Updated: The tradition of wearing bangles in India started way back in ancient times. Even today women love to wear bangles to enhance their feminine grace and beauty with the help of those. Bangles are made of various materials & are available in various colours and models. The word bangle has been derived from the HINDI word Bangri or Bangali, which in Sanskrit gives the meaning “The ornament which adorns the arm”. This article gives you the reason behind the practice & scientific reason behind ” Why Do Indian Women Wear Bangles? “.
Significance of Bangles for Married women:
According to Indian traditions and customs, wearing bangles is a must for a married woman.
There is a belief in some communities that golden bangles should not be worn alone. The Golden bangles are teamed with some glass bangles which symbolizes the well-being of her husband and sons.
In some other communities’ women when changing the bangles prefer not to remove all the bangles making their arms completely bare. They will keep at least one bangle to the arm until they wore another set of bangles. Women believe empty arm brings bad luck.
Read: Distance Between Sun & Earth Is Mentioned in Hanuman Chalisa
Scientific Reasons & Benefits – Why Do Indian Women Wear Bangles:
In Ancient days men used to go and work in farms and forests which involves lot of muscle work, while women used to do all the household work. Though household chores are no less work, especially keeping the fact in mind that no grinders, washing machines available in those days. But when compared to men’s work it’s kind of less, yet again we have to remember the fact that there were no automobiles to travel, and no cranes & tractors in those days for men to do the farming or other works.
There is a chance of high blood pressure, if there isn’t enough physical activity. Although women do a lot of household work, their physical activity is often considered less. This may affect in increased blood pressure, which results in developing impatience.
Normally the wrist portion is in constant activation on any human. Also, the pulse beat in this portion is mostly checked for all sorts of ailments. The Bangles used by women are normally in the wrist part of one’s hand and its constant friction increases the blood circulation level. Furthermore, the electricity passing out through outer skin is again reverted to one’s own body because of the ring-shaped bangles, which has no ends to pass the energy outside but to send it back to the body.
In-order to avoid such impatience problem from occurring, women were asked to wear bangles and some other ornaments waist belt, anklets, armlets. Even Earrings also have their own significance.
Also read: Why Indians Pierce Ears of Babies
Update:
I’ve seen a lot of readers asking & discussing these questions in the comments section, So I thought to answer from my perspective.
Why are women treated differently?
The way I see this practice, it is in No way of treating women differently, nor suppressing their rights or their respect. It’s a practice that’s being followed as per the lifestyle of those days.
In a foolish sense, it’s similar to asking like why men were forced to go and work while women rest at home? Are Men treated like animals by women?
Sounds meaningless & foolish, isn’t it?
These days women are working & travelling everyday between home & workplace and doing more stuff than men. How many women are really wearing bangles these days? Not many working women as I see & I don’t think they need to wear either. They are having enough physical activity & It’s their choice.
Instead of tagging a gender to this practice, We can see this as a practice for a person who’s physical activity is less. They can follow this to avoid health issues. Since the life style of our previous generations & ancestors was completely different & the society is not really supportive in allowing women to work on all fields at that time, They were restricted to specific set of jobs & due to which i believe a practice like this came into existence.
Why can’t men wear the bangles if it’s soo good ?
Yes it’s good for men also if they have less physical activity. Wear it if you think you need to. Wearing bangles is not womanliness and Don’t mention womanliness like it’s a shameful thing. Womanliness means having characteristics of adult female. If you consider Womanliness as some shameful shitty thing then for you Manliness is much worse than that.
Men wear bangles too, except that they are not called bangles. They are called as Kadiyam in Telugu, Kadaga in Kannada, Kada in Punjabi. Over the years the tradition has been through phases with change in lifestyle. Now they are worn as Bracelets in the form of style and social symbol.
I hope now we know that bangles were not just ornaments. And clearly, they are not a symbol lack of courage, or enslavement of women as some people feel. Infact, they offer many benefits & their practice has scientific reasons.
If wearing bangles give so much health benefits then why give this privilege only to women? Why not encourage men also to wear bangles and get health benefits by increased blood circulation and electricity? The only logical reason for Indian making women to weal bangles would be, that they made women a show piece covered in ornaments for simple visual pleasure. Another reason would be to extract much more gold from the father of the bride. If there are no customs of women wearing bangles, necklaces and other ornaments, then, what other mode, the family of bridegroom will resort to extort more money from the family of brides?
Hello Sasidharan… From Your previous comments on other posts…i understood that Either you hate our culture so much or May be You are a High End Pessimist.. because i can't see any enthusiasm related to science in you. You are Just trying to prove every known concept in this blog as a false one. Moreover , please note that i'm just sharing the information and i'm not creating the reasons. Reasons and Traditions already exists. We Just Lack the elements to understand their relation.
Let me clarify your doubt… In Case you don't know,"Indian Men" also Used to wear "Toe Rings" and "Bangles" it's just that they don't Call them Bangles at that time. They Called them as "Kadiyam"( In Telugu) or "Kadaga" (in Kannada).. Now a days if you want to see 'Men' wearing those.. you need to visit a "Village" where people are so traditional.. or even you can find this Gujarat Mostly.. During the Ancient Times, People Wore it as a tradition (I'm not sure how many of them know the real reason) but now a days.. very very very few people know it as "Tradition" and started wearing Kadiyam's, what they call as Bracelets now, For style and a symbol of Social Status and Ornaments.
yes in punjab..u can check every sardar n hindu wear “KADA” n it is traditional fact.
Its already mentioned in the post that men do more physical activity and women do less physical activity and have higher chances of getting high blood pressure!!!
Well said 😂
These are pseudo scientific facts.
Problem is every culture is finding hard to hang on to fuckall brainless ideologies, eventually left with no choice but to come up with some fakakta scientific facts to convince it’s significance to brainwashed gullible minds.
They should change page title to “pseudosciencebehindindianculture.in” 😂
U r very right… bravo… kudos for such a true reply…
Love u
His question is right , if i ask about sindoor , Bangles , payal, etc my husband always gives me scientific logic to wear that. I have allergic reactions with that yar. I also want to know ki ye men kyu nhi is science ka kuch profit lete hain.
Pregnant women wear Bangles because the tinkle of bangles provides acoustic stimuli for the baby and helps in easy delivery.
Bangles made up of which material is more significant
Mr.Sasidharan asked, “If wearing bangles give so much health benefits then why give this privilege only to women? Why not encourage men also to wear bangles and get health benefits by increased blood circulation and electricity?” – “Science Behind Culture” did not give direct answer to this. Instead of commenting on the intensions of Sasidharan, you could have answered his questions.
You and other have given a few examples of men also wearing bangles in different forms. According to you, this should have given them a calm and quiet, patient personality. Do you think all the Sikhs wearing bangle in whatever form are such people and they don’t get angry?
Secondly, if bangles have such a proven benefits why is that men don’t wear it as a common practice. Like Sasidharan says, it is common in our tradition to see women as different from men. Her beauty was seen from the point of view of ‘man’. Along with other dress, they way they wear it, along with ornaments including bangles, is only to increase their beauty.
Moreover, ‘wearing bangles’ is an idiom attributed to ‘womanlyness’. That is why when we want to tease a man as an powerless, impotent, loser etc. we say “go and wear bangles”. How do you explain this?
Traditions are traditions, they can be understood, if you want to, only in that socio-cultural framework. Physical, physiological and psychological science need not come here.
excellent…. well said mr.abdul.
@Abdul Rehman Pasha/ashwini, allow me to answer your questions one by one…
Question 1: Do you think all the Sikhs wearing bangle in whatever form are such people and they don’t get angry?
Anger is a normal human emotion. The Sikhs are human too.If the Sikhs never get angry, then that means they became ‘Godly’. The idea is to control the anger as much as we can using any ‘tools’ that are available. Some people count from 10 to 0, some people use chemicals but there are better ways. The Sikh bangle is a symbol of God having no beginning or end. In our culture ‘Kala Bhairava’ has no beginning or end. Bangle is a circle. The circle has no beginning or end. Thats why our culture invented “Zero”.The rest of the world initially laughed at us when they first encountered Zero. They said zero has no value. Look who is laughing now !!! In many parts of our country, the most respected, honorable people are addressed as “Total Zeroes”.If you want more proof I can gladly provide it.
Question 2: if bangles have such a proven benefits why is that men don’t wear it as a common practice ?
Why don’t you wear it ? Men worked in the farmland. Have you tried working in the field with both hands full of bangles ? Men working in an electronic lab wear a bangle connected to the earth(bhumi devi) so the static energy from their body discharges to the dhathri (earth).This is one of the reason why traditionally married woman wear metal ring on the second toes of both their feet. In the next sentence you said women are different from men.In that sense comparing men and women are as bad as comparing apples and oranges.
Question 3: Moreover, ‘wearing bangles’ is an idiom attributed to ‘womanlyness’. That is why when we want to tease a man as an powerless, impotent, loser etc. we say “go and wear bangles”. How do you explain this?
‘wearing bangles’ is NOT ‘womanlyness’. In fact womanliness has absolutely nothing to do with wearing bangles. If someone want to tease a man as a powerless, impotent, loser etc by calling them a woman, then that man does not have any respect for women. Lets not forget we all came from a woman. This is the reason(one of the reasons) why we call our land as Mother land(Bhaarath Matha). Western cultures like Germany etc call their land as Father land.The father cannot give birth. There is too much western influences in our country these days.
Question 4: Traditions are traditions, they can be understood, if you want to, only in that socio-cultural framework. Physical, physiological and psychological science need not come here :
Are you saying “anything a westerner says is science” and anything we say is superstition, eastern mysticism etc ? Unfortunately I have to disagree. Unlike western traditions, our traditions if they are followed by a major community then it is based on ‘science’, Engineering and beyond ! When I wakeup in the morning, ‘traditionally’ I touch the Mother Earth with my hand to say sorry because I am going to step on her. Why ?.. Because I am a Scientist, Engineer and Inventor who started learning serious psychology at 10 years of age thats why. Now for the science behind it, the human body produces static electric voltage between 10000 volts to 14000 volts. This happens when you are not in contact with the earth(rubber sandals,shoes,bed etc). If you been to colder places like canada, north america,europe etc you learn how painful this is. So by touching the earth you are discharging the static through the upper part of your body. Electric current is the flow of negatively charged electrons. When these negative charges are gone from the upper body whats left is positive charge.This means your upper body have more positive energy for the rest of the day ! Now for the psychological part, the act of saying sorry(to a friend, mother, sister, wife, father etc) makes us humble, free and happy. Try saying to your wife “I am sorry for not recognizing what you are doing for me everyday, but from now on I will value you more than me” and see how her face lights up. You will live like a King, I promise.
End Note: I could give you so many examples and write a 1000 books about our Bhaaratheeya(Hindu) traditions but time, space and money does not allow me. I gotta work to eat ! If I have used sharp words in my explanations, its my way of giving an electric shock so the dark corners of your brain lights up. We all have dark corners ! Praise the lord, Ram Ram, Allahu Akbar and Inquilab Zindabad .
I love your explaination. Thanks 🙂 n seriously wanna know more
You r amazing👍Thanks for such a wonderful information.
I love the way u answerended.
Sir…i really love Indian culture and after reading this more love towards Indian ethics has been moved to next level….
Thax for sharing knowledge
In the world, most of the women never wear any bangle, metal pieces on the toes, ear rings, nose rings etc. The people that wear these are mostly religiously Hindu. Of course, the people of African origin wear all sort of things on their bodies mainly due to their nomadic traditions. There is no scientific basis for all these. Now-a-days, the people are explaining everything as though they are all having some scientific basis for wearing anything on the body.
We can admit that wearing bangles, putting on “tilak” on forehead and other ornamental decorations have their origin in Hindu religion. American, England, Russian, Australian, (even in India)- Manipuri, Arunachal Pradesh people (who are predominantly Christian, never wear any ornaments on the body. Now, it is encouraged as fashion and modern sports accessories to wear all and sundry items by men as well as women.
I can convincingly say the wearing of bangles, “tilak” (a mark on the forehead), ear rings, toe ornament, bracelets all to do with Hindu religion. It is good to avoid linking the religious traditions with scientific methods since no body did know of their scientific value whe they first started wearing all these.
I am surprised to see so many trolls on this page. I understand Everyone has a right to an opinion. I believe there is a reason behind everything and there is a strong reasoning behind our traditions. You dont seem to question the science behind how the smart phones work? But yet u know how to use one. Likewise we never bothered about the science behind it, but we could use it to our advantage. Admin – u r doing a good job. Thank you for your good work. A quote for you. “Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty and the pig likes it.” I hope u have a good laugh.
Everyone has a right to an opinion but not to a fact. This website is a disgrace to the word science. It should be called http://www.reasonsiheardfromsomeonebehindindianculture.in
Totally agree. This is such a farce. I’m sure there is a real reason, but this is not it.
I donot know which energy you are talking about. Women in India are most vulnerable and Maternal Mortality rate is too high i.e. only second to SAHEL region of Africa. They are stunted and affected by anemia. Please explain.
just f### not helped me in any way!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
waste of my precious time
I agree, wearing of gold bangles is my obsessions. From this time on will wear bangles all the time. 😍
Wearing Bangles is a tradition for Indian womens and they fulfill this with full prosperity and love. It is a must for married womens as it is a symbol of their love and marriage.
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Nice job I am very interested in knowing the secrets behind every tradition may I have link that describes about every ornament that we wore.
IS WEARING FREE SIZE BANGLES IS GOOD FOR HEALTH?
You should not say anything about wrong about the Indian culture without knowing anything. Indian culture is the greatest of all time. But u will only get to know when u will remove the blindfold of western culture on your eyes
Most traditions have no use today and probably didn’t even when they were created out of ignorance. Attaching the word science and giving reasons like electricity flows etc. is just furthering that bullshit we’ve dealt with for centuries. If it’s for Indian women, we can safely assume it originated from either subjugation or objectification.
It is ok if you or the women in your life don’t want to wear anything. You don’t have to justify it here and mock people who do it or believe in it.
Karan will believe it only if a white person says it is true. He belongs to a class who think they have to speak like my Civics textbook (zzzzz….) to show how educated they are. They must use swear words to prove how modern they are and criticize Indian traditions to show how scientific and say something pro women to show how feminist they are in every single topic.