The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.271.5

v1.c10.271.5

The colour of the umbrella, when intended for the use of Kṣatriyas, should be white, and when for that of Brāhmaṇs, other than of that colour. Its handle should be made of a cane from three to eight joints in length". The *Bṛhat Saṃhitā* recommends the feathers of geese, fowl, peacocks, and cranes, (*sārasa*), as also new cloth, as the best materials for the covering of white umbrellas, the decorations to consist of pearl fringes, garlands and crystal mountings, the handle being of gold, six cubits long and divided into seven or nine sections, and the area one-half the length of the handle. For crown-princes, queens, generalissimos and chief judges, the haft should be reduced half a cubit, and the area to be two and a half cubits. For ordinary people, the umbrella may be of cloth or peacock's feathers, according to choice, the shape being square, and the handle rounded.¹²⁸ The Woodcut in the margin, No. 49, represents the only kind of *chātā* that has been met with in sculpture; it has two tassels of yak's tail for ornaments. The sliding frame is visible in some specimens, but not in so distinct a form as to enable one to make out its exact character. From Layard's drawings, it would seem that the Ninevite umbrella had a sliding frame.