Body piercing is one the many forms of body modification. In simple words body modification means deliberately alterining your physical apperance. For body piercing the desired area of the body is punctured to create an opening for the jewellery to be inserted. Ear piercing is the most common style of this practice.
28th June is observed as the International Body Piercing Day worldwide to commemorate the birth anniversary of Jim Ward. He opened the very first professional piercing studio Gauntlet in 1978.
Along with recognizing the practice of body piercing and modification, this day also promotes the education and awareness of both the culture and safety standards that needs to be practiced with body piercing.
The concept of body piercing is not new in India. It has been there among various tribes of the country.
In the northeastern part of India the Apatani tribe of Arunachal Pradesh have a unique belief related to body piercing. Normally, body piercing or other modifications are done to enhance beauty. However, women of Apatani tribe pierce their nose and wear large plugs to ‘cover’ their beauty.
According to legend, women from this tribe are so beautiful that men from other tribes would try to kidnap them. Some stories say that the elders of the tribe decided to start tattooing the faces of the women and to insert nose plugs into their noses to make themselves less attractive.
(Feature image source: Fashion Lady)
