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Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c11.s4: Ornaments and Coiffure

Jain Miniature Paintings from Western India c11.s4

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Ornaments and Coiffure

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The Gujarātīs, from the 12th to 15th century, were extraordinarily fond of ornaments with which both men and women bedecked their persons. Barbosa, as already quoted, emphasises the love of the Gujarātīs for ornaments. The style of the ornaments did not change to any appreciable extent within the four hundred years under review. We propose to describe below the various ornaments without any chronological sequence.

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Fig. 203

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*Karṇaphūla*.—Large circular pearl earrings were worn both by men and women. In the 14th century, however, women wore two rings, one in the lobe and the other on the top of the ear ⁹¹ (Fig. 55).

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⁹¹ *Jaina-chitra Kalpadruma*, Fig. 79.

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*Necklaces (hāra)*.—Both men and women wore pearl necklaces made of either pearls or flat beads. They had one or more strands.

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*Bangles*.—Both men and women wore bangles and armlets. The men, however, wore only one or two *kaḍās*, but the women covered their forearms with the bangles (*cūḍīs*), over which they wore *kaṅkaṇa*, *chhanda* and *pachhelī*.

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*Armlets*.—They were worn both by men and women, and were made either of pearls or flat beads. They were at times of elaborate workmanship (Fig. 252)⁹².

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⁹² *Ib.*, Fig. 112.

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*Anklets*.—Both men and women wore anklets and rings.

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*Nose-drops*.—In the *Vasanta Vilāsa* miniatures, while the nose-ring is unknown, the women wear a diamond or pearl as a nose-drop.⁹³

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⁹³ Mehta, *Studies in Indian Painting*, p. 21.

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*Mukuṭa*.—Elaborately decorated *mukuṭas*, roughly triangular in shape, were worn by men and women of the upper classes.

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*Headmarks*.—The Indians were very fond of decorating their foreheads with various symbols which were purely decorative in the beginning but took religious meaning at a much later period. In Western Indian miniatures, the following marks were used to decorate the forehead.

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*U-shaped mark*.—This symbol has been designated as a Vaishṇavite *tilaka*, and has been taken to represent the Vaishṇavite influence in Gujarāt. This U-shaped *tilaka*, however, appears in Western Indian miniatures as early as the 12th century and Vaishṇavism does not seem to have anything to do with it. As early as the beginning of the Christian era, there was a decorative pattern known as the *tilaka-ratna*⁹⁴, described in the commentary as a head-mark. In the architectural pieces recovered from the great Jain Stūpa at Mathurā, this symbol is the same as the *triratna* symbol of the Buddhists. It is made of two *makaras* joined with their heads with a rosette inside. This original motif underwent certain changes in the course of time, the *makaras* losing their animal character at every step till the symbol becomes roughly W-shaped. There is little doubt that the U-shaped *tilaka* in Western Indian miniatures is a further abbreviation of this symbol, and does not carry any religious significance, though in the very early times it is possible that the symbol was imbued with some sacred character.

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⁹⁴ *Rāyapaseniya Sūtra*, p. 160.

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Circular spots.—It is known as *ṭīkā*, and the forehead was often marked with it (Figs 190–192).

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Khaura.—The women also seem to have besmeared their foreheads with the sandalwood paste ⁹⁵ (Figs. 17–42).

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⁹⁵ *Jaina-chitra Kalpadruma*, Figs. 16–31.

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Coiffure.—We have been told by Barbosa that the Gujarātīs wore their hair very long and gathered it at the top of their head. It is evident from Western Indian miniatures that both men and women arranged their coiffure in the manner described above. The men generally wore beards and moustaches.

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In the 14th and 15th centuries, however, some new styles in the coiffure of the women-folk are found. Thus, in a miniature of 14th century *Kalpasūtra*, Triśalā’s hair is braided. The dancing girls of the 15th century invariably wore their hair in long plaits. Their coiffure was arranged in one, two or three braids (Figs. 108, 131)⁹⁶, and was decorated with tassels.

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⁹⁶ *Ib.*, Figs. 119, 142.

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Fig. 204

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