From kaan phool to bugadi earrings—ear jewellery with a fresh perspective

Ear cuffs and stacked piercings have become a defining style statement, turning ears into mini moodboards of personal style, self-expression and experimentation. They’ve taken over red carpets, flooded our feeds and made pinna ornamentation a staple of modern jewellery aesthetics. But this isn’t new. These adornments have been rooted in South Asian and Southeast Asian cultural traditions for centuries.

Among these are bugadi earrings, traditional ear ornaments worn on the upper part of the ear, particularly the helix, across Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Delicately crafted, often from gold, and occasionally embellished with pearls, bugadi earrings have long been a marker of beauty and belonging. Some styles—like the moti bugadi—feature pearl details and are typically worn by married women. Others, like the jhumki bugadi, add movement with hanging bell-shaped accents.

But the bugadi is only one recently popularised star in a constellation of ear jewellery traditions. In Tamil Nadu’s southern districts, older women, after having gradually stretched their earlobes—once considered to be a sign of great beauty—wear a paambadam, a striking earring made by soldering together balls and squares of gold to create abstract arrangements. Alongside such bold adornments, simpler yet elegant studs like the kammal or thodu—bell-shaped and set with stones and traditional motifs—are staples. Kaanphool earrings are another staple across the country; elaborate pieces that can cover the whole ear. These are sometimes connected with the hair or headpieces—with a chain of gold or pearls, called a maatal—to create a dramatic yet harmonious composition.

What’s often overlooked in the conversation around stacked piercings and ornate ear jewellery is that these practices weren’t only aesthetic in origin, but also considered therapeutic. As Dr Ipsita Chatterjee, Ayurveda Expert, BAMS, MD (Ay), explains, “Ayurveda never separated adornment from healing—it was always saundarya chikitsa (the therapy of beauty).” The ear is considered a sensitive zone filled with marma points, or vital energy centres, that influence both physical and emotional well-being. Piercing the lobe (karnavedha) was believed to balance Apana Vata, supporting reproductive health and self-expression, while the upper helix, near the Shankha Marma, was linked to calm, clarity and mental focus. Jewellery made of gold or silver—metals believed to carry sattvic energy—was thought to gently stimulate these points, cooling the nervous system, grounding the mind, and even offering protection from negative influences.