DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.636#0478
468 Caste in relation to Trades and Industries.
the simplicity of their attire. ' Look,' she said,' at the number
and weight of my garments.' .' Yes,' they replied, ' but look
at the number and weight of our jewelry.' The use of jewels,
especially diamonds, as amulets or talismans, is not un-
common. Certain gems are believed to possess magical pro-
perties. A celebrated amulet once existed in ancient India,
supposed to be all-potent in protecting from evil influences.
It consisted of nine gems (a pearl, ruby, sapphire, topaz,
diamond, emerald, lapis lazuli, coral, and one unknown gem
called Gomeda). Even the commonest Indian jewelry pre-
sents examples of every variety of beautiful design and
workmanship. The forms have come down by unbroken
tradition from the earliest times.
The fact is, that in India, artisans are not obliged to be
ever pandering to the mania for novelty, ever racking their
brains to invent some new fashion. They plod on in the
old beaten paths; they are able to devote their energies
to the beautifying, improving, and perfecting of what already
exists. Perhaps the most beautiful ornaments are the work
of artificers, who have continued in the service of a particular
line of Rajas for centuries. These men dare not work for
other employers. The secret of their skill is preserved reli-
giously in their own families, and held to be the property of
their masters.
Sometimes the work of such men is made subservient to
the spiritual interests of their masters in rather a remarkable
manner. For example, it is recorded of a certain king of
Travancore, that feeling the blood he had spilt in his many
wars lie heavily on his conscience, he sought counsel of his
priests, who told him that if he wished to be cleansed from
his guilt his only course was to pass through the body of
a cow—that being the most sacred of all animals. This
seemed rather a difficult task to perform, but it was eventually
accomplished by help of the court jeweller and goldsmith, who
manufactured a jewelled cow of the purest gold of immense
"
the simplicity of their attire. ' Look,' she said,' at the number
and weight of my garments.' .' Yes,' they replied, ' but look
at the number and weight of our jewelry.' The use of jewels,
especially diamonds, as amulets or talismans, is not un-
common. Certain gems are believed to possess magical pro-
perties. A celebrated amulet once existed in ancient India,
supposed to be all-potent in protecting from evil influences.
It consisted of nine gems (a pearl, ruby, sapphire, topaz,
diamond, emerald, lapis lazuli, coral, and one unknown gem
called Gomeda). Even the commonest Indian jewelry pre-
sents examples of every variety of beautiful design and
workmanship. The forms have come down by unbroken
tradition from the earliest times.
The fact is, that in India, artisans are not obliged to be
ever pandering to the mania for novelty, ever racking their
brains to invent some new fashion. They plod on in the
old beaten paths; they are able to devote their energies
to the beautifying, improving, and perfecting of what already
exists. Perhaps the most beautiful ornaments are the work
of artificers, who have continued in the service of a particular
line of Rajas for centuries. These men dare not work for
other employers. The secret of their skill is preserved reli-
giously in their own families, and held to be the property of
their masters.
Sometimes the work of such men is made subservient to
the spiritual interests of their masters in rather a remarkable
manner. For example, it is recorded of a certain king of
Travancore, that feeling the blood he had spilt in his many
wars lie heavily on his conscience, he sought counsel of his
priests, who told him that if he wished to be cleansed from
his guilt his only course was to pass through the body of
a cow—that being the most sacred of all animals. This
seemed rather a difficult task to perform, but it was eventually
accomplished by help of the court jeweller and goldsmith, who
manufactured a jewelled cow of the purest gold of immense
"