Kuhoo Latkans

Kuhoo is the Sanskrit word for the song of the koel, that clear unhurried note that arrives before you see the bird, and these Kashmiri latkans carry the same quality, heard before they are fully seen. A pale rose quartz teardrop sits at the top within an engraved gold lotus-leaf frame, its colour soft and warm like the first light before sunrise. Below it, an engraved gilded bar with granule bead details bridges the composition before releasing a round polki stone in a pavé border, its facets catching light the way still water catches the moon. A fringe of ghungroo bells announces the transition to four long gilded chains strung with graduated gold beads, each one descending at its own unhurried pace before arriving at a fully engraved jhumka dome finished with a fringe of cultured pearls, the koel's song finally complete.