In November, 2018, the pet parrot of Rani Padmini of Chittorgarh was enshrined in gold and brought to you as a light and elegant pearl-strung cheekh.

The legend of Padmavati is not complete...

In November, 2018, the pet parrot of Rani Padmini of Chittorgarh was enshrined in gold and brought to you as a light and elegant pearl-strung cheekh.

The legend of Padmavati is not complete without Hiraman Tota. And, needless to say, the cheekh remains imperfect without its earrings. It's taken us a long time but at last the pair of pulchritudinous parrots, hand-wrought in rich yellow 22K gold, have been birthed and brought up with due care, consideration and love. The tail's different, more 'evolved' than the earlier ones, and more decorative, with its leaf-and-stalk motifs and those big waffle-pear drops. The wings have now been done with little balls instead of the usual solid section separated from the rest of the bird's body by wires. The pearl eye is a bit disconcerting but the simple chakti of the top with its central wire-tied mukto balances things well. As does the unique idea of stacking double ball-bunches along the breast of the parrots as if they were wearing, or had grown, armour plates of some kind so that no one could fell them with an arrow to the heart.

These are the matching earrings to the Hiraman Tota Cheekh that, in truth, can also be worn independently. Be careful though, the parrot twins tend to whisper romantic schemes aplenty into your ears that may not be wise to get ideas about too soon. That's not to say we're asking you to swear off romantic love –– no, not at all! Just that psittacine advice, even though the lineage of the birds is undoubtedly noble and their bearing regal, may not always be of the kind you'd want to act upon when you're thinking about the possibilities of finding love, not in a fable but in real life.