The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.158

v1.c10.158

**Shoes and Boots :** Of ancient shoes, I met with only one variety, the slipper, with a slightly upturned front, but all the carvings of it that came to my observation were, owing to their small size, and the decay of ages, so indistinct that I could take no drawing that would be worth having. Two or three pairs of pattens, *khaḍams*, seen were also in the same predicament. It is probable that in India these articles of dress were held in about the same requisition formerly as now; but that they were well known and in common use by all who could afford to get them, is evident from there being more than one Sanskrit name for them. The circumstance related in the *Rāmāyaṇa* of Bharata's placing on the vacant throne of Ayodhyā a pair of Rāma's slippers and worshipping it during the latter's long protracted exile, shows that shoes were important articles of wear, and worth of attention. The episode on the subject is one of the most affecting in the *Rāmāyaṇa*, and displays to perfection the mastery with which old Vālmīki, the Homer of India, touched the tenderest chords in the heart of his reader.⁹⁵ In Manu and the *Mahābhārata*, the slippers are also mentioned, and