Are you game for a Kayan-Lahwi neckring?

Jewellery itself is so fascinating but when you see something unusual, you just can't stop gushing about it and this is what happened to me too when I laid my eyes on Kayan Lahwi women's neckring. The neckwear may not be a masterpiece vis-a-vis aesthetics but the interesting trivia that goes with it, makes it all the more alluring. Hailing from Myanmar, the Kayan girls, as young as five years old, start wearing this brass coil around their neck and since it is a tedious task to coil and uncoil around one's neck, it is only removed when needs to be replaced with a longer one. 

Some of you may get excited to give it a try. But remember, the picture is not very rosy on the other side. Although the neck appears to be longer, in reality, the appearance of a stretched neck is created by deforming the clavicle. The clavicle is first lowered and then, the neckring is coiled around the neck. Otherwise, the area around the neck and collarbone gets bruised and discoloured. The weight of the brass further pushes the collar bone down and compresses the rib cage. Moreover, the muscles covered by the neckring become weakened. Additionally, after 10 or more years, the neckring feels like an integral part of the body due to continuous wear.

As per anthropologists, the rings were worn earlier to look less attractive and therefore, protect themselves from becoming slaves to other tribes. However, the other theory suggests that the rings originated from the desire to look more attractive by exaggerating sexual dimorphism, as women have more slender necks than men. It has also been believed that the brass ring give the women resemblance to a dragon, an important figure in Kayan folklore.The ring might be meant to protect from tiger bites, maybe literally, but probably symbolically. 

Author: Deepa Mishra

Disclaimer: All images used in the blog have been sourced from Google purely for the purpose of informative reference. The models, celebrities or products showcased in these pictures are not to promote any brand in any manner.