The origin of Indian Temple jewellery (Bharatanatyam dance jewellery) dates back to 12th century. Originally, in olden times temple jewellery  was made of gold with ruby, emerald & pearls and was used by the devadasi girls who danced in Temple and durbars. Its unique design has made it very popular and adorable. Even today, real temple jewellery is made by highly skilled craftsman.  Today temple jewelry is closely associated with Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dance forms. Temple jewellery is admired for its beauty, wonderful artistry and unmatched craftsmanship. Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi dancers wear temple jewellery during the dance performance. Even though Mohiniyattam dancers wear traditional plain golden jewellery, often they use some ornaments from Bharatanatyam jewelley.

These days Temple jewellery is made using a variety of metals like silver and brass as its base. The imitation temple jewellery is made of basemetal and polished with golden lacquer. The color and appearance of this jewelry is very long lasting compared to its price. The base metal kind is more affordable and is commonly used. In appearance, both look very similar. The jewellery made with silver is more expensive and preferred by professional dancers because of its light weight and beautiful craftsmanship. The silver base is initially plated with 22Ct gold all over it. Then the high quality kemp stones are placed in the holes and glued. The gap between the stones and the silver base is then filled with Gold foils carefully. This is the real temple jewellery.  The traditional temple jewellery set has 11 different ornaments namely the long chain Short necklace, Sun/Moon, Nethichutti or chutti, Mattal or Matti, Jimikki, Belt or Oddiyanam, Vanki, Rakkodi, Nath/Bullakku and bangles. Dancers also wear Chilangai/Salangai in the ankles during dance performance.  Along with temple jewelry, dancers use kunjalam to decorate the hair. This kunjalam comes in different designs and is tied to the end of the braid to add aesthetics to the hair. The ones used for Bharatanatyam or Kuchipudi dance have matching green and red stones in them.