Dejhoor

Dejhoor (or Deji-Hor) is a dangling ear ornament worn by Kashmiri Pandits married women, from the day before they are wed in holy matrimony.^[1]

Jawaharlal Nehru as a young boy and his mother Swarup Rani wearing dejhoor

The jewelry is placed in the cartilage piercing of the ear in a red thread and later the thread may be replaced with a gold chain known as an ath bought by her in-laws at their house. The thread or chain is about 8-12 inches. The bottom part is athur, which will be of gold, gold /silver threads or pearls, is added attached to the dejhoor. The ornament is not worn by Muslim Kashmiris ^[2] or any other Hindu community.^[3]

Kashmiri Pandit lady in 1900

It symbolizes union between two Kashmiri Pandit families. The dejhoor ornament is always hexagonal and it symbolizes a yantra denoting Shiva and Shakti.^[4][5]

An interpretation of the term Dij is that it represents "dvija" and is thus the female counterpart of a yajnopavita in the Brahmin community.

Its function is similar to that of a mangal-sutra or sindoor in other regions of India. However a dejhoor is provided by the girl's family and worn even after the death of the husband.

See also

• Culture of Kashmir