Peacock Pandan Box

This is a late Deccan, cast brass, pandan in the form of an elegant peacock, from Hyderabad. The peacock is India’s national bird and is symbolic of re-growth and rejuvenation, royalty, respect, honour, and integrity. Peacocks are also a symbol of beauty, love, and passion. The top of the bird's back opens with a hinged lid and has a compartment inside for the different ingredients of paan. The wing also opens with a hinged lid and has another compartment, likely for the betel leaves.
Paan, in its simplest form, consists of slices of betel nut mixed with lime paste and wrapped in betel leaf.
The history of chewing paan dates back about 2500 years and its beautifully crafted accessories elevated it to a level of ceremony, much like the Japanese and tea. The word pandan was coined during the Sultanate and Mughal period joining the Hindi word paan to the Persian suffix dan. “The offering of the royal paan to a courtier was a sign of extraordinary favour, and an even greater honour would be the offering of the betel container (pandan),” according to Mark Zebrowski.