In 2021, Nepal’s state department of archaeology submitted a request to the Art Institute of Chicago for the repatriation of the necklace. No action followed.
The earliest evidence of a bidriware object comes from a Deccani painting dated to c. 1625, in which an officer of African descent is seen smoking a hookah made in the bidri technique.
Nick Jonas is not trying to modernise the mangalsutra, but his gesture shows that choices can be equal. If commitment must be flaunted, it need not be gendered.
COMMENTS