Curiosities and traditions of a multi-coloured country, India

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The last month, coral brought us in Japan. Today, in front of us there are the streets of a country whose peculiarities are the bright colours and the strong smell of spices: India. Here, the red colour (churu) symbolizing the warmth and the light, is present not only in the bitter taste of saffron, but also into the vivacity of coral, typically used in combination with turquoise in the traditional jewels as a symbol of the union between the fire and the air.

If travelling is something that has always attracted you, be careful not to loose this train. Moni Lisa‘s monthly column Coral brings you through the streets of the world is now leaving again!

Coral as a source of warmth and wellness in every step of indians’ life

Maybe it could surprise you to know that, in the Indian popular tradition, each and every important moment of someone’s life is punctuated by the celestial motion. Each of them is correlated to a series of specific gems, including coral, which is said to have the power to intensify the beneficial influences of the planets, especially those from Mars.

Thanks to its beneficial properties, in the Indian popular tradition coral accompanies humans from the earliest moments of life, from the time when parents are faced with the always delicate choice of what name to give to the child. This is especially the case of South India, where the infant’s grandmother is used to give him a strand of coral beads with an amulet depicting the god Hanuman. Such a small jewel, in fact, would have a magical-protective function and serve to help to remove obstacles from the child’s life, giving him more physical energy, courage and mental clarity.

Similarly, in Bengal the tradition is to put a small coral string around the new-born’s waist in order to ward off the evil eye and all negative energies from him.

Coral has a key role even when the individual has grown up. Indeed, Indian popular tradition dictates that young women who are going to marry are given two coral beads as gifts, so to protect them from widowhood, and to bring happiness to the couple. In the more central part of India, such small coral grains are inserted into the so-called mangalsutram, a string of black beads that would foster prosperity.

As our train runs on the rails and the landscape flows past us, we look out from the window the world of traditional medicine in this country full of charm and life. According to what tradition tells us, in the indian culture the human body, like the cosmos, is said to be composed of five elements (earth, fire, air, water, and ether) that combine into one so to form cellular tissues and the group of three humors (called dasha). These humors act synergistically to create balance and keep the subject healthy. When this balance is upset, the body will act on its own to rebalance it. However, if the disturbance is too strong, it requires the intervention of an Ayurveda, which uses plants, minerals and gemstones (like coral) to treat the patient.

Once again, coral shows up during journey, albeit in a different form. In Indian popular tradition, in fact, its powder is used to contrast obesity, skin defects and circulation disorders.

Then, if this powder is mixed with rosewater and applied to the belly of a pregnant women, it would even have the power to prevent the risk of miscarriage.

So, we have discovered how coral is an integral part of  the indian popular tradition, accompanying individuals from childhood to adulthood. Whether in traditional jewellery or in ointments with healing powers, it appears once again at the centre of a culture that recognizes its beneficial properties and apotropaic value. A culture that, although the geographical distance from the others, is connected to them through this common thread called Coral.