Cosmetics, Costumes and Ornaments in Ancient India
by Remadevi. O. | 2009 | 54,177 words
This page relates ‘Wedding Dress� of the study on cosmetics, costumes and ornaments of ancient India based on Sanskrit sources. Chapter one deals with cosmetics and methods of enhancing beauty; Chapter two deals with costumes, garments and dresses; Chapter three deals with ornaments for humans and animals. Each chapter deals with their respective materials, types, preparation and trade, as prevalent in ancient Indian society.
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2.11. Wedding Dress
Wedding garments were usually gorgeous and costly. They were made of silk and were embroidered with different patterns and were of different colours. Wedding dress of different countries was different. Bridal costume was known by different names in different periods. During the marriage ceremony, different sorts of clothing were worn on different stages. Like today, there was a custom of presenting clothes as gift on the occasion of marriage.
Wedding dress of royals was ٳܰū, decorated with swan motif. attests this in the descriptions of certain wedding ceremonies.—[...], etc. are some common expressions found in the works of [1]. In 岵Ծٰ[2], we come across Mālavikā attired in her marital costume, which is made from Vidarbha. [3] has also alluded to the custom of presenting ٳܰūyugma, i.e. a pair of silk garments by the bride’s father to the bridegroom. After the nuptial bath, a bride was given white bleached garments to wear. When the dressing is over, bleached garments were replaced with silk garments. gives an account of such customs when describing ī’s wedding[4]. He has referred to both white and red as colours of wedding garment. In Ṛtܲṃh[5], he speaks of bridal dress having white colour resembling ś flower. There in another context, a season is compared to a newly married woman attired in red. Similarly ī’s wedding dress as represented by ūپ, includes a red upper garment and a white breast garment[6]. ṇa has depicted Rājyaśrī, her face covered with a red veil on her wedding day[7].
ṻ岹[8] gives the name Śamūlya to the wedding garment of a bride. It was a black and red coloured one. There in another context, mention of Vādhūya[9] is seen, which also forms part of a bride’s attire. But whether it was an upper garment or lower garment is not clear. ṇa[10] names Tirodhāna to the wedding garment of his period.
Footnotes and references:
[2]:
p. 93
[3]:
鲹ܱṃśa, VII.18,19
[4]:
ܳ, VII.6,7,11
[5]:
VI.19
[7]:
Ჹṣaٲ, p.146
[8]:
X.85.28-32
[10]:
ICCO, p.49