The Antiquities of Orissa v1.c9.178

v1.c9.178

4th.—They can urge the female dress to be also Indian, and not Grecian. The so-called *chiton* is no other than the *kurtā*, and the under-dress, a *ghāgrā* or *sāḍi* : it falls heavily down to the ground covering the feet, and is not parted on the thigh, exposing a part of the limb, as is so peculiar and charming in Greek sculptures. The scarf over the dress is the long Indian *uḍnā*, and not the square Greek hymation, or *pallium*. The skirt of the *kurtā* appears a little more closely folded than is common in the present day ; but there is little in it that will make it unmistakably Grecian, and nothing else. Admitting, for the sake of argument, that this article of dress is a *chiton*, and not a *kurtā*, the natives may be disposed to ask, how is it that the artist assigned to Greek Bacchantes the attitude of Indian women, and loaded them with thick anklerings, large bracelets, heavy earrings, and five-rowed necklaces ? For Greek ladies of the time of the Indo-Bactrians, sandals would also be more becoming and national than shoes which, according to the *Mṛcchakaṭika*, were common among Indian women.