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 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. http://www.jstor.org 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 237 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. 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 238 W. CROOKE.-Nudity in Inditain Customand Rituacl. 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 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.-Nudity in India in Customand Ritual. 239 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.