Across cultures, for hundreds of years, couples have exchanged wedding and engagement rings during rituals. Engagement ring universally symbolises the promise of love, togetherness and devotion for each other. Among western cultures, historians trace this tradition back to the mighty Romans. The Romans thought that the Ring Finger had a vein connecting to the heart directly. They had a name for the vein - 'Vena Amoris'. So it was thought to be the best finger to wear engagement rings as the heart is where the emotions reside. It is the best way to show to the entire world that your heart has been claimed by someone you love eternally. Just like all the other myths, this is just another romantic story. For those less romantic rational people, science may be more convincing. The vasculature in our hand is pretty much the same, and all the veins eventually merge with the subclavian vein which joins the superior vena cava, which drains directly into the heart. In some countries like India, Spain, Peru, Norway and Denmark, the engagement rings are worn on the right hand. According to South Asian traditions, the left hand was considered to be unclean and unlucky. With changing times, this belief has also changed and now left hand is also accepted for wearing engagement and wedding rings by many. Men wear the rings on the right hand and the women on the left hands. According to the ancient Hindu tradition, the women are given toe rings called bichiya. During the wedding ceremony, the husband puts toe rings on his wife's second toe of both the feet. It is a symbol of being married. This tradition's antiquity is thousands of years old. According to the Ramayana, when the Asura Ravana abducted Maa Sita, she threw her toe rings in the way so that her husband Lord Rama could find her. From those times, till today, toe rings have an essential place in a married woman's jewellery box. In Sweden and Chile, men also wear engagement rings. In Chile, the rings are worn on the right hand and exchanged to left hand after marriage. In China, money and gifts are also given or exchanged in an engagement ceremony. The Samburu warriors in Northern Kenya, wear ornate beadings with specific colours around their necks indicating engagement. In England and America, rings are worn in sets. First engagement rings then wedding rings and then ‘eternity rings’ given on the occasion of first wedding anniversary or when the first child is born to the couple. “The Book of Common Prayer,” a collection of prayer books used by the Anglican Church from around 1549, contains the rule that the engagement rings should be worn in the left hand. The Anglican Church after breaking from the Catholic Church – known as the Reformation needed service and worship books to distinguish themselves from the Catholic Church and other versions of Christianity in Europe. Hence, it instructed Reformers to wear engagement rings in the fourth finger of the left hand instead. Recently, the number of men wearing wedding rings have risen. The significant rise in this trend comes from World War II, where many married men who were stationed far away from home wore wedding rings as a reminder of their wife, families and loved ones. According to a 2018 Huffington Post survey, there has been a 280% increase for saved Pinterest images of men’s engagement rings. More than 60% of men like to wear a ring according to a recent study.
Correct ring finger
Which is the correct hand and finger to wear engagement and wedding rings? Very often people stumble upon this trivial question - which finger should you wear your engagement ring? How is it worn around the world and what's the history?
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