The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.146

v1.c10.146

The ordinary rule regarding warriors and athletes, however, is not to have knots or chignons, but to cut the hair close, and to represent it in a thick, short, crisp slightly-curled state, the effeminate chignon and knot being reserved for common people, and especially for beaus and men of pleasure. This effeminacy still exists among some Uriyās, and in Bengal it was not unknown at the beginning of this century, though the more common style among men of fashion was long curling locks hanging down to the shoulders. This was very like the ancient Greek style, which Miller describes as consisting of "expanding hair curling down over the cheeks and neck in long curved lines", and which "was regarded as the sign of a soft delicate nature".⁸⁶ In the various styles of dressing the feminine hair, there is one peculiarity worthy of special notice,—it is the want of the parting of the hair along the mesian line from the forehead backwards. This parting is regarded by modern Hindu women as a special mark of married life, and no Bengali lady who has her husband living, will, on any account, allow this to be disturbed. Constantly parting the hair at one particular spot, and tying the locks of the two sides tight away, often lead to baldness along the middle line; but the dread of widowhood is too strong to override the custom. This peculiar style of parting is well known in Europe in the present day, and may also be noticed in many antique female heads. For the demi-monde and dancing girls the Alexandrine style of combing back the hair without any parting is the most favourite fashion.