Abstract
Plants have served for human adornment in India for millennia. Their use as ornaments and cosmetics is not only ancient but survives to the present time. In addition to decoration, adornment is often regarded as having amuletic powers or is used as social diacritical marks. Over 165 plant species used for human adornment in India have been identified from the literature and by personal observations. This study points out the importance of plants as human adornment both to aboriginal groups and modern urban and rural Indians. The widespread employment of vegetal materials for adornment indicates that in India they have traditionally been more important for this use than have mineral or animal substances.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
Literature Cited
Auboyer, J. 1961. Daily Life in Ancient India. Wedenfeld and Nicolson, London.
Balfour, E., ed. 1871. Cyclopedia of India, Vol. I. Asylum, Scottish, and Foster, Madras.
Banerjee, D. K. 1974. Magico-religious beliefs about plants among some adabasis of India. Quart. J. Mythic Soc. 65: 5–6.
Basu, K. 1889. Some relics of primitive fashion. J. Asiat. Soc, Bombay 2: 93–95.
Bhandarkar, R. G. 1913. Vaisnavism, Saivism, and Minor Religious Systems. Karl Trubner, Strassburg.
Birdwood, G. 1880. The Industrial Arts of India. Chapman and Hall, London.
Buchanan, W. 1899. The sacred thread. Indian Antiquary 28: 252.
Bushan, J. B. 1964. Indian Jewellery, Ornaments, and Decorative Designs. Taraporevala, Bombay.
Campbell, J. M., ed. 1880. Appendix D (ornaments),In Gazetteer of the Bombay Presidency, Vol. 18: 1, Poona. Gov. Central Press, Bombay.
Chandra, M. 1960. Indian costumes and textiles from the eighth to the twelfth century. J. Indian Textile Hist. 5: 1–22.
—. 1973. Costumes, Textiles, Cosmetics, and Coiffure in Ancient and Medieval India. Oriental Publishers, Delhi.
Chattopadhyaya, A. 1976. A note on the importance ofFicus glomerata (udumbara) in ancient Indian society. J. Indian Hist. 54: 257–258.
Chopra, R. N., S. L. Nayar, and I. C. Chopra. 1956. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi.
—, I. C. Chopra, and B. S. Varma. 1969. Supplement to Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants. Publications Information Directorate, New Delhi.
Das, A. K., and M. K. Raha. 1963. The Oraons of Sunderban. Gov. West Bengal, Calcutta.
Dastur, J. F. 1964. Useful Plants of India and Pakistan. 1977 reprint. Taraporevala, Bombay.
Datta, S. C, and A. K. Banerjee. 1978. Useful weeds of West Bengal rice fields. Econ. Bot. 32: 297–310.
Datta-Majumdar, N. 1956. The Santal: A Study in Culture-Change. Dept. Anthrop., Gov. of India, Calcutta.
Deraniyagala, S. 1972. The citadel of Anuradhapena 1969: excavations in the Gedige area. Ancient Ceylon 2: 48–169.
Dhamija, J. 1970. Indian Folk Arts and Crafts. National Book Trust, New Delhi.
Dikshit, M. G. 1952a. Beads from Ahichchhatra, U.P. Ancient India 8: 33–63.
—. 1952b. Some Beads from Kondapur, Hyderabad. Archaeological Dept., Gov. Hyderabad, Hyderabad.
Dubreuil, J. 1926. Soma. Indian Antiquary 55: 176.
Dymock, W. 1889a. The flowers of the Hindu poets. J. Anthropol. Soc, Bombay 2: 85–91.
—. 1889b. On the use of tumeric in Hindu ceremonial. J. Anthropol. Soc, Bombay 2: 441–446.
—, C. J. H. Warden, and D. Hooper. 1890. Pharmacographia Indica. 1972 reprint. Institute of Health and Tibbi Research, Karachi.
Elwin, V. 1941. The meaning of the cowrie in Bastar. Man in India 21: 198–207.
—. 1948. Notes on the Juang. Man in India 27: 1–146.
Ferreira, J. V. 1965. Totemism in India. Oxford Univ. Press, London.
Francis, P. 1981. Early human adornment in India, Part I, the upper Paleolithic. Bull. Deccan College Postgraduate and Res. Inst. 40: 137–144.
—. 1982. The areca-nut object: is it a bead? Puratattva 10: 95–99.
—. 1983. Bead report VIII: minor Indian beadmakers. Ornament 6: 18–21.
Furer-Haimendorf, C. von. 1933. The Naked Nagas. Thaker, Spink, Calcutta.
—. 1943. The Chenchus: Jungle Folk of the Deccan. Macmillian, London.
—. 1945. The Reddis of the Bison Hills. Macmillian, London.
Gode, P. K. 1938. The antiquity of the Hindu nose-ornament called ‘nath.’ Ann. Bhandarkar Res. Inst. 19: 313–322.
Golish, V. de. 1954. Primitive India. Harrap, London.
Griffiths, W. G. 1946. The Kol Tribes of Central India. Royal Asiatic Society, Bengal, Calcutta.
Grigson, W. V. 1938. The Maria Gonds of Bastar. Oxford Univ. Press, London.
Harris, E. 1981. Pers. comm.
Hodson, T. C. 1911. The Naga Tribes of Manipur. Macmillian, London.
Hooker, J. D., and B. D. Jackson, ed. 1895. Index Kewensis. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.
Howell, E. B. 1892. The art industries of the Madras Presidency. J. Indian Arts and Industries 40: 29–34.
Hutchinson, J. 1959. 2nd ed. The Families of Flowering Plants. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.
Hutton, J. H. 1921a. The Angami Nagas. 1969 reprint. Oxford, London.
—. 1921b. The Sema Nagas. 1968 reprint. Oxford, London.
—. 1931. Notes on the Andamese and Nicobarese. Man in India 11: 1–14.
Jain, S. K. 1963. Magico-religious beliefs about plants among the tribals of Bastar, Madhya Pradesh. Quart. J. Mythic Soc. 54: 73–87.
—, and N. Dam. 1979. Some ethnobotanical notes from northeastern India. Econ. Bot. 33: 52–56.
Mackay, E. 1933. Decorated carnelian beads. Man 33: 143–145.
Majumdar, D. N. 1950. The Affairs of a Tribe. Universal, Lucknow.
Malandra, W. W. 1979. Atharvaveda 2.27: evidence for a soma amulet. J. Amer. Oriental Soc. 99: 220–222.
Maloney, C. 1976. Don’t say ‘pretty baby’ lest you zap it with your eye—the evil eye in south Asia.In The Evil Eye, C. Maloney, ed, p. 102–142. Columbia Univ. Press, New York.
Man, E. H. 1882. On the aboriginal inhabitants of the Andamese Islands, Part III. J. Roy. Asiat. Soc. Gr. Brit. & Ire. 12: 329–334.
Mann, R. S. 1975. ‘Change’ and ‘continuity’ among the Nicobarese. Eastern Anthropol. 28: 327–339.
Martin-Leake, H. 1975. An historical memoir of the indigo industry of Bihar. Econ. Bot. 29: 361–371.
Mehra, K. L., K. C. Kanodia, and R. N. Srivastava. 1975. Folk uses of plants for adornment in India. Econ. Bot. 29: 39–46.
Mills, J. P. 1926. The Ao Nagas. 1973 reprint. Oxford Univ. Press, Bombay.
Misra, P. K. 1977. The Nomatic Gadulia Lohar of Eastern Rajasthan. Anthropological Survey of India, Calcutta.
Modi, J. J. 1893. Charms or amulets for some diseases of the eye. J. Asiat. Soc, Bombay 3: 338–340.
Mookerji, R. 1930. A study of human ornamentation. Man in India 10: 216–242.
Mukerjee, R. 1944. The Gondwana and the Gonds. Universal, Lucknow.
Nagar, M. 1980. Pers. comm.
Namboothiry, A. K. V. 1980. Murugesh the florist. Indian Express, Bombay 26 August, p. 3.
Radcliffe-Brown, A. R. 1922. The Andaman Islanders. 1967 reprint. Free Press, New York.
Raghaviah, V. 1962. The Yanadis. Bharatiya Adimjati Sevak Sang, New Delhi.
Reddy, N. S. 1956. Rites and customs associated with marriage in a north Indian village, Parts 1 & 2. Eastern Anthropol. 9: 77–86; 179–184.
Ronis-Raeburn, B. 1982. Pers. comm.
Roy, S. C. 1925. The Bihors. Mission Press, Ranchi.
Royal Gardens, Kew. 1898. Fibres of India.In Additional Series II, Selected Papers from the Kew Bull. I: Vegetable Fibres. H. M. Stationery Office, London.
Russell, R. V., and H. Lai, ed. 1916. Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India. 4 vol. 1969 reprint. Anthropological Publishers, Oosterhout, The Netherlands.
Sastry, B. L. N. 1966. Cosmetics through the early ages with special reference to Buddhist period. J. Andhra Hist. Res. Soc. 31: 45–48.
Schoff, W. H. 1922. Aloes. J. Amer. Oriental Soc. 42: 170–185.
Sen Gupta, S. 1980. Sacred Trees Across Cultures and Nations. Indian Publications, Calcutta.
Shakespear, J. 1912. The Lushei Kiku Clans. Macmillian, London.
Shende, N. J. 1949. The foundations of the Atharvanic religion. Bull. Deccan College Res. Inst. 9: 197–412.
Thurston, E., and K. Rangachari. 1909. Castes and Tribes of Southern India. 7 vol. Indian Gov. Press, Madras.
Tsiang, H. 1963. India from an early Chinese manuscript.In A Reader in General Anthropology, C. S. Coon, ed, p. 452–463. Holt, Reinhart, and Winston, New York.
Vidyarthi, L. P. 1975. The future of traditional ‘primitive’ societies: a case study of an Indian shifting cultivation society. Eastern Anthropol. 28: 313–326.
Wasson, R. G. 1971. The soma of the Rig Veda: what was it? J. Amer. Oriental Soc. 91: 169–186.
Watt, G., ed. 1889. A Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, Vol. 1, Beads. Supt. Gov. Printing, Calcutta.
The Wealth of India. 1948–1973. Raw Materials, Vol. I–X. Indian Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Francis, P. Plants as human adornment in India. Econ Bot 38, 194–209 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02858832
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02858832