Headdress - DOT-Maharashtra Tourism
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Headdress
Districts / Region
Maharashtra, India.
Unique Features
As depicted in various hieroglyphs, sculptures, paintings, since
the prehistoric period, headdresses were an important and
integral part of human culture. These were part of the attire of
the human race besides jewellery during day-to-day life as
well as on ceremonial occasions. The environmental factor,
available raw-material, faiths and traditions and fashion trends
affected the design and development of the headdress. All
sorts of material, right from wool, grass, cloth, metal, animal
horns, glass, jewels, feathers, flowers etc., is used in the
design of a headdress. Artificial wigs and veils too are part of
this fashion statement. Protection from the harsh weather and
during wars were other primary usages of a headdress.
Like the history of headdresses, the world over, India too has
a long history of headdress design and usage. Various
characters depicted on the Harappan seals can be seen with
different kinds of headdresses. The Buddha sculptures in the
Gandhara and Mathura art forms in the later period are shown
with a unique style of a headdress styled with the Buddha’s
hair. The sculptures from the Satavahana period in
Maharashtra, as depicted in the Buddhist caves as well as the
paintings in the Ajanta caves, portray the ancient sources of
modern fashion designs.
The initial literary reference to a headdress is in the
Atharvaveda and Shatapatha Brahmana and the word is
mentioned as ‘Ushneesha’. The Ushneesha is used by a kind
and a Vratya – a person without a thread ceremony samskara
at a proper age during the Yagnya ceremony. Shatapatha
Brahmana speaks of a Ushneesha worn by queen Indrayani. A
circular-shaped, conch shaped, jewel decked headdress was
in vogue during the 2nd century BCE. This trend kept on
changing over time, overall the regions.
Maharashtra has an interesting and colourful diaspora of
headdresses. The round Pagadi was worn primarily by
Brahmin-s, the circular Pagote worn by Maratha, Mali and a
few other castes. The saffron-coloured Patka is worn typically
by the aristocratic Maratha class. Pagadi was always red in
colour, person-specific and prefabricated. Pagote used to be
oblong, triangular and prefabricated. Patka, Feta, Tivat, Mandil
and Batti are some of the names of the variations worn by the
Maharashtrian male population in general.
There were two distinct styles of wearing a Feta. A Patka is
made of a 53 feet long cloth which is a foot wide and the
folds are bigger on one side than the other. A Feta is a bit
tilted on one side and the other flatter side covers the ear. Its
one shorter end is given a shape of a tuft and the other
folded long open end is left over the shoulder. It is known as
Shemla in colloquial Marathi and this style is very popular in
aristocratic Maratha-s and Rajput-s. Another variation is a
Rumal is a square piece of cloth, which is 12” X12” and both
the ends are placed inside the folds and are not seen. The
Rumal is usually worn by the Kirtankar.
Cultural Significance
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Directorate of Tourism, Maharashtra
15 Floor, Nariman Bhavan,
Nariman Point, Mumbai 400021
diot@maharashtratourism.gov.in
022-69107600
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