Sari

“ Then an end of the long sari, which is twisted several times around the body, is brought from the front to the back and tucked into a belt, forming a sort of trousers, and incidentally exposing more brown leg than we women of the Western world think consistent with modesty. ”

“ Some had even discarded the ragged and dirty cotton cloth of every-day life in favour of a colour-printed imported sari. One bright, good-looking young woman, who had already been through the measuring ordeal, acted as an efficient lady-help in coaching the novices in the assumption of the correct positions. ”

“ Sāri, a word often occurring in the composition of proper names, and is fancied by the natives to convey the idea of flower, beauty, ornament, young woman. Thus at the courts of the native princes, you sometimes hear of the Pagĕr Sari, which means: the fence of flowers, by which is implied the collection of handsome young woman, who surround the person of the Sovereign. CLOUGH does not give Sari in this sense, and yet the word is evidently of Sanscrit origin ”

“ In this district there is a thriving native silk industry, hand-weaving, also dyeing, and the ingenious native craft of making patterns on cottons and muslins by tying and dipping. Hanks of286 cotton and silk may be seen hung out over bamboo poles placed horizontally, and ox-carts roll by filled with the dyed skeins. There is a fine dark rich red, frequently seen in the sari dress of the women, also a dark purple. The women here generally wear the dark red sari with a narrow border of black; in some cases the sari is black with a red border. ”

“ The newly dyed long strips of cotton or muslin in orange or pink, green or lemon yellow which are hung out to dry, wave like long banners over the busy life of the narrow streets, where the turbaned and many coloured, swarthy faced crowd, jostle along, or stand in chattering groups about the shops, buying and selling. The types, too, are very varied—the Hindu, the Mohammedan, the Afghan, the country folk; the Mohammedan woman in trousers, the Hindu woman in her graceful Sari, with her glittering silver anklets, and bracelets, toe-rings and nose-rings ”

“ These are the draped or shawl type of costume. They have many resemblances to the draping of the well-known Indian sari of modern times. Compare these with illustration of sari (p. 39) . The ingenuity displayed in the draping of these costumes can only be realized when they are actually done upon a model. It should be noted with regard to all Egyptian costumes of the more fully draped type that the entire draperies seem to radiate from one point, usually a knot at the waist, with very beautiful effect. ”

“ The Wedding Dress.
"Rangadidi!"
"What is it, Ranu?"
"Don't you know that to-day is Sushi's birthday? So they are going to hold a fancy-dress party at their place. I intend to go dressed as the goddess Lakshmi. [1] But I have not got a red sari. So mother has sent me to you. She said that you had got lots of beautiful saris of Benares silk."
"My dear, we are old-fashioned people. Our things would not be to your taste. You are very modern and have taken to going to the Mem-Sahib's school." ”

“ This voluminous drapery is of gold-bordered muslin in warm weather, at other seasons a long, straight piece of silk or satin wondrously coloured and exquisitely embroidered. It is wound round and round the body, outlining it tightly at the back, and hanging in straight folds in front, each evolution being accomplished in pleats, to attain sufficient fulness; and finally the end is drawn over the head, concealing one ear and leaving the other exposed, a practice which explains the single earring worn by Parsee women. In warm weather the sari is of muslin and boasts a wide gold border. ”

“ His wife will only possess a tight-fitting little bodice, and six yards of cloth which she will drape gracefully around her body, making it serve both as dress and head covering. Yet the woman’s arms are covered often with bracelets, anklets tinkle as she walks, and as she draws her sari across her face when passing the stranger, the glint of a nose-ring is seen, or the light flashes from a necklace that rests against her brown skin. ”

“ The Minangkabauers definitely attribute a soul to rice, and will sometimes assert that rice pounded in the usual way tastes better than rice ground in a mill, because in the mill the body of the rice was so bruised and battered that the soul has fled from it. Like the Javanese they think that the rice is under the special guardianship of a female spirit called Saning Sari, who is conceived as so closely knit up with the plant that the rice often goes by her name, as with the Romans the corn might be called Ceres. ”

“ Sari.—A dress consisting of an entire piece of cloth wrapped several times round the loins; and falling down over the legs to the ankle serves as a petticoat. The other end is passed round the neck and hangs on one side. ”

“ The first stalks seen to bend under a passing breeze are the Rice-mother, and they are tied together but not cut until the first-fruits of the field have been carried home to serve as a festal meal for the family and their friends, nay even for the domestic animals; since it is Saning Sari’s pleasure that the beasts also should partake of her good gifts. After the meal has been eaten, the Rice-mother is fetched home by persons in gay attire, who carry her very carefully under an umbrella in a neatly worked bag to the barn, where a place in the middle is assigned to her. ”

“ Then succeeded Megalarus from the city of Pantibiblon, and he reigned eighteen sari; and after him Daonus, the shepherd from Pantibiblon, reigned ten sari; in his time (he says) appeared again from the Erythræan sea a fourth Annedotus, having the same form with those above, the shape of a fish blended with that of a man. ”

“ I was in my own room, taking out all the pretty saris I had, trying on every one of them to find out which suited me most. I was determined not to own defeat to another woman. At last I decided upon a silk whose colour was that of the clear autumnal sky, and it was embroidered all over with golden stars. I let down my hair, which reached down to my ankles and kept it from blowing over my face with a chain of sapphires tied across my brow. I did not put on many jewels as I was quite confident that my beauty needed but few aids. ”

“ The woman who sows the Rice-mother in the nursery lets her hair hang loose and afterwards bathes, as a means of ensuring an abundant harvest. When the time comes to transplant the rice from the nursery to the field, the Rice-mother receives a special place either in the middle or in a corner of the field, and a prayer or charm is uttered as follows: "Saning Sari, may a measure of rice come from a stalk of rice and a basketful from a root; may you be frightened neither by lightning nor by passers-by! Sunshine make you glad ”

“ These women are always well-dressed, and most frequently in silk of bright and beautiful colours, worn as a saree over a tight-fitting bodice of some gay material. The manner in which the saree is folded over the head and limbs renders it a graceful and becoming costume, which might be imitated with great propriety by the Hindu women, who certainly do not appear to study either taste or delicacy in their mode of dress. ”

“ Then, beautiful as a flower harvesting, the hues and harmonies of earth, ocean, and sky fell before the ravished eyes. The white Surat silk, chaste, beautiful, delicious as that presentiment of shared happiness which fills a young girl's mind when her fancy awakens in the soft spring sunlight; the white faille with tulle and garlands of white lilac, delicate and only as sensuous as the first meetings of sweethearts, when the may is white in the air and the lilac is in bloom on the lawn ”

“ They then twist the rest most gracefully around the entire person, after which it is thrown over the head and made to serve both as a bonnet and a veil. It is very becoming, and, wrought over with delicate Oriental devices of fine texture, lends a peculiar charm to the most ordinary features. A bright silk boddice is worn under the saree, and the whole dress accords well with the sweet, modest grace and beauty which characterize the pure Hindoo woman. ”

“ The little Princesses were quite dazzled by the golden saree, and running home said to their mother, “That young Rajah’s wife has the most beautiful saree we ever saw. It shines like the sun, and dazzles one’s eyes. We have no sarees half so beautiful, and although you are Ranee, you have none so rich as that. Why do you not get one too?”
When the Ranee heard about Parbuttee Bai’s saree she was very eager to have one like it; and she said to the Rajah, “Your servant’s wife is dressed more richly than your Ranee. I hear Parbuttee Bai has a saree more costly than any of mine. ”

“ The mass of the people do not change, however, and seem to have no desire to, and they are the common people everywhere who give the characteristic life and colour. Though they only wear cotton or muslin, the beauty and variety of the tints are wonderful, and fill the bazaars with a stream of ever-changing hues in the most unexpected combinations and harmonies.
Driving through the bazaars at Ahmedabad, we came to a sort of open space from which several streets diverged, and here was being held a sort of open market of cloth—chiefly muslins and cottons of every variety of colour and pattern. ”

“ The cotton clearers and spinners generally reside in the suburbs, or poorahs, of Baroche, which are very extensive. The weavers’ houses are mostly near the shade of tamarind and mango trees, under which, at sun-rise, they fix their looms, and weave a variety of cotton cloth, with very fine baftas and muslins (See Plate V.) . Surat is more famous for its colored chintzes and piece goods. The Baroche muslins are inferior to those of Bengal and Madras, nor do the painted chintzes of Guzerat equal those of the Coromandel coast.”—Forbes’s Oriental Memoirs, vol. ”

“ The trade at Surat is conducted by brokers, who are very subtle, and deceive both buyer and seller, if not carefully looked after. In weights, each city of India differs from another. The commodities are infinite, indigos being the chief, those of Lahore the best, and those from Sarkess inferior. Great quantities of cloths made of cotton, as white and coloured calicoes, containing fourteen yards the book or piece, from 100 to 200 mahmoodies each. ”

“ The products of Arabia and Persia, India and the East Indian Islands, and even of China, all through the Middle Ages, as in antiquity, made their way by long and difficult routes to the western countries of Europe. Silk and cotton, both raw and manufactured into fine goods, indigo and other dyestuffs, aromatic woods and gums, narcotics and other drugs, pearls, rubies, diamonds, sapphires, turquoises, and other precious stones, gold and silver, and above all the edible spices, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice, could be obtained only in Asia. ”

“ All the fruit and vegetable shops are in a street to themselves; all the workers in brass and other metals in another. You will find the silk merchants in one street; and, in still another, [18] all the shops that sell cotton goods,—the pretty flowered kinds stamped with tinsel as well as plain white, for every one in India wears light cotton or silk clothes.
When they came to the street where the silk merchants were, the grandmother and Shriya and her mother got out; for it was here they were going to buy Shriya's pretty silk dresses and long veils, and other pretty things. ”

“ No wonder that in each bridal trousseau do we read of the wonderful "tea gowns." In America ladies have been in the habit of always receiving in the tight-fitting and elegant combinations of silk, surah, brocade, velvet, and cashmere which fill the wardrobe of modern fashion. The dresses of delicate cashmere, so becoming to young girls, are always very much patronized for afternoon tea. Indeed, the young lady dressed for afternoon tea was dressed for dinner. ”

“ A dark blue silk tunic, and a flat turban completed my transformation into a Bengalee country squire, or his equivalent. My nephew, being very slight and tall, was at once turned into a Sikh, with skin-tight trousers, a very high turban, and the tightest of cloth-of-gold tunics, whilst the other young man, a good-looking dark young fellow, became a Rajput prince, and shimmered with silver brocades. I must own that European ladies do not show up to advantage in the native saree. Their colouring looks all wrong, and they have not the knack of balancing their unaccustomed draperies. ”

“ The best native sarongs are more expensive than silk, the cloth being overlaid with wax, upon which the pattern is traced, and the dyes applied by hand. The masses use a cheap cotton print manufactured in Europe. One of the striking peculiarities of Javanese life is the adoption of the sarong by the European women for morning wear. ”

“ She carries a big basket of China tea-roses, which she has just received from a friend in the country, and the long white cachemire and silk tea-gown which she wears looks thoroughly appropriate, despite the inclement season. It is her favourite colour for house wear in summer or winter, and certainly nothing could be more becoming to her soft, creamy complexion, and the natural tints of the thick, bright copper-coloured hair, which, curling over her brow, is twisted loosely into a great knot, lying low on the back of her head. ”

“ Bow-ma gently strove to console and silence her son. "Fret not! Your father will give me more and better jewels."
"Take off your saree" was the next outrageous command. The boy's indignation flamed afresh. His mother took an unguarded step forward and asked: "Are not my jewels enough that you want the saree off my back?"
"Aye, your saree and all you have. Silence your child or I will kill him." Terrible was the
harsh voice in its determination. ”