Uttariya

What is Uttariya?

The uttariya is an unstitched length of cloth worn on the upper body. It has roots in ancient India, and the sources liken it to a long scarf, a shawl or a veil. A person could loop it around both arms, throw it across one shoulder, or use it to cover the chest. Men and women alike wore it, and the old texts treat it as one cloth among a loose set rather than a tailored garment. Fine cotton and fine silk were the usual materials, with fine hide named as another possibility. Today it continues across the Indian subcontinent as a dupatta or a turban, worn over a kurta, an achkan or a sherwani.

Where does Uttariya come from?

The garment belongs to the Vedic period, which the source dates to 1500 to 500 BCE. Back then people wore a lower cloth, the paridhana, pleated at the front and held by a belt called the mekhala, with the uttariya serving as the upper covering. The Mahabharata, put together between the 4th century BCE and the 4th century CE, also mentions it, and there the shade of an uttariya is tied to the wearer's varna, with the Pandavas described in white. Buddhist Pali writing from the 6th century BCE speaks of the shatika, a form that later joined the sattanapatta, the uttariya and the antariya. Almost no old pieces survive, so historians read the carvings instead. The word is Sanskrit, built from uttara with the suffix iya.

How is Uttariya made?

There is no cutting or stitching in an uttariya. It is a single piece of cloth, and the sources call it loose. Fine cotton and fine silk are the materials named, with fine hide offered as a further possibility. The Vedic wardrobe was assembled from separate cloths rather than tailored, so the uttariya was one element among several, worn above the paridhana and a waist belt. Because very few of these textiles have come down to us, what is known about their construction comes from texts and from carved reliefs rather than from surviving cloth. The sources give no detail about loom, weave or length.

Colours, motifs and borders

Little is said about pattern. The clearest design fact in the sources is colour: in the Mahabharata period an uttariya's shade was linked to a person's place in the varna order, and the Pandavas are noted in white. Buddhist laymen are described in saffron, dressed with an antariya, an uttariya and a larger chadder. The sources name no motifs, no border and no decorated end, and nothing resembling a pallu is mentioned for this garment. It is treated as plain cloth, and the interest lies in how it was wrapped rather than in what was woven into it.

How Uttariya is worn

It can be worn in more than one way. The loose cloth may curl around both arms, cover the top half of the body, or be thrown across a single shoulder. Orthodox men and women are said to have worn it over the left shoulder alone, in a style called upavita. In summer it was taken off, and in cold weather a garment named pravara was used. Below it sat the paridhana, pleated in front and tied with the mekhala. In daily life now the uttariya does duty as a dupatta or a turban, worn over a kurta, achkan or sherwani.

When Uttariya is worn

In Hindu temples, priests dress the murti of the deity with an uttariya for the upper body while a tadapa covers the lower part. Buddhist laymen wore an antariya with an uttariya and a larger chadder in saffron. Beyond ritual it was ordinary dress: the sources call it the general garb of both sexes, different only in the size of the cloth and the way it was wrapped. The wealthy could let the lower garment reach the feet as a mark of standing, while poorer people sometimes used it as a loincloth.

Styles of Uttariya

Men and women both wore the uttariya; what differed was the size of the piece and the manner of draping it. A heavier cloth, the pravara, was kept for cold weather. Sometimes a woman used two uttariyas at once, one of them over a sattanapatta, also called kurpsika or kanchuki, to cover the chest. The shatika of the 6th century BCE is described as a later combination of the sattanapatta, the uttariya and the antariya. In the present day it carries on as the dupatta and the turban. The sources compare it to a veil, a long scarf and a shawl.

What Uttariya means

Colour carried meaning. In the Mahabharata the shade of an uttariya matched the wearer's varna, and white marked the Pandavas. The garment sits in both Hindu and Buddhist practice: temple priests use it on images of deities, and Buddhist laymen dressed in saffron. Dress also signalled wealth, since the rich could let their lower cloth reach the feet. Because almost no examples survive, the cloth is known mainly through relief carvings and through the Vedas, the Mahabharata and Pali texts. The sources record no Geographical Indication and no organised revival.

Questions people ask about Uttariya

Good reading and sources

• Uttariya on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data