Pranam
VEDIC DRESSESS
इत्यादिबहुभिर्वाक्यैः क्रूरैः सम्भर्त्सितोऽनघः। Valmiki Ramayanam
विव्यथे भरतस्तीव्रं व्रणे तुद्येव सूचिना।।2.75.17।। Ayodhyaya kandam
Translation इत्यादि like this, बहुभिः by many, क्रूरैः harsh, वाक्यैः with
words, सूचिना with needle, व्रणे in the wound, तुद्येव as if by piercing,
सम्भर्त्सितः reproached, अनघः sinless, भरतः Bharata, तीव्रम् intensely,
विव्यथे was afflicted.
Thus reproached by many harsh words, like needle pricking a wound, the
sinless Bharata was intensely pained.
Main Indian costumes in ancient times were wrapped around the waist. Vedic
literature depicts a good idea about the ancient clothing in India. Rig
Veda consists of various terms for garments such as andpratidhi, kurlra and
adhivastra. Adhivastra means a veil, kurlra denotes to a head-dress and
lastly andpratidhi means any part of women’s costume. Wool and linen also
used to make costumes. Vedas also states the usages of gold ornaments.
Rukma and Niska were some of the popular gold ornaments for the ear and the
neck.
Atharva Veda states that garment commonly consists of a chest-cover, an
outer cover and an inner cover. Andpratidhi and kurlra were in texts of Rig
Veda while tirlta, nivi, kumba, upavasana, usnlsa and vavri can be found in
Atharva Veda. They indicate upper garment, veil and underwear, and the
remaining 3 denote the types of head-dress. Kambala (blanket) and updnaha
(footwear) are also available in Atharva Veda. Apart from, wool and linen,
silk was extensively used as one of the top garment materials. Mani (a type
of jewel) is also in the texts of Vedas as a beautiful ornament. Cosmetics
were also used extensively as decorating materials. Different types of
medicines were in used to avoid baldness.
Clothing in Brahmana Era
During Brahmana era, people were concerned a lot about their dresses and
adornments. Weaving, sewing and knitting were popular. Garments were
commonly designed by silk, cotton and wool. The garment comprised of 3
parts, under garment, outer garment and the main garment. Some Brahmanas
like Shatapatha extensively used silver and gold ornaments. Beautiful
necklaces were also used by Shatapatha Brahmana. Such necklaces were mainly
made of pearls and gold. The ancient Indian tribes were so enthusiastic
about jewelleries.
Clothing in Sutra Age
During Sutra Age, different types of garments were worn made of bark,
cotton, silk, wool, hemp, flax and animal skin. Kauseya and Ksauma words
were used to signify the garments made of silk and linen. On special
occasions, mostly men used to wear usnisa (a traditional turban). Adhivdsa
was used to signify an upper garment. An outer cover or wrapper was called
as Prdvarana. Sewing and weaving were very trendy.
Clothing in Puranas Age
Materials used to make garments in Puranas Age were linen, cotton, wool and
silk. Puranic texts mentioned that hairs of men were shaved completely. At
times they used to keep a tuft. Dishevelled and long hairs were not
preferable. As per the Indian Puranas, most common head-dresses worn by the
people were mukuta and usnisa. Popular ornaments of that time were ahgada
and keyura.
Pali works show the clothing commonly for Buddhist people. Dhammapada
denotes to those who were wearing yellow robes with beautiful stones made
ear. Literary sources mention that costumes of ancient India were colourful
and diverse.
Clothing in Epic Age
There are many references of epic age in India, mainly epic Mahabharata and
Ramayana. In Ramayana, several references to garments mainly glittering
robes can be seen. Elders used to wear 2 pieces of garment, 1 upper and
other lower garment called as uttariya and vastra, respectively. Women also
like adorn themselves with adhovastra and uttariya. Tailor (tunnavdya) and
needle (sucl) were the symbol of sewn clothes. Sartorial was also on a high
demand. Turbans or usnlsas and jackets and kancukas were worn mainly by
solders and servants. This type of headgear was also worn by the women of
Raksasa tribe. It can be found in leather and wooden sandals.
Ornament of Ancient India
Main ornaments include earring or Kundala, necklace or hara, ring or
ahgullyaka, and bracelet or hastabharana. Kundala were two kinds of
vadamstrd and karnavesta. Bracelets and necklaces were worn extensively by
both males and females. In the Ramayana era, these necklaces were prevalent
in niska, maid hiranmayi and graiveyaka.
First needle sewing was found in the Siberian cave of 7 cm. Ancient
Indian texts refer to Siberia as Uttara-Kuru. ‘*Uttara*‘ means ‘*North*‘, ‘
*Kuru*‘ is the name of the Indian tribe that had traveled north from
*Kuruvapur* (on Krishna river in Andhra Pradesh/Karnataka Border in India)
and ruled Indraprastha (near present Delhi) during Mahabharata era. ‘*Kara*‘,
the name of the Sea into which the Angara River falls, is most likely a
distortion of the ancient Sanskrit name ‘*Kuru*‘. Sugreeva gave a road map
to the Vanaras traveling northwards of Himalayas.The roadmap would lead
them right across the mountains of China, Mongolia, Lake Baikal of Siberia
and the Arctic Ocean where the search is supposed to end. The Vanaras are
instructed to travel right up to ‘Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis’ of
Siberia and the Arctic Ocean.Three mountain peaks of the Himalayas are
mentioned, the Kala, Sudarshana and the Devasakha.
First, he mentions Mt. Krauncha with a highly impassable tunnel.
One of the best known ancient tunnels in China is the Guoliang Tunnel in
the Taihang Mountains. Up until 1972, only an ancient path chiseled through
the rocks of this mountain linked the villages in the area to the outside
world. The ancient path of Guoliang was improved in 1972 by
the locals.Shiva’s son Skanda is credited with having chiseled the original
tunnel through Mt. Krauncha.
The path that Sugreeva chalks out is from Kailash (in the Himalayas)
to Krauncha (in the Taihang Range), and he says there are many other
mountain peaks – namely the ‘*treeless’* Mt. Kaama and the ‘*abode of birds*‘,
Mt. Maanasa, on the way. These are the mountain peaks in Qinling Mountains.
The two highest or the most visible peaks are Tuanjie and Taibai. It is
highly possible that Sugreeva was mentioning these two peaks as Kaama and
Maanasa.
Sugreeva mentions another peak called Mt. Mainaaka, which is identified by ‘*a
massive mansion built by demon architect ‘Maya*‘. China is a land of
ancient pyramids but most of the existence of pyramids have been denied by
local authorities. One of the largest known pyramids is at Xi’an, 184 Kms
from the Taibai peak. So Mt Mainaaka can be one of the ancient pyramids of
China.
Sugreeva mentions the next landmark as he says traveling North of China,
crossing the Mongolian province or plateau, one would arrive at the eastern
tip of Lake Baikal in Siberia. This ‘*Vaikhana*‘ could be the ‘*Baikaal*‘
lake of Siberia. Sugreeva advises the ‘*vanaras*‘ to cross Lake Baikal
with the help of the ‘*keechaka*‘ (Bamboo) that grows there. This has
reference to the ‘*Siberian Bamboo Grass*‘ which was used by the locals to
cross the lakes and water bodies in this region.
Towards the Western end of Lake Vaikhana, is a river by the name
Shailoda, and Sugreeva instructs the ‘vanaras’ to follow its path which
actually moves northwards to reach the Northern Ocean’. Shailoda has been
identified as the present day Angara River. This River ‘Angara’ flows from
the western tip of Lake Baikal and after many miles falls into the Kara Sea
of North Arctic Ocean. (Like their ancient names ‘*Vaikhana*‘ and ‘
*Shailoda*‘ mentioned in the Ramayana, their present names ‘*Baikal*‘ and ‘
*Angara*‘ too are of Sanskrit origin.
In Section 43, Verse 36 of Kishkinda Kanda, Sugreeva suggests “*Going
beyond that expanse of water, you will come upon a sky, which even when
devoid of the stars or the moon or the sun is illuminated by rays, as if
there is light emitting from the self-luminous, god-like sages who repose
there*“.
Sugreeva equates the light of ‘*Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis*‘
to the ‘*light that emits from sages who have attained ‘siddhi*‘. Auroras
result from emissions of photons in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, above 80
km, from ionized nitrogen molecules regaining an electron, and oxygen atoms
and nitrogen molecules returning from an excited state to ground state.
The last landmark mentioned in Uttara-Kuru is Mt. Soma, which has to be one
of the peaks of the Urals.
KR IRS 5721
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