Hailed as a model state for its performance on the human development index, the state of Kerala somewhat paradoxically enjoys a robust reputation for its extreme affinity for gold jewellery. As an object of prestation and counterprestation from birth to death, gold is ubiquitous and indispensable in Malayali life. We focus on the role of gold as an object of gendered consumption among the Muslims of the Malabar region in Kerala. Gold is worn and displayed on the body as a form of adornment; it creates a distinct public presence, including status claims, notions of self and modes of identification. Moreover, gold has long been regarded as a safe form of investment, even safer than liquid cash and modern financial instruments. We show how, among the Muslims of Malabar, gold holds a special economic significance where religious censure confines their participation in modern banking and financial institutions.

In this context, gold jewellery binds together what are typically viewed as separate fields: the realms of investment and economic security, on the one hand, and aesthetics, family linkages, concepts of self and modes of belonging, on the other (Moors 1994).