Indian women’s attire and ornaments have a story that has fascinated many travellers and invaders for centuries. The evolution of classical dance in South Indian territorial space is also a fascinating story and history. Indian dance, the ornamental beauty, has seduced the audience with their dance and attire.
With their ornaments, dancers can distinguish from Krishna or Vishnu. Ornaments mean many things, not only their presence or the dance. What they are representing and presenting is the central element of these ornaments. We know about painter King Raja Ravi Varma’s fascination with the Hindu-Goddess paintings; he brings a celestial atmosphere. In Ravi Varma’s painting, Hindu Goddess and epic situations are depicted, and he used models to portray this epic story on the canvas.
Many other painters are genuinely enchanted with traditional Hindu attire and the adornment of South Indian dancers. John Joseph Fonceca was a less-known Portuguese artist who lived in South India and depicted Hindu women, classical dancers, and landscapes as his subject. A portrait of a Hindu woman wearing jewellery is a classic example of a painting portraying the 19th century South Indian women’s life in their attire.
Historical Accounts of Ornaments
Manu S Pillai, the author of The Ivory Throne: Chronicles of the House of Travancore, quoted 17th-century Italian traveller Pietro Della Valle to bring the importance of ornaments, gold and women in that time’s society. When he visited the Zamorin court in 1623, he witnessed ladies used to ornament their bodies with gold and silky garments, and they covered their bodies with precious stones. One of the two young ladies approached Della Valle, touched his coat sleeve with her hand, and expressed wonder at his attire. ‘Silk or velvet brocade bodices of colour would be worn over these, with minimal ornaments on ordinary days, but including heavy, peculiar anklets worn only by women of the royal house, Manu S Pillai writes.
John Joseph Fonceca’s painting depicts women from a royal class, and the women’s attire is the best example of the richness of the royal family in South India. A portrait of a Hindu woman wearing a head-dress is another best example of an artist’s portrayal of Hindu women from the back side view, which is equally adornment of the front sight. Rear view of a woman wearing a gold ornament in her hair, earrings, a blue choli, a red skirt and a red sash (or a red sari), Front view of a Hindu woman wearing a yellow choli, a blue sari, and much jewellery are the example of artistic interests at that time.
In Portrait of a Hindu woman wearing jewellery, Fonceca portrays the woman ornamented with many precious stones, gold jewellery, and flower, including bangles and rings and adorning the Saree. In this single Portrait of Women, we can understand the jewellery history and culture of the royal family and the women’s life of that time.
Feature Image Credit: collections.vam.ac.uk
Krispin Joseph PX, a poet and journalist, completed an MFA in art history and visual studies at the University of Hyderabad.
