A Gajra is a flower garland that is worn by Indian women during festive occasions, weddings, or as part of everyday traditional attire. They are made usually of varies types of

jasmine Jasmine (botanical name: ''Jasminum'', pronounced ) is a genus of shrubs and vines in the olive family of Oleaceae. It contains around 200 species native to tropical and warm temperate regions of Eurasia, Africa, and Oceania. Jasmines are wid ...

flowers but

rose A rose is either a woody perennial plant, perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred Rose species, species and Garden roses, tens of thousands of cultivar ...

, crossandra and

barleria ''Barleria'' is a genus of plants in the family Acanthaceae. It includes 303 species native to the tropics and subtropics, including the Americas from Mexico to northern South America, sub-Saharan Africa, Egypt and the Arabian Peninsula, the Indi ...

are also widely used in gajras. It can be worn both on the bun and with the braid coiling. Women in

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

usually wear them with traditional attire. It is also worn on the wrist mainly during festive occasions and weddings. The gajra is an ornament to decorate a hairstyle and does not generally aid in holding a bun in place. Gajra also refers to a type of pearl workmanship done on jewelry in India.

Gallery

File:Ajanta Paintings.jpg, Historically, jasmine gajra has been worn around hair bun,

Gupta Empire The Gupta Empire was an Indian empire during the classical period of the Indian subcontinent which existed from the mid 3rd century to mid 6th century CE. At its zenith, the dynasty ruled over an empire that spanned much of the northern Indian ...

. File:Green Tara. Sumtsek hall at Alci monastery, Ladakh, ca. 11th century.jpg,

Green Tara Tara (, ; , ), Ārya Tārā (Noble Tara), also known as Jetsün Dölma (Tibetan: ''rje btsun sgrol ma,'' meaning: "Venerable Mother of Liberation"), is an important female Buddha in Buddhism, especially revered in Vajrayana Buddhism and Mahaya ...

with jasmine gajra around hair bun. ca. 11th century A.D. File:Kuchipudi Performer DS.jpg,

Kuchipudi ''Kuchipudi'' ( ) is one of the eight major Indian classical dances. It originates from a village named Kuchipudi in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Kuchipudi is a dance-drama performance, with its roots in the ancient Hindu Sanskrit ...

dancer with gajra. File:Sitara Thobani Odissi classical dance mudra India (10).jpg, Traditional imitation Gajra is made from ''

Sholapith Sholapith or shola pith (also referred to as shola and Indian cork) is a dried milky-white spongey plant matter from '' Aeschynomene'' species. It can be pressed and shaped into objects of art, or for practical use. It is the "pith" used for pith ...

'' plant-based sponges and are worn by

Odissi ''Odissi'' (''ଓଡ଼ିଶୀ'') also referred to as ''Orissi'' in old literature, oldest surviving classical dance of India, is a major ancient Indian classical dance that originated in the Hindu temple, temples of Odisha – an eastern ...

dancers. File:Gaye holud.jpg, Bride with floral decorations for ''Haldi, Mehandi or Sangeet ceremony'', part of pre-wedding rituals in South Asia.

References

Indian clothing Hairdressing Pakistani clothing {{india-culture-stub