 |
THE PEOPLE
|
 |
DRESS
The mode of dress in Amravati district is more or less the
same as elsewhere in Maharastra. It is however more akin to the mode of dress in the Berar region. The articles of dress and the style of wearing them have undergone considerable changes during the last few decades. A man having moustaches, whiskers, top-knot of a bunch of hair on the clean shaven head, dressed in dhotar, barabandi, pheta or cakri pagote and uparne is not to be found so very commonly, though by no means rare.
The most common articles of apparel for a male are dhotar, shirt and pyjama. These articles continue to be worn in rural as well as urban areas. The younger generation is very particular about dress. The loose pyjama, pant, shirt or bush-shirt are fast taking the place of the old mode of dress. Formerly, the male upper garments were uparne, barabandi, kudta, sadara, pairan, kabji, angarkha and dagala. The head dress comprised cakri pagote, pagadi, mundase, rumal, or patka. Now, it is fashionable to go bare-headed. The educated gentry uses chappals, shoes or slippers as footwear.
The traditional Hindu woman's dress is the full Maratha sadi of nine yards, and a coli reaching to the waist and covering both the back and chest, the ends being tied or buttoned in front. The sadi is known as lugade. The mode of wearing it favoured by women of the upper classes is with hind pleats tucked into the waist at the back centre. Women from the poor peasantry allow it to hang from the waist and draw its end (padar) which covers the bossom and back over the head. Sarees of five or six yards in length have become fashionable for the last twenty years among young ladies in towns and villages as well. The saree is invariably worn over a petticoat. The quality of the wear exhibits a variegated and aesthetic sense. Skirts are getting more and more popular. The fashion of wearing sleeveless blouses is also discernible. New types of colis in the form of blouses with low-cut necks and close-fitting sleeves are also quite popular.
The dress of child of either sex is more or less the same. The child is usually dressed in jhabale, angade, langot and topare. When the girl grows about two years old she is dressed
in frocks or angi. A boy is dressed in shirt or bush-shirt and caddi (shorts). In the well-to-do families, hoys are dressed in
shirt or pairan, caddi and tuman or colna. Girls start using skirts at the age of eight or nine.
Quite a considerable number of Muslims are dressed like the Hindus. However, there is definite difference between the typical Muslim dress and the Hindu dress. Most of the orthodox Muslims and especially women, retain their traditional mode of dress. The principal articles of dress comprise khamij (shirt), servani, pyjama. cudidar pyjama, salvar, lungi and pairan. Women are dressed in khamij and cudidar pyjama or salvar, and odhani. Men put on khamij, pyjama or salvar, lungi and pairan. The head-dress consists of Turki cap, Jinna cap, or a turban. The Bohoras, Khojas and Memans use preformed turbans, and put on loose trousers, shirts and long coats while going out.
Rich and middle class ladies observe purdah, when they go out. The progressive Muslim families have discarded the purdah system.
|
