Write a passage on silver pendant of ladakh
Answers
The perag, literally meaning ‘lotus cover’, has many regional variations in Ladakh.[4] The type of perag currently worn in central Ladakh is the most popular variety. It consists of a tapering base of leather covered with red felt or cotton onto which turquoise pieces are stitched in vertical lines. The design begins with a single large turquoise stone over the woman’s forehead, which is said to take the shape of a serpent’s hood, as it fans out into several lines of turquoise, tapering midway down her back. Silver or gold amulet boxes (ga’u) with semiprecious stones are placed along with the turquoise lines. Women who can afford it attach a separate segment of cloth (chuti) to the left side of the perag, and on to this stitch up to ten vertical lines of coral (churu) ending in cowrie shells. The perag is fastened over a hairpiece (lambu) consisting of woollen braids tied along with braids made of the wearer’s hair and gathered together at the bottom with a large yarn tassel (geblin) made from wool, coins, cowrie shells and small brass bells. On either side of the perag are earflaps (naglan) made from black lambskin (tsaru); they are said to have been introduced by a queen who had an earache. Before the trade routes closed, royalty used sable from Yarkand for the earflaps, as well as astrakhan (lambskin) from the Karakul sheep or brown otter skin. Now, with growing awareness of animal rights, earflaps made from synthetic materials have come into use. Holding the perag and earflaps in place are silver chains (thenthak). Below the silver chains hang flat silver plaques (shunga), usually with a knot motif, from which dangle small bells.