The Position of Women in Hindu Civilisation, from Prehistoric Times to the Present Day c15.s1.7

c15.s1.7

The classical Sanskrit literature supplies us with meagre and disappointing data about the dress of women during the first millennium of the Christian era. It no doubt grows very eloquent in several places in describing in detail the beauty of young ladies and their attractive and numerous ornaments, but it rarely describes the constituents of their dress or the precise manner in which it was worn. The scanty evidence available from it shows that normally women required two garments during this period also. The upper garment or shawl was, however, used only on ceremonious occasions. Goddess Lakshmī, who appears seated on numerous Gupta coins, is seen invariably wearing a shawl, which completely covers her bosom, bust and arms down to the wrist (Allan, *Catalogue of Gupta Coins*, Pl. I, Nos., 6, 10, 13). When in the standing posture, ladies used to wear the shawl in different ways. Sometimes it used to cover their entire person down to the ankles (*Ibid.*, Pl. III, No. 6); if they happened to stand with their palms on the waist, they often used to fold the garment and pass it over their shoulders and allow it to hang down to the ankles through the arm cavities (*Ibid.*, No. 5). At home the *sari* alone was sufficient; a portion of it could be passed over the shoulders, so as to completely cover the entire bust, navel and breasts. Their waistband, for instance, could become visible only if the upper part of the *sari* happened to slip down. This could usually occur either when a woman was beside herself, being confounded or overpowered with terror¹, or