The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c10.69

v1.c10.69

**Style of dressing:** The ordinary style in which Uriyās of quality used to put on the *dhuti* twelve hundred years ago, is shewn in Illustrations Nos. 81 and 58. It does not differ from the mode of the present time except in the jewelled girdle with a pendant in front. This appendage, however, was probably introduced to heighten the artistic effect of the figures, and was not in common use. The statue of Kārtikeya in the great Tower of Bhuvaneśvara has the *dhuti* tied firmly round the waist, in keeping with the martial character of that divinity. Illustrations Nos 82, 86 and 87, represent the *dhuti* as worn by common people and labourers. In Sāñcī and Amarāvatī, the same style is delineated with but slight differences. The *cādar* or scarf occurs plentifully in all the three places, and the mode of wearing it was the same as at the present day. For full dress the *cāpkān*-like tunic shown on the archers at Sāñcī was probably the prevailing garb for kings, princes, and men of quality; while the long-flowing *jāmā* was kept for lower officers of state, warders, and attendants on kings. The scarf was invariably used, either thrown over the shoulders, or tied round the waist as a *komarband*. The body-cloth under the outer coat was probably the *dhuti* in the generality of cases, military officers of high standing occasionally replacing it by drawers of some kind or other. The *jāmā* was probably [ 85 ] brought by the Aryans from Central Asia, as it is still preserved with a few modifications and mutilations by the Pārsis as their national dress; the modifications in their hands, however, have not been so extensive, as in that of the Moslims in India, who in Akbar's time adopted it as a court dress. The pattern preserved in Rājput sculptures figured by Tod, and on the horseman in the Bhuvaneśvara temple, is perhaps the nearest approach to the ancient habit; it differs from the modern style principally in having short skirts.