Silambu

Silambu (Tamil: சிலம்பு) is a traditional anklet worn mostly by South Indians. This ornament is referred to in the famous Tamil silapapthigaram, where the story begins and ends with a silmabu. In olden days, both men and women wore a variety of silambu. This can be discovered in most of the Tamil texts. A silambu, worn by a woman, is a hollow circular tube, made of gold, with precious stones or pearls to fill the space, which in turn produce a characteristic sound while walking. Silambus are worn by traditional dancers during performances. This produces a rhythmic, jingling sound in tune with the steps of the dancers.

Even, Lord Shiva in his famous dancing pose, nataraja, is found with a silambu on his ankle. Nowadays silambus are made up of silver or copper and are worn by young children, even babies.

In Tamil Nadu, a traditional dance called Kai silambu aatam is performed in temples during Amman festivals in which the dancers wear or hold silambus in their hands, which make noise when shaken.

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