The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c15.s1.6

c15.s1.6

The fashion in the Vedic age of wearing a head-dress was followed in later times in some provinces but given up in others. To judge from the evidence of sculpture, we find that it continued to be current in Central India, Malava and United Provinces down to the early centuries of the Christian era. In the sculptures of the Śuṅga period at Bharhut, Sanchi and Mathura, ladies invariably appear with a head-dress (See Plate III). To judge from the statue of a Yakshiṇī found at Didarganj near Patna (See Plate IV), it would appear that women in eastern India, however, had developed a dislike for the head-dress more than two thousand years ago. Gradually the head-dress became an antiquated fashion all over the country. It begins to disappear from the sculptures and paintings from about the 4th century A. D. No women in Ajanta frescoes are seen to wear it. The same is generally the case with medieval sculptures all over the country. Classical Sanskrit literature also does not refer to it. The head-dress for women eventually disappeared from the country, probably because it was felt to be superflous. Orthodox women found it more convenient to cover their heads with a portion of their *saris*. Fashionable ladies did not like to conceal from view their elaborate and artistic coiffure (See Plate VIII).