History of Indian Costumes | Data to Yoga

The Covid-lockdown was over. I was ready to step out and greet the world. The first step towards that was ...well, stepping into my sport shoes. My feet slid into them, I stood up and oh-boy, I got a shock! I felt different. I mean, my body was the same, I was the same, yet, everything about me was, different. Different from the easy-lazy flip flops I was mostly hanging around in. You see, I realised, in the flip flops not just my feet were loose and easy, but my emotional attitude as well, super relaxed. And now in the sport shoes, my feet were ready-to-go, as was I!

No. No. No. This is not an ad-writing for sport shoes. I mean to draw your attention, as mine was drawn, to how what we wear affects our attitudes, our emotions. Uniforms, boots, jeans, sarees, skirts, sherwani, coats ... each brings out a different personality in us. Not just on the outside, but even on the inside, we feel different.

But if you were to ask Dr. Mohan Raghavan - who teaches in IIT Hyderabad, Department of Biomedical Engineering, in the broad area of computational neuroscience and motor systems - he'd perhaps point to the clothes affecting something even deeper than our psychology ... our prana, life force.

So. Ever wondered why we wear #Saree pallus mostly draped from right midriff to left shoulder? Or why saree or dhoti is mostly tied around the pelvic area??

In a revetting lecture organised by IIT Madras on Indian costumes down the ages, #Dr.MohanRaghavan offers some deep thoughts. He designs his study not as an emotional, artistic journey.??But as a unique #DataScience trip, leading us right on the doorstep of #Yoga.?

If that sounds mind blowing. Trust me, it is.?

Now, Dr. Raghavan's lab is " ...focused on building 3D multiscale multidisciplinary computational models of human movement machinery spread across the spinal cord and its integration it with musculoskeletal systems. He was founder and Co-Head of the Center for Healthcare Entrepreneurship at IIT Hyderabad from 2015-18. He has mentored several startups in the area of healthcare”.?

If you are wondering what his specialisation has to do with Indian costumes, you are perfectly normal. But this question remains only till he begins to unpack his fascinating approach in his meticulously crafted presentation.?

His passion for Science and India both come out elegantly in his appraoch which creates data points for garments and jewellery worn across the ages in India and in other cultures depending on where and how they interact with the human body. Say, a knot - on the head, on the pelvic region. Bangles on the forearms. Drapes on the left shoulder or the right.?He studies the garments and jewellery uniquely, juxtaposing them with their interaction with human anatomy.??He is aiming to achieve an objective codifiable description, a ‘culture-agnostic vocabulary’, data that can be compared across cultures, across historical time … like say, what language do you use to compare a Saree with a Kimono? Or what exactly do you mean by a Kurta? Is my understanding of Kurta same as yours??

All these he has mapped as points of interaction of the garments with human anatomy - shoulder, neck, head, knees, pelvic area, eliminating any loss in translation. So an Indian costume can be compared with a Greek or a Roman.?

From Sindhu Saraswati civilisation through Shunga-Bharhut, Maurya, Pallavas, Guptas … what are the common features that have persisted? Dr. Raghavan focuses on a few common features in Indian costumes across time.

One of these is our starting point: yes, the Saree pallu. The diagonal drape for the upper garment, Uttariya, worn from right midriff to left shoulder. For both women and men. Across all periods. What could be reason??

This is where Dr. Raghavan brings in Yoga, giving references from the?Rigveda, Brhadaranyka, Pashupatabrahmopnisad?connecting it to PRANA - life force, or simply, breath.?

In?Deva Yajnas, for the Gods, the?Yajnopavita?is placed diagonally left shoulder to right midriff. But in?Pitra Yajnas, for the ancestors, the?Yajnopavitais the other way around. He explains the deeper Yogic understanding -?Pashupatabrahmopnisad?says, Hamsah moves from Left to Right.

Now, #HamSah is a complex spiritual metaphor. For the purpose of this writing, let us simply say it is the sound of the incoming and the outgoing breath that carries with it prana, life force. By the left and right is meant the Yogic prana channels - Ida, Pingla - their attributes, feminine and masculine.

In Deva Marga, the breath moves towards the Ida, feminine - perhaps indicating an inner state of receiving, absorbing - hence the diagonal positioning of the Uttariya, like in the Saree pallu.

Dr. Raghavan points to another common feature, ?Mekhala. The lower garment, Antariya. Like Dhoti or petticoat, saree belt being tied or articulated around the pelvic girdle. In Atharva Veda Mekhala this belt is spoken of as a weapon of the rishis, sister of the rishis, giving powers of Indra himself.

Dr. Raghavan explains it has been an essential Vedic scared garment to aid penance. The reasoning? Again, connected with the prana, life force.?Ekagnikanda?states that?Pranapanabhyam Balamabharanti ,?it strengthens the?prana?and?apana - both movements of life force via the breath, outwards and inwards. He summarises, Mekhala is, "...in a way responsible for holding in the?prana apana?and making sure they work in the right way."

For Dr. Raghavan, these historical patterns of Indic costumes along with the essence of Yoga - the Data and the Yoga - come together in the graceful form of the #Nataraja from the Chola period. Not necessarily through the costume but including all other elements. From anatomy to the yogic oneness -?sthool, sookshm, para - subtler and subtler still.

He closes with a hope that his study may give the tools, a fresh new vocabulary with which to approach the historical study of garments or jewellery. As also offering clues to the designers - who, even as they innovate on the dresses - can consciously choose some patterns from the historic flow of garment culture in this land that integrate deep spiritual practises for wholistic living, that includes the body, the mind and the spirit.?

Now, these may be great clues for those of us who practise Yoga or meditate. What should are garments be like when we are practising? Further, if we desire to integrate meditativeness into our daily lives, can our attire support us, if so how? #ConsciousClothing not just in the material or the production process but also in the designing. Lets hope someone design entrepreneur from the field has the insight to dive into Dr. Raghavan's research and who knows ... create a contemporary Indic Conscious Clothing Brand for us.