Significance of Wearing Nose Pins - History & Now

Nose pins have been a beauty tradition for women for a number of centuries now, and are one of the key significances of a beautiful female. It is as important and memorable for an Indian woman, as a bindi, mangalsutra, or bangles. The earliest records of the nose pin are not of Indian origin, and are known to come from the Middle Eastern traditions, as well as Australia and Central Asia.

There is speculation that this fashion entered India with the arrival of the Mughals and has stayed ever since. Now, more modernised and found in an array of variety, it was initially, a much more sober and traditional ornament adorned by the women.

Nowadays, a lot of young women desire to get their noses pierced due to personal choice or for beautification purposes, but traditionally these have much more significance. This type of art initially originated in 44,000 BC in Australia and has since been adopted by many other cultures.

Traditional aboriginal groups initially used objects like bones, to pierce their nose septums and wore them in the form of a nose pin. The custom spread to India much after, in around the 16th a century and has had a heavy customary influence since.

In India, the positioning of the nose ring also signifies an individual's roots or where they come from, for example, in the South the piercing is preferred on the right, whereas Northern and Central Indians prefer the same on the right. Wearing a nose pin also comes with a list of scientific reasons, and supposedly carries some health benefits as well.

Some studies show that along with being one of the most important organs due to its sense of smell ability, noses are also in charge of emotions such as passion and sexual feelings, and the women who have nose pins are known to have stronger emotional bandwidth, and it is proven to show that women with this accessory are harder to hypnotize and manipulate.

Nose piercings and the point where one pierces their noses, is also known to strengthen a woman’s ovaries, bringing about a more favorable and hospitable uterine environment for supposed childbirth. One of the reasons why many girls and women in villages are made to pierce their noses when they become of age, or are ready for marriage, is this factual advantage. The gold nose ring is an offering to the goddesses, Laxmi (of Prosperity) and Parvathi (of Marriage).

The point of the piercing is known to be a point of acupuncture or acupressure and is directly related to the delivery of an infant, which also helps women experience less pain during the birthing process.

Some Ayurveda experts also believe in the theory of the nose being associated with one’s reproductive organs, namely the left side, and hence also came up with a belief that says that nose rings on the left nostril can cure irregular menstrual cycles as well as increase sexual Pleasure.

Heat pressure in one’s body also leads to quicker agitation and higher blood pressure rates, and hence women are told to wear nose pins, which cool the body and lead to peace and tranquility in their household environments as well.
If you ever see rural women in the Indian subcontinent, you will hardly miss a nose pin or ring being adorned by them.

This is due to the scientific and traditional fact that nose piercings help in relieving heat from one’s body. One of the 12 cranial nerves, is the Vegas nerve, which originates from the brain stem to one's abdomen and passes through multiple other organs such as the lungs, esophagus, and the heart, and is one of the proprietors of expelling Carbon Dioxide or other external and unnecessary gasses are inhaled by the body. CO2 has a higher temperature than the outside atmosphere and is required to be exhaled out so as to maintain a normal body temperature.

Hence, women in rural India, who transplant rice seedlings, or work in agricultural fields, wear nose pins or rings, which helps in the expelling of these gasses in a quicker manner and tend to cool down their bodies.

A study says that rice seedlings could get damaged by warm or hot hands, and hence with their cooler bodies, the women are able to continue their tasks of transplanting the seedlings, easily.

Removal of an ornate Nath, a nose ring or pin that is worn for important events or weddings, of the bride on the wedding night, became a sex symbol over the years.

The marriage nose ring is often decorated with jewels, pearls, and ornaments such as flowers, or little fish as well. The location of the nath, either the left or the right, is decided upon based on the region the bride comes from. The groom taking off the nath from the nostril of his wife became a ritual of settling into the marital bed on the wedding night, and as observed by sensualists and poets over the years, it became a significant action that symbolised the woman losing her virginity. In the olden settings, and even with traditional depictions of sex over the centuries, the image of ‘scattered’ jewellry or ‘dangling’ nose rings from a woman’s nose, was known to show the act of sexual intercourse.

A more scientific reason for the nose piercing having an effect on one’s sexual life would probably be the distance of the nose jewellry being so close to the stimulation zone of the senses such as taste or smell, and also the base of the nose, or the vertical groove at the base of the nose, also known as philtrum.

So here it is, a long list of traditional, scientific, and cultural reasons for one to wear nose pins. This activity in today’s times is done for more modern purposes and mainly for decorative purposes, but nevertheless has the same benefits and looks gorgeous as ever!

You can check iTokri Nosepin collection here

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