In the Tuvan culture of the late 19th — early 20th centuries girls aged 13 to 15, i.e. before marriage, braided their hair in one plait in the western part of Tuva, in two plaits — in the southern regions, in three plaits — in eastern Tuva and in small plaits in central Tuva. At the same time, they wore a simple braid ornament called “booshkun”.

During the “dugdeshkin” matchmaking ritual, girls had two braids and girls’ plait adornments made of various beads — “salbaktar” — attached to their hair.

A bride and a married woman wore three braids. After getting married, women also wore a “chavaga” ornament, which symbolized a change in their status. This ornament symbolized a change in the girl’s status.

The basis of the ornament “chavaga” was a silver plate, sewn on a piece of leather and decorated with thread ropes and strings of coral beads.

In the collections of the National Museum of the Republic of Tuva there are only four copies of the original chavagas. All of them are of the same type: they consist of a flat silver plate chavaga dozu attached to a leather stripe.

The silver plate is richly ornamented with engraving and chasing, with inlaid precious stones. 9–12 rows of coral beads, 9–12 bundles of black thread chalaa-kara, twisted into copper wire and ending with black fringe are attached at the bottom of the silver plate (to the leather base). Traditional decorative motifs are embossed on the silver plate: an endless “knot of happiness” and a four-petal rosette with leafy shoots — a goodwill for a happy and fertile life to the mistress.

A chavaga was considered an expensive ornament and was inherited from mother to daughter. It was supposed to be given to the youngest daughter. But if by the time the eldest daughter was married, her parents could not afford to order a new chavaga from a jeweler, they would give it to the eldest daughter in the hope that they would be able to order a new one for the next daughter’s marriage. Also, sometimes the groom’s relatives helped to make a chavaga — they would bring separate parts of this ornament to be used in the making of a new set.