As acts of veneration, Hindu temples frequently adorn their idols with gold jewelry. For obvious reasons, it is extremely rare for these sorts of pieces to make it to the market, but Bonhams is currently selling a 28-piece private collection of 17th-19th Century pieces.
| Gold Pendents | Gold Kevacham. The word kevacham (kavacham) means armor, and refers to decorative armor worn by the god or goddess. |
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| Wrought silver necklace | Gold braid in the form of a snake. " On festive occasions, women in South India sometimes wear long linked ornaments (jadai nagam) over the lengths of their braids depicting cobras symbolizing fertility and sexuality"* |
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A closeup of the snake-braid
The finest piece of the collection, at least from photos in the press-release, is a large gold necklace
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