Peacocks and Pearls …..

Recollecting Marco Polo’s observations in his book, ‘Travels in the Land of Serpents and Pearls’, wherein he details his observations during his visit to the southern part of the country. Malabar or ‘Maabar’ as he calls it in the 13th century documents his observation of the kings and queens and the jewellery that they wore made out of pearls and other precious gems. The book begins with his description of how the men went gathering pearls from the seas and of how the kings were presented the best pearls and gems for double the value. This way the kings and their queens remained to be the custodians and protectors of jewellery. He also narrates about how these kings wore jewellery that was designed with not only pearls but rubies, sapphires, emeralds, and the like and how they paid people well in order to acquire this jewellery. Marco Polo describes one custom that was followed by the kings of these lands, wherein he describes how the treasure that was collected by one king was never touched by his successor. On the contrary, his successor would not only guard his ancestor's treasure but add to it his own fortune, thus ensuring that the treasure was passed on from one generation to another.

While Marco Polo details about certain practices that he observed in the 13th century, what is to be noted is that we continue to follow some of the practices to this day. He talks about various other customs followed by the Indians like being seated on the ground to eat, using cow dung to daub the houses and sanitise the floors, belief in astronomy and astrology, worship of spirits, and the worship of gods and goddesses separately in temples. While describing the animals and the birds of the country, he mentions the peacock in particular and its presence everywhere, of how the peacocks mingle with mankind, and of how they co-existed with mankind.

Connecting the dots between peacocks and pearls one often wonders as to why most of the traditional Indian jewellery, especially down South of the country, carried the motif of the peacock. Was it because it is considered the national bird of our country or because the peacock is considered the most auspicious bird in India? Connected with goddesses like Saraswathi and adorning the head of Lord Krishna or because the Lord of the Serpents, Subramanya who is the most worshipped down South India; noticeable is the fact that South Indian jewellery carried the peacock motif prominently and in different colours, poses and forms. Metaphorically the peacock symbolises the blossoming of love apart from being the vehicle of Lord Karthikeyan. The shy peacock, the peacock with its neck stretched or with the feathers in full display or simply the feather that added glory by its colours on pendants and ear hangings and necklaces. The colours of the peacock are captured vividly by the goldsmith by the gems used. Surprisingly these are the only birds that have still survived and to this day when you walk in the midst of the greenery of the forests or in the middle of the fields, you hear the shrill voice of the peacock.

To the woman of the house who adorned herself with these pieces of jewellery, there were lesser distractions in life those days. When women completed their daily chores and sat on the verandahs of their homes, staring into the green world they probably feasted their eyes on these various moods of the bird. Friendly and divine at the same time, these peacocks live in close proximity to human beings even today. Hence, jewellery was perhaps the most influenced by the peacock motif. Either the goldsmith who worked on it captured the beauty of this bird in its various moods or the woman who observed these birds closely, read their moods well, and got them engraved in her jewellery. Reminded of the lines from the poem ‘The Peacock’ by Sujata Bhatt detailing the beauty and magnificence of the Peacock:

Then, a flash of turquoise

in the pipal tree

The slender neck arched away from you

as he descends,

and as he darts away, a glimpse

of the very end of his tail.

Raised in royal courts, these birds also symbolised apart from beauty, poise, and nobility. Lord Karthikeyan or the serpent God is worshipped as the protector of the land and the destroyer of all ill omen in the life of human beings in these parts of the country. Thereupon they bring peace and happiness to humankind. Ancient art forms also depicted various forms of the peacock. It is not rare to see old paintings and portraits depicted with the peacock in the background. Like Hera in Greek mythology who was very fond of Argus and when she heard Argus was killed placed his eyes on the wings of the bird that was closest to her heart. Argus was thus remembered forever in the eyes of the feathers of this bird, the peacock. Along with the jewellery that carried the peacock motif is seen the combination of pearls of all sizes and hues in South Indian jewellery.

And about these pearls and diamonds and other gems and their gathering technique is what Marco Polo’s book focusses on and thus gives us an insight into the prevalent customs then and the richness of our country. The ‘richest and the most splendid province in the world’ with reference to the Pandyan kingdom which he visited and accurately observed the customs and lifestyle.