Bangles are a symbol of prosperity and prosperous according to Hindu culture.
Whether it’s marriage or any other women-associated functions these bangles are traditionally immersed in our culture.
Its belief that the jingling sound of bangles drives away the negative energy of the surrounding.
Since from Mohenjo-Daro period the usage of Bangles was mentioned and we can witness it through a bronze statue of the Dancing Girl of Mohenjo-Daro which is kept at the National Museum, New Delhi.
Bangles usually were made from clay, wood, copper, iron, glass, and many others.
From Buchanan’s journey from Madras through the countries of Mysore, Malabar, and Canara –
In 1800 Francis Buchanan visited a few parts of Channapatna and witnessed glassware manufacturing sites and detailed documents of Glass bangles making process with raw material contents, also from the furnace to rough sketches to the centrifugal process of bangle making.
Types of ornamental bangles were manufactured-Green, Red & black
Green glass raw material constituents:
Broken glass,Benachu kallu(Powdered white quartz), loha(Brass or copper),Caricallu/iron ore stone(with manganese) and impure soda(Soulu)
Black Glass raw material constituents:
Quartz, impure soda(Soulu), and broken glass
Jun’2023 We visited bangle manufacturing sites at Hanumanabetta it’s a small village around 18 Km from its taluk center Pavagada.
The furnace kiln is at the foothills of a hill covered with thick green vegetation of deciduous forests.
It may be operational by 200 years before was mentioned by Dr. Cheluvarajan, Pavagada(Historian) in his work “Pavagada taluku ithihasa darshana”
The furnace which may be 8 to 10 feet in height and 12’ in width in dilapidated condition, half of its portion only retained.
The furnace was constructed by using 2’’ thickness bricks was used on the outer layer and inside the ceramic clay coating.
Nearby the furnace, the fragments of a furnace and quartz slag with glass tracing we can witness.
The furnace gives us an immense imagination of the document compiled by Buchanan in his document on the glass bangle manufacturing process encountered at Channapatna in 1800.
Also, the same furnace close resembles the iron smelting sketches of Ghattipura in his document.