ਸੁਨਿਆਰ

Suniar (ਸੁਨਿਆਰ) is the Punjabi word for a goldsmith: the craftsman who melts, tests and shapes gold and silver into jewellery. His small shop is where Punjab's families have wedding gold made, old ornaments melted down and remade, and a doubtful piece tested for purity, and his word on gold is trusted like a banker's.

Meaning

In its plain sense, a suniar works in precious metal. He makes necklaces, bangles, earrings and rings, repairs broken clasps and chains, and buys and sells old gold. Because his trade runs on trust, the family suniar often knows three generations of the same household: he made the grandmother's wedding set and, years later, the granddaughter's.

The goldsmith's craft

The suniar works at a low bench with fine tools, a set of scales, and a small crucible, the kuthali, in which gold is melted over a flame. He draws gold out into wire, beats it into sheet, solders the joints and finishes each piece by hand. A good suniar is judged by two things: the fineness of his finish and the honesty of his scales.

Wedding season is his busiest time. In Punjab a bride's gold is both adornment and family savings, worn on the day and kept for life, so the suniar's order book fills well before the marriage season, and old family gold is brought in to be weighed, tested and remade into new designs.

Origin and the name

The word sits close to sona, ਸੋਨਾ, the Punjabi word for gold itself. The goldsmith community is known more widely in India as the Sunar or Swarnkar, a name linked to the Sanskrit suvarna kara, worker in gold. In Punjab and Haryana this community has a long standing as goldsmiths and gold traders, and in parts of the region the Mair community also follows the same trade.

The suniar today

The trade has changed shape. Many suniar families have grown from a single craftsman's bench into jewellery showrooms, while others have moved into different professions altogether, a shift that community accounts of Punjab and Haryana also record. But the old figure survives in every town bazaar: one man, one bench, and gold passing through his hands on the strength of his name.

What does suniar mean in Punjabi?

ਸੁਨਿਆਰ (suniar) means goldsmith in Punjabi: the craftsman who makes, repairs and tests gold and silver jewellery. The word sits close to sona, the Punjabi word for gold.

What does a suniar make?

Necklaces, bangles, earrings and rings, above all the gold sets made for weddings. He also repairs broken jewellery, tests the purity of gold, and remakes old ornaments into new designs.

Where does the word suniar come from?

It belongs with sona, gold. The goldsmith community's wider Indian name, Swarnkar, is linked to the Sanskrit suvarna kara, which means worker in gold.

ਸੁਨਿਆਰ ਦਾ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਵਿੱਚ ਕੀ ਅਰਥ ਹੈ?

ਸੁਨਿਆਰ ਸੋਨੇ ਅਤੇ ਚਾਂਦੀ ਦੇ ਗਹਿਣੇ ਬਣਾਉਣ ਵਾਲੇ ਕਾਰੀਗਰ ਨੂੰ ਕਹਿੰਦੇ ਹਨ੤ ਇਹ ਸ਼ਬਦ ਸੋਨੇ ਨਾਲ ਜੁੜਿਆ ਹੈ੤

ਸੁਨਿਆਰ ਕਿਹੜੇ ਗਹਿਣੇ ਬਣਾਉਂਦਾ ਹੈ?

ਸੁਨਿਆਰ ਹਾਰ, ਵੰਗਾਂ, ਝੁਮਕੇ ਅਤੇ ਮੁੰਦਰੀਆਂ ਬਣਾਉਂਦਾ ਹੈ, ਖਾਸ ਕਰਕੇ ਵਿਆਹ ਲਈ ਸੋਨੇ ਦੇ ਸੈੱਟ੤ ਉਹ ਪੁਰਾਣੇ ਗਹਿਣੇ ਠੀਕ ਵੀ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ ਅਤੇ ਨਵੇਂ ਵੀ ਬਣਾਉਂਦਾ ਹੈ੤