designed specifically for the royal families carrying symbols of wealth, prosperity, grandeur, strength, well-being, solidarity, virtue, passion and valor, thus are worn by women of royal or noble births and not women of lower castes. Therefore are highly sought after today with the centre-piece which is the bridal-set having become collector's items.
Displaying the Bridal Set
History of kandyan jewelry-
Goddess Pathini & God Dademunne were depicted with these jewelry designs then the earliest of royals were presented with similar jewelry items leading to the origination of Kandyan Jewelry Sets.
Drawing of last Queen of Kandy in 1815 in Kandyan Jewelry - King Rajasinghe’s wife
This tradition is prevalent today to a certain degree through the practice of noble kandyan families passing down their jewelry from one generation to another, from mother to daughter at weddings as part of dowry. Kandyan weddings are an extravagant ceremony with the jewelry taking a centre stage to high light kandyan lineage of that family. This practice ensured that sets of kandyan jewelry remained in selected circles of kandyan families without being released to the outside world till such time the families decide to redesign a new set with modern designs and metals at which point they would inform each other of the releasing of the old sets and introduce the newer trends to each other.
Modern day Kandyan Bride & Groom
Bridal Set-
Bridal sets take the centre stage of Kandyan culture with exquisitely hand-made 26 pieces of jewelry that will adorn the bride from head to waist. Bridal sets are rare with only a selected number of families possessing the entire set. These are collector’s items.
A Bridal Set of kandyan jewelry is hand-made and normally consists of moon & sun, head chain, throatlet, earrings, 3 pendants with chains, pethi necklace, agasti necklace, sarri (thick) Bangles, gedi bangles & Hawadiya (Hip chain). Most of these jewelry items were made using 5 types of metals such as gold, silver, copper, lead, brass. All these items are gold-plaited. Number 5 was an auspicious number and considered to make it 5 times stronger. These items are embedded with red and white Indian stones designed specially to go with the spectacular designs.
Sets of Kandyan Jewelry- collector’s items
1) Necklaces
3 Karapati = Throatlet
Three Throatlets;
(First) White Swan displaying purity for the unmarried maidens,
(Middle) Red Makara pedant for the married ladies,
(Third) Red Swan for the homecoming Bride
2) Head-dress - Head and forehead chain for the Bride
Nalalpati- very precious item for the bride worn at an auspicious time
3) Pendants and chains
3 sisters pendants/padakam = lucky pendants, elaborate design for evening wear
3 Makara Pendants with chains and earrings;
3 is an auspicious number to bring good luck
4) Agasti set - a rare stone in gold for daytime wear with saree or dresses
These stones are only found in Sri Lanka; worn by young and old both displaying the Agasti stone in gold goblets.
A set has- Agasti necklace, earrings and two bangles
The Kandyan culture today-
Kandyans are people who come from the Kandyan hill capital and descendents of the Kandyan kingdom. Their customs and traditional habits are still preserved to a great extent with families giving parents and their elders an important role to play. In many ways their lives are unaffected by the rest of the world as they continue to follow Avurudu and prehera (king’s parade) in August where you can see these jewelry items being displayed.
Kandy city stands apart from the rest of the country in many aspects. Even today the royal palace, now a Buddhist center performs its rituals according to the royal decrees issued by the last king Rajasinghe and does not follow regulations by the state.
Due to its historical importance kandyan jewelry is highly priced and is in the heart of Ceylonese culture representing the glorious times of the Raja (King).
In 1815 when the British entered the citadel, kandyan jewelry caught the attention of the British Officials resulting in some of the sets being shipped off to the Royal family in England as gifts, later becoming popular amongst women in high society in England.
Even today kandyan jewelry sets are auctioned off at the best auction houses in the UK and Europe with a Throatlet and necklaces being valued at 5000 to 8000 pounds or and the entire sets being sold from 50,000 to 200,000 pounds depending on the design and antiquity of the sets. In Sri Lanka these sets are available on a seasonal basis for a dollar rate for outsiders.
There are some of the kandyan families living today- Basnayake, Dissanayake, Bandaranayaka, Ellwela, Nugawele, Nugapitiya, Ratwatta, Halangoda, Weragama, Menikdiwela, Delpitiya, Tennekoon, Samarakoon, Alahakoon, Jayawardena, Aluvihare, Siriwardena, Ekanayake, Talwatta, Senanayake, Panebokke, Dunuwilla, Nawarathne,
Read more about the Kandyan Kingdom and culture-
‘Kandyan Kingdom- then & now’ by PB Alahakoon
- Now available in all Saraavasi Book Stores
Check also - the Kandy Museum for Jewelry sets

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