The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c15.s1.35

c15.s1.35

It is further very doubtful whether all Dravidian women were really accustomed to move about without covering their breasts. It is true that till quite recently women in Malbar used to regard a bodice or an upper garment as not very necessary. But the Malbar practice was probably a primitive one and cannot be regarded as typically Dravidian. At any rate the women in Tamil and Telugu provinces were not accustomed to move about without properly covering their upper person. In this connection the *Saptaśatī* of Hāla, which undoubtedly reflects the Dravidian life during the early centuries of Christian era, supplies conclusive evidence. Three verses in this anthology make it quite clear that Dravidian ladies used to cover their breasts with adequate clothing in the days when the Ajanta frescoes were being painted. The first of these clearly refers to the breasts being covered by an upper garment¹. The anthology further shows that Dravidian women not only used to cover their upper person with a portion of their *sari* or a separate shawl, but also used to wear a bodice or *kañchukī* underneath. Its ends were tied together between the breasts², and it was not entirely removed even in the privacy of the bed-room³. It is not therefore possible to argue that the women at Elora and Ajanta do not cover their breasts because they are the representatives of Dravidian culture. The *Saptaśatī* shows clearly that the Dravidian ladies in contemporary times used to cover their upper person both with a bodice and an upper garment; the so-called Aryan artists at Sanchi and Bharhut are as careless about covering the breasts of their women as their so-called Dravidian fellow workers at Elora and Ajanta.