CleanupBot at 17:08, 3 January 2022

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{{Other uses|Chura (disambiguation)}}
{{Short description|Bride's adornment traditional in Punjab}}

[[File:Bharat Takhtani, Esha Deol at Esha Deol's wedding at ISCKON temple 02.jpg|thumb| [[Esha Deol]] wearing choora (chooda) at her wedding]]
A '''''choora''''' (or '''''chura'''''; plural ''chooriyan'') is a set of [[bangle]]s traditionally worn by a bride on her wedding day and for a period after, especially in [[Punjabis|Punjabi]] weddings.

==Materials and appearance==
The ''choora'' is usually red and white; sometimes the red bangles are replaced with another colour, but they are usually only two colours. They are traditionally made of ivory,<ref name="Oldenburg2002">{{cite book|author=Veena Talwar Oldenburg|title=Dowry Murder: The Imperial Origins of a Cultural Crime|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BSjVgCpc5p4C&pg=PA91|year=2002|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-515072-8|page=91}}</ref> with inlay work, though now made with plastic.<ref name="RatraKaur2006">{{cite book|author1=Amiteshwar Ratra|author2=Praveen Kaur|author3=Sudha Chhikara|title=Marriage And Family : In Diverse And Changing Scenario|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XV5iBV_pYm0C&pg=PA500|date=1 January 2006|publisher=Deep & Deep Publications|isbn=978-81-7629-758-5|pages=500–}}</ref> Traditionally there are 21 bangles,<ref name="Mathews2017">{{cite book|author=Mathew Mathews|title=Singapore Ethnic Mosaic, The: Many Cultures, One People|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y4RIDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA317|year=2017|publisher=World Scientific Publishing Company|isbn=978-981-323-475-8|page=317}}</ref> although more recently the bride often wears 7, 9 or 11 bangles.<ref name="Singh2005">{{cite book|author=Mina Singh|title=Ceremony of the Sikh wedding|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CIDXAAAAMAAJ|year=2005|publisher=Rupa & Co.|page=38}}</ref> The bangles range in size according to the circumference of the top of the forearm and the wrist end so that the set fits neatly.

==Customary use==
Wearing the ''choora'' is primarily a [[Punjabi people|Punjabi]] tradition which is followed by [[Punjabi Hindus]], [[Sikhs]] and Punjabi [[Jains]] or the [[Bhabra]] community. [[Sindhoor]] and [[Mangalsutra]]{{mdash}} are other adornments worn by married women. The custom is also observed in [[Gujarat]], [[Rajasthan]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Pravina Shukla|title=The Grace of Four Moons: Dress, Adornment, and the Art of the Body in Modern India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MlObCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA257|year=2015|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-02121-2|page=431}}</ref> and [[Uttar Pradesh]].<ref name="Mathews2017" /><ref name="SinghIndia2005">{{cite book|author1=Kumar Suresh Singh|author2=Anthropological Survey of India|title=People of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tBMwAQAAIAAJ|year=2005|publisher=Anthropological Survey of India|isbn=978-81-7304-114-3|page=1127}}</ref> The ''choora'' ceremony (''dahi-choora'')<ref name="SinghIndia2005" /> is held on the morning of the wedding or the day before.<ref name="Oldenburg2002" /> The bride's maternal uncle and aunt give her a set of ''chooriyan''.

Traditionally, the bride would wear a ''choora'' for a full year,<ref name="Shukla2015">{{cite book|author=Pravina Shukla|title=The Grace of Four Moons: Dress, Adornment, and the Art of the Body in Modern India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MlObCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA257|year=2015|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-02121-2|page=257}}</ref> although if a newly wed bride became pregnant before her first anniversary, the ''choora'' was taken off. When the color started to fade, her in-laws would actually have it re-colored, so everyone would know that she had been married for less than a year.<ref name="Tandon1968">{{cite book|author=Prakash Tandon|title=Punjabi Century, 1857-1947|url=https://archive.org/details/punjabicentury181968tand|url-access=registration|year=1968|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-01253-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/punjabicentury181968tand/page/132 132]}}</ref> On an auspicious Punjabi holiday, usually ''[[sankranti]]'', after the first anniversary her in-laws would hold a small intimate ceremony in which the ''choora'' was removed and glass ''chooriyan'' (bangles) were placed on both hands. This usually was accompanied with mithai (Indian sweets) and a monetary shagun. The ''choora'' then was taken to a river and a prayer was said and it was left to float onto the water. Afterwards the woman could wear other ''choora'' in any colour for as long as she liked.

It is now normal for the bride to wear her ''choora'' for a month and a quarter (40 days). As the ''choora'' is made of fragile materials, Punjabi custom has it that the bride may refrain from heavy housework in her marital home to keep it intact for the 40 days, as a kind of [[honeymoon]]. After that, in traditional homes at least, she takes over the lion's share of domestic work from her mother-in-law.<ref name="bakhshi2009">{{cite book|author=Surinder Singh bakhshi|title=Sikhs in the Diaspora|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sUxx1PPhq7gC&pg=PA233|year=2009|publisher=Dr Surinder Bakhshi|isbn=978-0-9560728-0-1|page=233}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Bracelets]]
[[Category:Hindi words and phrases]]
[[Category:Jewellery of India]]
[[Category:Marriage in Hinduism]]
[[Category:Punjabi culture]]
[[Category:Punjabi words and phrases]]
[[Category:Sikh practices]]

Choora - Revision history

CleanupBot at 17:08, 3 January 2022