The World of Courtesans c6.23

c6.23

It is a fact worth noting that the highly luxurious society of the Gupta period which tolerated a refined sensuality was a society in which dancers, both male and female, covered their bodies. This observation is supported by the portrayal of modestly dressed figures in the Ajanta and Bagh paintings. The Jain literature also supports this view. The *BKSB*., IV. 4127 mentions that the danseuse (*nartaki*) was so decorously dressed that she had no occasion to feel embarrassed when she lifted her legs in the dance. Even the acrobatic danseuse (*lankhika*), as she tumbled in the arena, did not feel any kind of embarrassment for she was always quite adequately dressed. The *Rayapaseniya Sutra*, pp. 123-124 furnishes a very interesting description of the male and female dancers who danced at the behest of Suryabhadeva during the staging of thirty-two kinds of dances before Mahavira. The young and handsome male dancers emerged from one end of the stage wearing *uttariyas*, fluttering on either side tight waistbands (*parikara*) made of variegated stuff, tunics and other multicoloured garments. They wore simple onestringed necklaces and other ornaments. From the other end of the stage emerged an equal number of female dancers wearing *tilaka*, ornaments and chaplets wreathed round their coiffures and torques, and their breasts were covered with breast bands.