Phūlōn kā Zēwar

Flowers are procured early in the morning from the wholesale market. Since they wilt quickly, the jewellery has to be crafted on the day that it is actually required. Using a thick needle, the flowers are strung on cotton strings and are shaped in imitation of actual jewels with the help of fine bamboo needles.

Floral jewellery used fine silver and gold wires in the past. These have now been replaced by regular wires that may be easily bent to give shape to a ring or earring before stringing flowers on them. Jewellery is made using a needle and kaccā dhāgā, a loosely spun cotton thread broken off easily by hand and very fine bamboo needles to shape the jewellery. Slim plastic pipes are used to create gaps between the flowers, to make a lighter product and reduce cost.

There are old accounts of delicate nose rings being created by stringing flowers along the central vein of the leaf of the neem tree. The stringing of the flowers is usually outsourced to women and the rate of payment depends on the size of the flowers being strung; the smaller the flower, the higher the payment. The stringing of the dēsī gulāb is done by the zēwar makers themselves as the flower is delicate.

At the height of summer, when the sweet scented bēlā and mōgrā are in season there is demand for gajrās as adornments for the wrist and hair. Gajrā sellers hawk their wares on the streets in the sultry evenings, leaving a trail of heady fragrance as they move from place to place.