Ajanta: The Colour and Monochrome Reproductions of the Ajanta Frescoes Based on Photography v4.c16.11

v4.c16.11

Princes of royal birth have their bodies bare down to the waist-line, but the lavish display of jewellery round their arms and necks and on their breasts does not make the scantiness of their dress so perceptible. The lower garment of the princes is a *dhotī*, or waist-cloth, generally of a striped design, in which a blue colour is prominent. The material of these dhoṭis was apparently a silken stuff of close texture.¹ The ministers and other high officers are shown dressed in long coats (aṅgrakhās) with full sleeves.² The material of these coats is something like the jāmiwār or himrū of Aurangābād at the present day, since it has floral and other attractive designs arranged in slanting bands.³ The soldiers wore round skull-caps, and jackets or shirts with full, as well as half-sleeves.⁴