Nudity in India in Custom and Ritual. Author(s): W. Crooke Reviewed work(s): Source: The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, Vol. 49 (Jul. - Dec., 1919), pp. 237-251 Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2843441 . Accessed: 26/11/2012 21:16

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NUDITY IN INDIA IN CUSTOM AND RITUAL.

By W. CROOKE,C.I.E., Hon. D.Sc. Oxon.

THE costumeof the people of India, like that of all residentsin tropicalcountries, is generallyscanty; but they cannot be describedas a naked people, or carelessof personal modesty. On the contrary,in NorthernIndia at least, they are careful to cover those parts of the personwhich it is indecentto expose. Anyonewho has seen women,covered with a singlesheet, come drippingout of the waterat a bathing festival,will remark the care and dexteritywith which they change their wet clothing. Little children,it is true,up to the age of fouror fiveyears may be seen nude, and any attemptto cover the person,by a bead or some other amulet hung fromthe waist, or, in the case of girlsby wearinga kind of fig-leaf,often made of silver,is intendedas a prophylacticrather than as a concessionto public opinion. There are, or were in recenttimes, certain tribes among whom the habit of absolute nudityprevailed; but the numberof such instancesis rapidlydisappearing among the more primitiveraces as they gradually come under the influenceof Hinduism. The case of the Juangsof Chota Nagpuris familiarfrom the description and photographsof themgiven by ColonelE. T. Dalton.t The Semas of Assam are practicallynaked, as the small flap worn hangingfrom their waists cannot be said to hide their nakedness,and the same is the case among some Bhlls of Gujardt.2 Nudity, or semi-nudity,is more commonamong some of the wildertribes of the South. Some of the Porojas or Parjas of the Vizagapatam and Ganjam Districts on the East Coast wear a loin-clothof fibre,so scanty that they are obligedto sit on theirheels, for decency'ssake, instead of squattingin the usual position.3 The Yanadis are almost nude, carryingpalm-leaf baskets danglingfrom their waists, in whichthey collect forest bulbs, dead rats or snakes,which they eat.4 The Chenchus accentuatetheir nudity by wearinga narrowbark thread round the waist to hold theirarrows and a knife.5 B3oththe Kldirs and the Vedans are said to have gone 1 DescriptiveEthnology of Bengal,155 et seq. The Phylliteor " leaf-clad" peopledescribed by Ptolemy(vii, 66) have been identifiedwith the Bhillsor Pulindas,while some tribein the neighbourhoodof the Vindhyanrange may be identifiedwith the Parna-Savaras,or " leaf-clad" Savaras. ArchceologicalSurvey Reports, ix, 151; xvii, 127 etseq. 2 CensusReport, Assam, 1891, i, 246; BombayGazetteer, ix, -Part i, 297. 3 E. Thurston,Castes and Tribesof Southern India, vi, 219. 4 Ibid., vii, 432. 6 Ibid.,ii, 34.

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naked when they were firstobserved by Europeans.' Among the wild tribes of Upper Burma menof the Pa-hlaingKarens werenot taxed bythe nativeGovernment untilthey began to wear clothing,and, in orderto escape taxation,it was the custom for youngmen to go about mother-nakeduntil at least the age of twenty. In hot weatherWa men and womennever wear any clothing,or only on ceremonialocca- sions; at other seasons they wear a strip of coarse cotton cloth, an absolutely inadequate dress.2 Left to themselves,the Andamaneseand Nicobarese go stark naked,and do not coverthe head.3 The customwhich prevails among high castes, like the Nayarsin SouthernIndia, where women wear no coveringfor the bosom, is startlingto a visitor fromthe North,where all womenwear some kindof bodice. It is part of the generaletiquette in that part of the country,for a descriptionof which I am indebtedto Mr. F. J. Richards: " In the Tamil country,i.e., fromthe Kaveri valley southwardand east of the West Ghlitrange, the conventionaldress of the upper classes is, first,a loin- cloth (vesh.i,the dhotiof the North), and secondly,a body-cloth(anga-vastiram). The lower classes commonlywear only the perinealcloth (komanam)and a second cloth whichthey wear only forconvenience on the head, roundthe waist, or across the shoulder. The body-clothis ordinarilyworn across the shoulderand diagonally across the body, but it can be shiftedaccording to convenienceor fancy. Officials, Vakils or lawyers,and others who by officialetiquette are requiredto cover head and body,wear the body-clolthover the coat, and also a turban,generally one ' made up ' witha pithbasis. Social and religiousetiquette in the Tamil countryprescribes that head and body down to the waist should remainuncovered in the presenceof a superior. Thus, a Brahman should go ' bare-bodied' when he enters the more sacred precinctsof a temple,when he escortshis spiritualguide or Guru,and in the presenceof his god or Guru he should wear his body-clothround his waist. If a cultivatoror a cooly sees an officialcoming towardsfr him, or on enteringa Court of Justice,he should take his clothfrom ofl his head or body,if he is so wearingit, and tie it roundhis waist beforeentering 'the Presence.' A relic of this practice is no doubtthe basis ofthe etiquettein the presenceof H.H. The Maharaja of Mysore, at whose Darbars only a fewof the highestofficials, such as the Dlwan, Councillors, or-Judges of the High Court,are permittedto wear the body-clothacross the body and overthe shoulder: all others,not so privileged,wear this clothround the waist. The Tamil practice appears to be a compromisebetween Malabar custom and Muhammadanetiquette." In the ancient Tamil period "a full dress appears to have been the outward

1 E. Thurston,Castes and Tribesof Southern India, iii, 12; vii, 312. 2 (Sir) J. G. Scott,J. P. Hardiman,(Gazetteer, Upper Burma and theShan States,Part i, Vol. i, 545, 510. 5 Census Reports,1901, 56, 198; 1911, 120; Journ. Roy. Anthrop.Inst., vii, 439; xii, 329

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sign of a servantrather than of a master; and the nobles put on only so much clothingas can be worn withoutinconvenience in a hot climate. In the ordinary dress of the Tamil woman,the shoulders,arms and body down to the waist were entirelybare, the draperydescending from the loins downwardsto the ankles. The part of the body whichwas leftuncovered was generallyadorned with sandal and otherfragrant powders. The Naga womenappear to have been almost naked, like those depictedin the Amaravatisculptures. The courtesanswore a piece of muslin which covered their body from the waist to the middleof the thigh; but it was suchfine texture that it hardlyconcealed their person."'' In the Mysoreancient bas- reliefs" women are commonlyarrayed in nothingmore than rows of ornamental chains and jewellery,pendent from -the throat and loins-an attire,if such it may be called, worthyof the Age of Innocence; and becomingenough, it may be, on the golden-oliveand nut-browntints, that hardlyreveal a blush,of Nature'svesture for the fair of these climes."2 Marco Polo writes: " You must know that in all this Provinceof Maabar thereis nevera Tailor to cut a coat or stitchit, seeingthat everybodygoes naked. For decencyonly they do wear a scrap of cloth; and so it is withmen and women,with rich and poor,aye, and withthe King himself,except what I am goingto mention. It is a fact that the King goes as bare as the rest, only round his loins he has a piece of fine cloth. . . . The people of the country go to battle all naked, with only a lance and a shield."3 This Dravidian customof semi-nudityis foundamong some of the foresttribes, by whom,in the case of women,it is not considereda markof indelicacy; in fact, the Gonds used to forbidtheir women to wear the little jacket (cholt). In Bastar, however,women of this tribeare said to be givingup the customof exposingtheir bodies above the waist.4 -Abor and Kandh women leave the part of the body above the waist uncovered.5 The Pallan women of Tanjore are-said to dress in this way, "a distinctivemark of their primitivecondition of slavery,of which, however,no trace now exists"; but thisis certainlya mistake,because the practice is common among the highercastes of South India, except foreiglerslike the NambfttiriBrThmans.6 Anotherfact pointingin the same directionis that Tiyan women were not allowed to wear anythingabove the waist, except when under death pollution.7 A crisis arose in Travancore in 1858, when riots occurred because Shanan Christianconverts gave up the practice of going about withoutan upper cloth.

1 V. Kanakasabhai,The TamilsEighteen Hundred Years Ago, 117. 2 B. L. Rice, Mysore,ed. 1897,i, 215. a MarcoPolo, ed. Sir H. Yule, lst ed., ii, 274 etseq, 278. 4 R. V. Russell,Tribes and Castesof the Central Provinces, iii, 123, 131. 6 Dalton,op. cit.,27, 301. 6 Thurston,op. cit.,v, 474; L. K. AnanthaKrishna Tyer, The CochinTribes and Castes, ii, 100. I Ibid, op. cit.,vii, 98.

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The matterwas settled by the Maharaja, followingthe lead of Sir C. Trevelyan, Governorof Madras,byissuing a proclamationwhich legalized the practiceof these convertsin maintainingtheir efforts to encouragemodesty in dress.' In NorthernIndia, in the carvingson Buddhist Stulpas,women, particularly, it would seem dancers cr attendants,are depicted nude above the waist.2 But, accordingto General Maisey, " there is no question as to the nudityof the women in this sculpture; but it is quite a mistaketo suppose that nudityis the rule among the femalefigures at Sanchi. Some who appear, on a cursoryglance, to be totally nude, only appear so because the sculptor,like the earlyGreek artists, represented thin drapery,over the lower limbs, by simple lines. In figures,however, whose attitudesnecessitate it, the draperyis fullyshown."3 The next stage is the wearingof bark clothing. There does not appear to be any referenceto this custom in Vedic literature; but the ancient Hindu ascetics used to dress in this material,and so, accordingto Strabo, did the Hylobioi,who seem to representthe Vanaprasthasor Hindus in the third,or ascetic,stage of life.4 In the Ramayana epic Rama and Sita in theirwanderings through the Vindhyan hills wore raimentof bark; the Pandavas, exiled to the Himalaya, wore the same clothing,and in the PanjTbi tale of the Saiva cult of MahasuiDeoti, the Brahmarn Hfinathrows aside his clothesand dons bark attire.5 Bark dressescontinued to be wornin mourningat the time of Harsha of Kanauj in the beginningof the seventh centuryA.D.6 Its use has not quite disappeared in moderntimes. Within the last fiftyyears the Gadabas of the CentralProvinces used to wear a cloth made fromthe bark of the Karing tree,with horizontalbands of yellow,red and blue.7 The hill Pandarams of Travancorelive in caves and hollow trees, and wear bark clothing.8 Poroja or Parja women in the Vizagapatam and Ganjam Districtson the East Coast wear a scrap of bark or cotton cloth,about a foot square, attached to thewaist by a string; theysay that theyare obligedto wear thisclothing, because some of theirancestors jeered at Sita for wearingthis dress,and, she cursedthem that they should wear nothingelse.9 The Chinbonsof Upper Burma are said to wear -bark occasionally, but the majority of theni appear to wear nothing.10 1 Thurston,vi, 365; V. Nagam Aiya,State Manual ofTravancore, ii, 222. 2 (Sir) A. Cunningham,The Bhilsa Topes, Plate xv, 206,213; The Stupa of Bharhut,33; F. C. Maisey,Sanchi and itsRemains, 35. Maisey,op. cit.,22. 4 Manu,Laws, Xi, 102, 106; Strabo,xv, 59; J. W. MeCrindle,India as describedby Megas. thenesand Arrian,98, 102; (Sir) A. Cunningham,The Stupa ofBharhut, 30. 5 R. H. Griffith,The Ramayana,ed. 1895,p.138 f.; E. T. Atkinson,Gazctteer of the Himalayan Districtsof theNorth-West Provinces, ii, 281; H. A. Rose, GTlossaryof Tribesand Castes of the Punjab and North-WestFrontier Province, i, 405. 6 Bana, Harsa Charitra,173. 7 C. Grant,Central Provinces Gazetteer, 1870, p. 33. 8 CensusReport, Travancore, 1901, i, 353; V. NagamAiya. op. cit.,ii, 417. 9 Thurston,op. cit, vi, 212 et.seq 10 Scott,Hardiman, op. cit.,Part i, Vol. i,.461

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Andamanese women are said to wear bark of the Celtis vestimentariatree, but Sir G. Watt does'not mentionthis tree as a source of the clothing.' The use of bark clothingamong the Veddahs of Ceylon seems to have generallydisappeared, but among the Coast branchof the tribe dancersshould wear a petticoatmade of -coco-nutleaves and greentwigs of othertrees.2 The chiefsource of bark clothing,Sterculia guttata, is found,not in NorthIndia, but in the east and west of the southernpart of the Peninsula,in Ceylonand the Andaman Islands.3 In the norththe use of the bark of the Betula bhojpattrafor literarypurposes dates fromancient times,and it continuedto be employeduntil the manufactureof paper was introducedby Akbar, fromwhose reignits use for writingpurposes was discontinued,and the methodof preparingit has been lost.4 But birchbark continued to possesssome traditional importance, as womenin Bengal in the beginningof the nineteenthcentury used to wear charmswritten on it when they desiredchildren.5 The uiseof leaves for clothingis morecommon than that of tree bark,and like that,its employmentfor this purposeprevails specially in SouthernIndia. Among the Tandu Pulayans of Travancoremen now wear the ordinarywaist-cloth, but the distinctivename of thissection of the tribeis derivedfrom the women'sdress, which consistsof the leaves of a kind of sedge, cut into lengthsa foot long and tied in a bushy tail behindand before. Young girls wear at firsta strip of bark fromthe areca palm; later in life they assume the dress of sedge leaves. Both are said to be going out of use, being replaced by cloth.6 In Britishterritory in Madras the Vettuvan women wear only leaves round theirwaists, and renewthem daily; in some cases this dress is so far varied that theirdouble fan-shapedapron of leaves is tied round the waist with a cloth girdle.7 Men of the Koraga tribe,who are regarded as foul outcasts, wear a loin-cloth,the women leaves woven together.8 When F. Buchanan made his expeditionabout the year 1800, womenof the Korar or Koravd tribein Mysorestuck a bunchof leaves into a girdlefore and aft. Some of the men had a fragmentof cloth roundtheir waists, but fewof the womenwere able to procurethis. Those of the same tribein Britishterritory, who are knownas

1 CensusReport, 1901, 170. 2 C. G. and B. Z. Seligmann,The Veddas,34, 213, 337. 3 (Sir) G. Watt, A Dictionaryof theEconomic Products of India, vi, Part iii, 363. For methodsof makingbark cloth,see W. W. Skeat, 0. 0. Blagden,The Pagan Races of the Malay Peninsula,i, 375 etseq. 4 Watt,op. cit.,i, 452 etseq. 5 WV.Ward, The Hindoos,2nd ed., i, 155. 6 CensusReport, Travancore, 1901, i, 341; V. Nagam Aiya, op. cit.,ii, 404; E. Thurston, EthnographicNotes in SouthernIndia, 66; W. Logan, DistrictManual of Malabar (i, 148), calls thesepeople Cheruman(see E. Thurston,Castes and Tribesof SouthernIndia, ii, 45 et seqq),and mentionstheir custom of wearingbark. 7 Thurston,Castes and Tribes,vii, 395 etseqq. 8 Ibid., iii, 428 et seq.

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Yerukalis, seem to have adopted the normal Hindu dress.' Some leaf-wearing tribesare foundin Orissa. The Malhars wear bunchesof greenleaves attached to a numberof stringsround the waist. Not long ago the leaf-wearersin Keunjhar were induced by a Britishofficer to accept cotton clothes; they were marked by him on theirforeheads with vermilionas a sign of their admissioninto civilized society. The women then burnedtheir bunches of leaves, and the men took an oath that they would neverallow theirwomen to wear themin future.2 In the Andaman Islands womenof the Bojigngijisection wear a bunch of five or six leaves in front; Yerawa womena loose tassel made of stripsof variouskinds of bark; the Ongl-Jarawdsa bunchingtassel of fibres,while the Jarawa women are apt to be quite unclothed.3 The use ofdress of this kind necessitates the wearing of the girdle,and thisempha- sizesthe importance of it inthe evolution of Indian dress. Early accountsof the Maria section of the Gonds describetheir dress as consistingof a girdleof cowryshells or of ten or fifteencords, attached to whichwere a tobacco pouch and a naked knife.4 Accordingto anotheraccount of the tribe in an early account publishedin 1866, " on the east of Chanda Districtthe men wear no coveringfor theirhead or for the upper part of their bodies, and constantlygo about with a battleaxe in their hands. The womendeck themselveswith thirty or fortystrings of beads, to V hiich some add a necklace of pendent bells. Bangles of zinc adorn theirwrists, and a chain of the same metal is suspendedfrom the hair and attached to a large boss stuck in her ear. But the greatestpeculiarity connected with this costumeis the practicewhich prevails in the moreremote districts, of the womenwearing no clothes at all; instead of which they fasten,with a stringpassing round their waists, a bunch of leafy twigs to cover them beforeand behind."5 Accordingto Dalton thoughthe Oraon man wears a loin-clothhe always has round his,waist a girdle of cords made of tusser silk or of cane: " This is now a superfluity,but it is no doubt the remn-antof a moreprimitive costume, perhaps the supportof the antique figleaves."6 At presentthe young man's girdleis of twistedcotton thread dyed black, or of the fibreof a creeper,from which keys, a purse,and thorntweezers are hung, or a bamboo fluteis stuck in it.7 Chin womenin Upper Burma keep the skirtin place by a brass or iron girdle,like the chain of cog-wheel,and fromthree to four pounds in weight. The men wear a stringround the waist fromwhich a strip of cloth hangs down in frontand is looped up behind,but in addition they

1 F. Buchanan,A Journeyfrom Madras through the Countries of Mysore,Canara and Malabar. iii, 100; Thurston,op. cit.,iii, 501. 2 (Sir) W. WV.Hunter, Orissa, ii, 68, 116 et seq. 3 CensusReport, 1901, p. 50. 4 Dalton,op. cit.,279. 5 S. Hislop,Papers relating to theAboriginal Tribes of theCentral Provinces, 8. 6 Dalton,op. cit.,279. 7 Sarat ChandraRoy, The Oraons,93.

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have a sort of apron,often ornamented with beads or shells,and reachinghalf-way to the knee,this indicatinga progressivedevelopment in dress.' In the same way, everywoman of the Halba, a cultivatingcaste in Raipur District of the Central Provinces,must have a threadround her waist, whichin the old days probablyheld up an apron of leaves.2 This enables us to understandthe importanceof the girdle in ancient times,as is shownin the Buddhistsculptures, of which Cunningham, gives an account, one name for this article of dress indicatingthat it was made of the seeds of the Abrus precatoria,or Indian wild liquorice,and these were gradually supersededby beads made of the preciousmetals.3 The semi-nudityof some Ascetic Ordersat the presentday is familiarto all observersof Indian life; but the ancient practiceof ascetics appearingnaked in public has been graduallyreformed by Britishlaw and by the growthof a healthier feelingamong Hindus. F. Bernier,writing about the middle of the seventeenth century,states that numbersof the Jauguis,or Jogis," are seen day and nightseated or lyingon ashes, entirelynaked: frequentlyunder the large trees near talabs, or tanks of water,or in the galleriesround Dejiras, or idol temples."4 Membersof one of the highestOrders, that of the Paramahansas, still go naked.5 When Professor Oman visitedthe great ascetic,Swami Bhaskarananda,he found him sittingnaked, and the same ruleis followedby otherSaiva ascetics-Dandis, K1hikis,and Nanga Sannyasis,and by Vaishnava Bairdgis.6 Some years ago an applicationwas made to-the IHighCourt, Bombay, with the object of cancellingan order made by a magistrateprohibiting Saiva Gosainlsor Gosvamisfrom walking naked in procession at the sacred city of Nasik in the Deccan, and it was pleaded that bathingnaked had always been allowed at pilgrimagesto Hardwarand Allahabad. This assertion is certainlyuntrue at the presentday. The applicationwas rejected.-7 The question of the originof enforcednudity in the various formsof ritual and magic is not freefrom difficulty. As Dr. E. Sidney Hartland remarks,it may in somecases be based on the beliefin the apotropaic powersattributed to the sexual organs.8 In many places high caste womenor girlsin times of droughtare in the habitof divesting themselves of their clothing at nightand dragginga ploughthrough the fields,men being carefullyexcluded during the rite.9 When rain fails the 1 Scott,Hardiman, op. cit.,Part i, Vol. i, 469; Part ii, Vol. i, 245. 2 Russell,op. cit.,iii, 199. 3 Stupa ofBharhut, 37. 4 Travel in theMogul Empire, ed. 1914,p. 316. 5 W. Ward, ltheHindoos, 2nd ed., ii, 375; H. H. WVilson,Sketch of the Religious Sects of the Hindus,i, 231 et seq; JogendraNath, Bhattacharya, Hindu Castes and Sects,385; J. C. Oman, Mystics,Ascetics, and Saintsof India, 162. B Oman, op. cit., 161, 189, 206, 224; Rose, op. cit.,ii, 215; iii, 357; Wilson,op. cit.,i, 238 etseq. 7 Oman.,op. cit.,269. 8 J. Hastings,Encyclopedia of Religionand Ethics,ix, 830. 9 Sir JamesFrazer, The GoldenBough, 3rd ed.. " The MagicArt," i, 275.

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Meitheisof Manipur,headed by their Raja, strip offall their clothes,and stand cursingeach other in the streetsof Imphal, the capital town, while women strip themselvesat night and throwtheir rice-poundersinto the river.1 The popular explanationof such practicesis that the customof highcaste womensharing in the ploughing,or of a Raja violatingthe commonlaws of decency,is such a subversion of the existingorder of thingsthat Indra or some otherrain-god is moved to pity and grants the desired rain. This is clearly an ex post facto explanation. The action of water as an agencyin causingfertility is a commonplaceof folkbelief.2 In the Panjab on a Sunday or Tuesday night,or duringthe DivMI, or feastof lights, a barrenwoman desiringa child sits on a stool, whichis then lowereddown a well. Afterdivesting herself of herclothes and bathing,she is drawnup again and performs the Chaukpi2rndceremony with incantationstaught by a wizard. Should there be any difficultyabout descendingthe well, the ceremonyis performedbeneath a sacred pipal or fig-tree. It is believedthat aftersuch a ceremonvis performedthe well runsdry and the tree withers,the Mana of both havingbeen exhaustedduring the rite.3 In similarcases of rain-magicthe girlsare clad in leaves to symbolize vegetation. We may suspectthat the performersin such ritesof rain-magicdivest themselvesof their clothes in the expectationthat the rain will immediatelyfall and fertilizethem, and throughthem the thirstyvegetation. As regardsthe custom of nudityby the religiousOrders, it symbolizesdeath to this world,the renunciationof all familyand social rites. In the case of nudity in ritual,of whichexamples will be given,the case is not so clear. Whenthe Bad5wI in the days of heathendomused to make the ceremonialcircuit of the Kaaba at Mecca naked, or wearingclothes borrowed from one of the religiouscommunitie.s of the holy city,the explanationis that if the worshipperwore his own clothes,they became harim or taboo throughcontact with the holy place or function.4 This beliefdoes not appear to prevailamong the Hindus,and the motivesfor the disuse of clothes in religiousor magical rites seem to be varied: partly,the dread of the pollutionwhich may arise fromclothing during the rite; partly,the traditionof purityattaching to the Brahmansof ancient days, who lived as naked ascetics in the forest. In this connectionit may be noted that the NambultiriBrahmans of Malabar, who affectto regulatetheir lives accordingto the ancientVedic rule,are, in the case of men,very sparing in the use of clothing,and do not seem to feel ashamedat beingseen walkingabout almostnaked. On the otherhand, a NambuXtiri in the ascetic (vanaprastha)stage of lifeshould not eat quite naked.5

I T. C. Hodson,The Meitheis,108. 2 E. S. Hartland,Primitive Paternity, i, 64 etseqq. 3 CensusReport, Panjab, 1901, i, 164; anotherversion of the rite is recordedin Panjab Notesand Queries,iv, 58. 4 W. RobertsonSmith, Lectures on theReligion of the Semites, 2nd ed., 481. r L. K. AnanthaKrishna Iyer, op. cit.,ii, 280, 286.

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Instances of nudityin magical or religiousrites are not uncommnon.At the famous ice-cave shrineof Amarnath," the undyingLord," a formof Siva, until recenttimes, pilgrims, men and women,on enteringthe cave used to stripoff their clothing; it was believedthat Siva wishedthem to appear nude and dance before him. The Maharaja of Kashmir, however,directed that women were to cover themselves,but only with a single garment. At presentthe men enter wearing onlybreech-clouts, but wheninside each man divestshis neighbourof his cloth,and in the end all stand in the cave stark naked. Accordingto VTigne,some pieces of birch-barkwere used as fig-leaves. Dr. Neve states that the worshippersthrow themselvesnaked upon the ice blockin the cave whichrepresents Siva.' According to Sir WalterLawrence2 the riteis performedat the fullmoon of the monthSawan (July-August), when pilgrimsworship the snow lingam,which graduallymelts away afterthis full moon. "Strict Hindus,both male and female,will discardtheir clothes and put on shirtsof birch-barkbefore they enterthe cave." As regards the nude dance in honourof Siva, a legend currentin the Himalaya tells that the wives of the Rishis or deifiedsaints used to dance naked beforeSiva-Mahddeva.3 A centuryor so ago votariesof the goddess Sarasvati,goddess of learning,and of Devi, the mothergoddess, in ber formas Jagaddhatrl,"fosterer of the world," used to dance naked in processionsat Calcutta.4 At the fair held at Devidhara in Kumaun in the lower Himalaya, the idol used to be draggedto the top of the bill by stark naked men.5 It is probablyan instanceof the taboo supposedto be caused by touchingsacred thingsthat, in the case of the Gond deity,Palo, whose imageis made of cloth and used as a coveringfor the sacred spear-heads,the Katia or Raj Pardhan, the tribal priest,who is entrustedwith the task of makingthe image, must live in a separate house, must not approach his wifeuntil the workis finished,and whilehe is engagedupon it he mustremain naked.6 Nudityis some- timesenforced in the performanceof a vow, as is the case in Gujarait,when a child is attacked with small-poxthe mothervows to prostrateherself naked beforethe small-poxgoddess either from her own house or at a shortdistance from the temple.7 Some of the Jain Orders prescribenudity for their priests. There are two Orders,the Digambara, " those clad only in the sky," the Svetambara,or " white- robed." In the case of the formerthe images of the Tirthakaras,or deifiedsaints, have no eyes and wear no loin-cloth,and theirpriests are confinedto monasteries,

1 F. Drew, Jummoand KashmirTerritories, 222; (Sir) W. R. Lawrence, The Valley of Kashmir,41; Oman,op. cit.,268 etseq. 2 Op. cit.,265 etseq. 3 Atkinson,op. cit.,ii, 303. 4 Ward,op. cit.,ii, Introd.xxix, xxxvi, 103, 137. Comparethe dancing of David before the Ark,2 Samuelvi, 14, 20. 6 Atkinson,op. cit.,ii, 201 etseq. 6 Russell,op. cit.,iii, 100. 7 BombayGazetteer, ix, Part i, 371. VOL. XLIX.

This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.72.226 on Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:16:48 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 246 W. CRoOxm.-Nudity in India in Customand Ritual. wherethey live in a state of nudity. Amongthe Svetaimbarasthe image has gold eyes, and a representationof a piece of cloth is carved roundits loins. In Mysore the DigambaraYatis, or membersof thesacred Order,wear a yellowrobe which they removeonly when eating food. I The remarkablenude Jainimages in Mysoreand the BritishDistrict of South Kanara deservemention.2 In Mysorethe Bombolas, priests of the Ladar caste,go about naked and offerannual sacrificesto theirgoddess Bhavanm.3 The nudityrites practised by the Sakta sect, worshippersof the femaleenergy, do not admit of description.4 Nudityin ritualnaturally is associated withfertility rites. Womenwho desire offspringwalk naked 108 times round a sacred ptpal tree (Ficus religiosa),winding a cotton thread round the trunk. Trees surroundedwith such threads may be noticed at the bathing Ghats in places like Benares, where,of course,the nudity partof the rite is omitted. This circuitin a nudestate is oftendone afterworshipping M5rutIor Hanuman, the monkeygod, a fertilitydeity. Amongthe Kunbis of the CentralProvinces " a variationof the beliefis that p'pal treesare inhabitedby the spiritsof unmarriedBrthman boys, and hence a woman sometimestakes a piece of new thread and winds it round the tree,perhaps with the idea of investingthe spiritof the boy with the sacred thread. She will then walk round the tree as a symbolof the weddingceremony of walkinground the sacred post, and hopes that the boy, being then broughtto man's estate and married,will cause her to bear a son. But modest woniendo not go naked roundthe tree."5 This theorysavours of Brahmanicalinterpretation, and it seemsvery doubtful if the idea of propitiating the spiritof a boy-ispresent in the mindof the celebrant. It is preferableto believe that, on the analogyof tree marriages,6the womanmakes the circuitin the course of the sun of the sacredtree in the beliefthat she thus bringsherself into communion with it and imbibes some of its fertilizingqualities. In Bombay,women desiring childrengo to a temple of Hanuman, the monkeygod, strip themselvesnaked and embracethe image.7 In the United Provincesa womanwho is childlessstands naked facingthe sun, and invokeshis aid to cure her barrenness,or ratherto rid I BombayGazetteer, ix, Part i, 105; B. L. Rice, Mysore,i, 462; Russell,op. cit.,ii, 100; Rose, op. cit.,i, 104. 2 V. A. Smith,History of Fine Art in India and Ceylon,268. Hindu temple imagesare usuallydecently draped, but thereare exceptions. Battal Bhaurammais the naked mother goddessof the Deccan; Sitala, the goddessof small-pox,is sometimesrepresented sitting naked on an ass. In Bengal,Siva in his formMukutakesin, " he withthe flowinghair," is naked,and so is a Nagimi,or femaleserpent deity in Buddhistart.-Bombay Gazetteer, xxiii, 656. Ward, op. cit.,ii, 15, 104; Cunningham,Stupa ofBharhut, 26. 3 CensusReport, Mysore, 1901, i, 529. 4 H. H. Wilson,op. cit.,i, 247; JogendraNath Bhattacharya,op. cit.,409 etseqq.; WIVard, op. cit.,ii, 193 et seqq; Sir M. Monier-Williams,Brahmanism and Hinduism,4th ed., 184 et seqq. 5 Russell,op. cit.,iv, 32 etseq. 6 Sir J. G. Frazer,The GoldenBough, 3rd ed., " The MagicArt," i, 40; ii, 26, 56, 100, 316 et seqq, 7 Panjab Notesand Queries,i, 87.

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her of the evil spiritwhich has beset her and preventsconception.' It is perhaps due to the feelingof taboo fromwearing clothes in a sacred function,or as a fertilityrite, that amongthe Oraonsthe novicesare naked.2 In Southern India Ganesa, the god who favours enterprisesof all kinds, is worshippedin secret by women; no males, not even babies at the breast, are admitted. They are stark naked duringthe rite,they must eat then and therethe offeringsmade to the god, and no male is allowed to touch the sacred food.3 In thesame Districtthe Pamba caste worshipthe Mothergoddesses, Rengayiamma and Polayamma. Women are the chiefworshippers, and on one of the nightsof the Pongol festival,held at the wintersolstice whenthe sun is believedto returnfrom his southernjourney to bless the land, part of the ritualconsists in womenexposing themselves.4 Women of the Kochh tribe in north-easternand eastern Bengal dance naked rounda plantainstem representing Hudum Deo, a naked and extremely repulsivedeity, who is pleased to see nude womendancing before him, and to hear obscene songs, in considerationof whichhe sends rain and good harvests. Males are strictlyexcluded at the timeof the ceremony.5Possibly we may class as fertility rites certaincustoms connected with marriage,as when a Kanaujia Brahman boy in the Deccan is investedwith the sacred threadas an initiationrite precedinghis wedding,he is strippednaked, and he and his fatherare made to stand on two stools witha piece of cloth drawnbetween them. At a weddingamong the Kannadiyans, cattle-breedersand tradersin the MadrasPresidency, the infantbride and bridegroom are seated naked.6 Friar Odoric,who visitedIndia earlyin the fourteenthcentury, states"thatat Thana in the Bombay Presidencyhe saw a naked womanmarching beforea brideand bridegroom,who were dressedfor the occasion, but the morning afterthe marriagethey went naked as before. Whatevermay be the value of the statement,such exhibitionswould now be punishableunder municipal law.7 Similarprocessions of naked people are recordedin manyof the earlieraccounts of India, but such exhibitionsare now seldom observed.8 At Sattamangalam,in the South Arcot District, Madras Presidency,at the festivalof the local goddess Mariamma,who controlssmall-pox and otherepidemic diseases, the chiefrite is the sacrificeof a goat at midnight,the entrailsof whichare suspendedround the neck 1 NorthIndian Notesand Queries,iii, 35. On the beliefin conceptionby the sun, see Sir J. G. Frazer,The GoldenBough, 3rd ed., " Balder the Beautiful,"i, 68 etseqq. 2 Sarat ChandraRoy, op. cit.,242. 3 F. A. Hemingway,District Gazetteer of Trichinopoly, i, 102. 4 Ibid., i, 118. For the Pongol feast,see J. A. Dubois, Hindu Manners,Customs and Ceremonies,3rd ed., 571 etseqq. 5 Panjab Notesand Queries,iv, 197. 6 BombayGazetteer, xviii, Part i, 169; Thurston,op. cit., iii, 207. Compare the Oraon initiation,note 2 above. Amongthe Wagogoof GermanEast Africathe brideand bridegroom sit nude.-Journ.Roy. Anthrop. Inst., xxxii, 311. 7 Sir H. Yule, Cathayand theWay Thither, i, 60. 8 Comparethe procession in honourof the goddesses Sarasvati and Jagaddhatri,p. 245 above. s 2

This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.72.226 on Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:16:48 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 248 W. OROOKE.-Nudityin India in Customacnd Ritual. of a Tot!, one of the menial castes who act as village servants. He marchesstark naked roundthe boundariesof his village.' At the festivalof the villagegoddesses in the Dharwar District, Bombay Presidency,two Madigas, village menials,strip themselvesnaked and carryabout in a pot the blood of the holy buffalowhich has been sacrificed,and sprinkleit as an offeringto the evil spiritswhich abide at the village boundary. At a later stage of the rite one of the Holeyas, anothermenial caste, of the Poturaja, or "buffalo king,'"section, strips himself naked, ties a few leaves ofthe nTmtree (Azadirachta indica) which, apparently because ofits bitterness, is sacred to the Mothers,round his loins,comes up runninglike a tiger,pounces on a lamb, tearsits throatwith his teeth,drinks some of the blood, and thenruns with the carcass to the village boundary,possibly as a means qf expellingevil fromthe communityand promotingfertilitV.2 Nudityis oftenregarded as an essential,condition for the performanceof magical rites. The Silari in Eastern Bengal is employedto carryout the ceremonyof dis- persinghailstorms. When he sees a storm approachinghe runs out of his house almost naked,and dispersesthe storm-cloudwith his magic wand.3 His colleague, the Garpagarior Garpagarilof the CentralProvinces, when a stormis threatened, imploresMahabir or lanuman, the monkeygod, to dispersethe clouds. If this appeal fails, he proceedsto threats,declaring that he will kill himself,and then he throwsoff his clothes. If her husband happen to be absent at such a criticaltime, his wifegoes and stands naked at the shrineof Hanuman.4 In the Trichinopoly District,when in the rainyseason tanks and riversthreaten to burst theirbanks,, menstand naked on the embankments;and if too mnuchrain falls, naked men point firebrandsat the sky, as in the case of rain-magic;5 this nudityis supposed to shockthe powersthat send the rain,and to cause its discontinuance. In the Panjab the magicalpower of healingdisease is oftenpractised in a state of nudity. In the Sirsa Districta man can cure a horseattacked by a fitby takingoff all his clothes and strikingthe animalseven times with his shoe on its forehead. In the Jalandhar Districtparalysis in cattle is cured by a man strippinghimself naked and walking roundthe animal wvitha wisp of burningstraw in his hand.6 The Oraontribe supplies many instancesof similarpractices. At the tinmeof the rice harvestthey practise a solemnrite for driving fleas out of the village,in the courseof whichyoung men strip offtheir clothes, bathe, wrap themselvesin rice straw,and marchround the houses, wherethey receivedoles of food. A youth initiatedinto the mysteriesof the Bachelors' Hall, stripshimself naked and bringswater from the sacred well of VWFrancis, Gazetteer South Arcot District, i, 98. 2 BombayGazetteer, xxii, 810 et seq. In North Borneo a naked man wandersthrough a crowdand womentouch him as a fertilityrite.-E. S. Hartland,Primitive Paternity, ii, 151. 3 J. Wise, Noteson theRaces, Castes, and Tradesof EasternBengal, 369. 4 Russell,op. cit.,iii, 21 etseqq. 5 Page 244 above. 6 NorthIndian Notesand Queries,i, 136; ii, 64.

This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.72.226 on Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:16:48 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions W. CROOKE.-Nudityin India in Customand Ritual. 249 the village. A similar custom prevails at the rite for expellingcattle disease.' The Sakuna Pakshis,a class of mendicantsin the VizagapatamDistrict, carry about roots of a plant whichare used as antidotesagainst the stings of scorpions. This plant shouldbe collectedon a new-moonday whichfalls on a Sunday,and the man who seeks forit cuts his loin-stringand collectsthe roots stark naked.2 Nudity is also essential in some forms of black magic and witchcraft. In Gujardt " to gain controlover a spiritthe Hindu exorcistgoes to a burial-ground alone at midnighton the dark fourteenthday of Aso (October),unearths the body of a low-casteHindu, and bathes in the river. Afterbathing, while still naked, he carriesthe body withina circlecut with a knifeor formedby sprinklinga line of water ; 3 thenhe goes on mutteringcharms and evil spiritsof all kindscongregate round him.4 In Upper Burma, among the Taman tribe of the Upper Chindwin river,if a man wishesto turnhimself into a tigerhe urinateson the ground,strips himself,and rolls on the place whichhe has wetted.5 A strangetale is told in the United Provincesof a noted witch,known as Lond or Nond Chamarin,a woman of the caste of leather-dressers.One day all the village womenwere transplanting rice, and it was noticed that Lona could do as much work as all her companions put together. So they watchedher, and when she thoughtshe was unobservedshe strippedoff her clothes,muttered some spells, and throwinga bundle of seedlings into the air, each settleddown into its properhole.6 Possiblywith the viewof freeingthe spiritof the dead man fromany contamina- tion whichmay be producedfrom clothing, some tribesand castes burythe corpse naked. Instances of this 6ustomare reportedfrom the Guravs, Kirars, Korkils, and Kunbis of the CentralProvinces and the Deccan; and fromthe Koravas, Malas, and Yerukulasof Madras.7 Survivalsin ritual,rightly interpreted, are of much interest.8 All the world over, sacerdotaland otherreligious vestments tend to followthe modelsprescribed by custom which is oftenimmemorial. Thus, in Egypt, the panther's skin, the ancient attire of the head of a family,or of a noble in full dress, dates fromthe periodwhen the use of skinsfor clothing was habitual,and in latertimes it survived as the obligatoryvestment for certain orders of priests,or fordignitaries performing

I Sarat ChandraRoy, op. cit.,150, 221, 223, 254; Journ.Roy. Anthrop. Inst., xliv, 346. 2 Thurston,op. cit.,vi, 263 et8eq. 3 On thesemagic circles see W. Crooke,Popular eiligonand Folkloreof NorthernIndia, ii, 41 etseqq. 4'Bombay Gazetteer,ix, Part i, 418. 5 Journ.Roy. Anthrop. Inst., xli, 306. 6 W. Crooke,T'ribes and Caste8of theNorth-West Province8 and Oudh,ii, 171. 7 Russell,op cit.,iii, 180,491, 564; iv, 35; EthnographicalSurvey, Bombay, Monograph 41, p. 7; Thurston,op. ci't.,iii, 498, 499; iv, 273; G. Oppert,Original Inhabitants of Bharatavarsa, p. 203. 8 R. A. Marett,"The Interpretationof Survivals,"Quarterly Review, April, 1919.

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sacerdotal functionsof a prescribednature.' Similar customs are common in India. The Todas still wear bark clothingin some of their rites.2 The custom of wearingas clothingthe leaves of certaintrees and plantsis commonin the worship of some Mothergoddesses in SouthernIndia. In the Salem District,at the worship of the sisterdeities known as Dodamma and Chikamma,Koruba womenof all ages, who have bound themselvesby a vow, assemble at nightnear a sacred tank, divest themselvesof all theirclothing, bathe, and on ascendingthe steps fromthe water, put on loose jackets made of pungamor margosa (Azadircachtailndica) leaves. Then fixinglighted lamps made of rice-flourin their dishevelledlocks, they march in processionround the temple. Theirnearest male relationsmove withthem, forming a sort of bodyguardto protectthem from the public gaze. When the thirdcircuit is accomplishedthey make obeisance to the deity. The rite is believed to ensure the birth of children.3 At the Periapalayam festivalin the ChingleputDistrict, Madras, in honourof the Mothergoddess, Mariamma,the worshippersdress in a garmentof freshly gathered margosa leaves attachedto theirwaists by a string; and at the festivalof the village goddess in the Bellary Districtin the Deccan, the pro- cessionis headed by a Madiga menial,who is naked save fora fewmargosa leaves.4 At Yellamma's Hill in the Belgaum District,Bombay, people undera vow appear naked beforethe goddess, tie margosa branchesround theirbodies fromshoulder to knee, walk round the temple clad in this attire,and again reverethe goddess clad in ordinarydress, a robe in the case of womenand a loin-clothfor men.5 At Jekhapurin the Nimar District,Central Provinces, people who have made a vow discard theirclothing, put on aprons of margosa leaves, take a pot of water from a well in the village,ascend the hill by night,worship the goddess Jekhadevi," she who fulfilsprayer," and pour the waterover theirbodies, apparently as a charmfor rain or forfertility.6 Social or religiouscustom, or possibly in some cases the influenceof taboo, enforcethe habit of nudity. The Miri Naga men,when working in the fields,wear nothingbut necklacesand collaretsof beads; in the cool of the eveningthey wrap themselvesin blankets,but wear no loin-cloth. The women,though .they seem to be usually covered when in their villages with a short skirtreaching half-way to the knee,are said to doll all clothingwhen at workin the fields.7 In the Goddvarl District,Madras, the Komati women do the cookingin a state of nudity; those who admit the practicesay that it is done forthe sake of cleanliness,lest the touch

I G. Maspero,The Dawn of Civilisation,p. 53, note 8. 2 W. H. R. Rivers,The Todas,573 etseq. 8 F. J. Richards,District Gazetteer of Salem, i, Part i, 121. ' E. Thurston,Ethnographical Notes in SouthernIndia, 364 et seq.; Castes and Tribesof SouthernIndia, vi, 106. 5 BombayGazetteer, xxi, 613. 1 R. V. Russell,District Gazetteer, Nimar, i, 227. 7 Journ.Roy. Anthrop. Inst., xxxii, 454.

This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.72.226 on Mon, 26 Nov 2012 21:16:48 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions W. CROOKE.-Nudityin India in Customand Ritual. 251 of an impure garmentshould defilethe food.1 The Poroja or Parja women of Vizagapatam and Ganjam, on the east Madras coast, are said to wear clothingin their houses, but leave it off when they go outside; "it seems that the tabu is directedagainst appearingin public fullyclothed, and not against wearingdecent sized clothesas such."2 - Practices such as have been describedin this paper are naturallya fruitful themefor setiologicallegend. The Juangs of Chota Nagpur say that "tthe river goddess emergingfor the firsttime fromthe Gonasika river,came suddenlyon a rollickingparty of Juangs dancing naked, and orderingthem to adopt leaves on the momentas a covering,laid on them the curse that they must adhere to that costumefor ever or die."3 The Gadaba womenin Madras wear clothmade of tree fibrebecause Sita, consortof Rama, wore similarclothing in the forest; some of them laughed at her, and she cursed them that ever afterwardsthey should wear no dress but fibrecloth.4 A Kanara story runs that the headmen of a certain village were once upon a time taken naked for executionon the seashore; but in theirshame they gathered leaves of the " five-leafed" trees and made themselves aprons,whereupon their guards in pityreleased them, and sincethen they have worn nothingelse.5 The Devanga weaverssay that Vishnugave to one of theirancestors some fibresof the lotus flowerthat growsfrom his navel, and taughtthem how to make clothes for gods and men; it was this culture hero who instructedhis descendantsin the art of makingfibre cloth.6

1 F. R. Hemingway,District Gazetteer, Godavari, i, 55. 2 Thurston,Castes and Tribesof Southern India, vi, 219. 3 Dalton,op. cit.,156. 4 Thurston,op cit.,ii, 245. Comparethe story of the Porojas or Parjas, p. 240 et seq. above. 5 Oppert,op. cit.,174. 6 Thurston,op. cit.,ii, 157.

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