A Ghungroo, also known as Ghunghroo or Ghunghru or Salangai (Tamil) is one of many small metallic bells strung together to form Ghungroos, a musical anklet

Anklet

An anklet, also called ankle chain or ankle bracelet, is an ornament worn around the ankle. Barefoot anklets and toe rings historically have been worn for centuries by girls and women in India. In the United States both casual and more formal anklets became fashionable in the late twentieth century...

 tied to the feet of classical Indian dancers. The sounds produced by Ghungroos vary greatly in pitch depending on their metallic composition and size. Ghungroos serve to accentuate the rhythmic aspects of the dance and allow complex footwork to be heard by the audience. They are worn immediately above the ankle, resting on the lateral malleolus and medial malleolus. A string of ghungroos can range from 50 to greater than 200 bells knotted together. A novice child dancer may start with 50 and slowly add more as he or she grows older and advances in his or her technical ability. Ghungroos or Salangais are worn in traditional performances of the classical Indian dance forms: Bharatnatyam, Kathak

Kathak

Kathak is one of the eight forms of Indian classical dances, originated from Uttar Pradesh, India. This dance form traces its origins to the nomadic bards of ancient northern India, known as Kathaks, or storytellers...

, Kuchipudi

Kuchipudi

Kuchipudi is a Classical Indian dance form Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also popular all over South India. Kuchipudi is the name of a village in the Divi Taluka of Krishna district that borders the Bay of Bengal and with resident Brahmins practicing this traditional dance form, it acquired the...

, and Odissi

Odissi

Odissi, also spelled Orissi , is one of the eight classical dance forms of India. It originates from the state of Orissa, in eastern India. It is the oldest surviving dance form of India on the basis of archaeological evidences. The classic treatise of Indian dance, Natya Shastra, refers to it as...

 etc.

Appearances on film

Meena Kumari

Meena Kumari

Meena Kumari , born Mahjabeen Bano, was an Indian movie actress and poetess. She is regarded as one of the most prominent actresses to have appeared on the screens of Hindi Cinema...

 in Pakeezah

Pakeezah

Pakeezah is a 1972 Indian film. It was directed by Kamal Amrohi who was known for his perfectionism. The music is by Ghulam Mohammed and Naushad...

wore ghungroo to perform her many mujras (classical dances). Madhubala

Madhubala

Mumtaz Jahan Begum Dehlavi, known by her stage name Madhubala was a Hindi movie actress. She starred in several successful movies in the 1950s and early 1960s, many of which have attained a classic status...

 in Mughal-E-Azam

Mughal-e-Azam

Mughal-E-Azam is a 1960 Indian historical epic film produced under the banner of Sterling Investment Corporation Pvt Ltd, and directed by K. Asif. With its unmatched production, K. Asif's magnum opus took nine years and $3 million to complete this movie. This was when a typical Bollywood film...

wore ghungroos in her song "Jab Pyar Kiya Toh Darna Kya" ("If I Have Loved Why Should I Be Frightened"). Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan is an Indian actress, who appears in Hindi films. After graduating with a degree in sociology, she started her career starring in music videos, television shows and commercials, before appearing in feature films....

 danced to "Ami Je Tomar" ("I Am Yours") in Bhool Bhulaiya. Jyothika Saravanan

Jyothika Saravanan

Jyothika Sadanah-Saravanan is a former Indian film actress who predominantly appeared in Tamil films. She also acted in a few Kannada, Malayalam, Telugu and Hindi films. She gained critical acclaim for her performances in Kushi, Perazhagan, Chandramukhi and Mozhi, winning one Filmfare and three...

 danced wearing an antique salangai for the song "Raa Raa" from the famous movie Chandramukhi

Chandramukhi

Chandramukhi is a 2005 Indian horror, comedy and drama film directed by P. Vasu and produced by Ramkumar Ganesan. With a few deviations, it is a remake of Vasu's 2004 Kannada film Apthamitra, which was in-turn a remake of the 1993 Malayalam film Manichithrathazhu...

. Late actress Soundarya

Soundarya

Soundarya was a film actress who appeared in Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam films. She acted in more than 90 films, most of them in Telugu. She was killed in a plane crash near Bangalore.-Film career:...

 also wore a famous salangai as similar as Jyothika Saravanan for the song "Raa Raa" in Apthamitra which was remade as Chandramukhi in Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

.