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Jewellery
 Just like other parts of the country, Tamil Nadu has its own traditional jewellery-especially the stone-encrusted jewelery, which reached its peak here. The ornaments, which are popular here are the oddiyaanam (gold waist belt), vanki (armlet) and jimiki (eardrop), which are traditionally crafted and finished with great dexterity. The jimiki is a bell-shaped ear jewel set in colored stones with pearls hanging at the lower end, and hangs from the lotus shaped kammal of diamonds or rubies worn on the lower lobe of the ear. Other beautiful jewel that Tamil women wear are
maattal, adigai, maangaamaalai, thaali or mangalasuthra,
kaasumaalai, puduchcheri golusu, Gajja golusu.
Another beautiful jewel is the maattal of gold or pearls attached to the lower end of the
kammal and hooked on to the hair to take the weight of the ornaments. Neck
jewellery is a world apart and the variety is endless. The traditional adigai is a necklace of large cabochon rubies set in ascending order ending in a lotus shaped pendant. The necklace of mangoes, the
maangaamaalai, stunning in appearance, consists of stone-studded gold mangoes strung together with a huge pendant of encrusted peacocks.
 The basic jewel for a married woman is the thaali or mangalasuthra-the marriage talisman. First tied on string and then replaced by a gold chain, the important part of the thaali is the pendant, whose design is determined by the community to which the woman belongs. Besides gold chains of various designs, the gold-coin necklace, the kaasumaalai, is typical of this region. The feet are adorned by golusu
(silver anklets). The puduchcheri golusu, a variety of golusu, is of a chain design and comes from Pondicherry. Similarly, the heavy anklets with bells that tinkle
(Gajja golusu) are also very popular.
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