Chola garb

A copper alloy figure of Parvati, Tamil Nadu, Chola Period, 12th century. Bonhams Auctions, Indian, Himilean and Southeast Asian art sale, item 3074

I've been writing a lot about ceramic recently so I decided to purge my Drafts collection and complete a few posts in the new year. That was all well and good for a whole, three posts until I stumbled upon a reference and down the rabbit hole I went. This Chola statue is so well photographed I thought I'd dedicate a whole post to unravelling it for future use.

Tamil Nadu is located in the southern tip of India. The capital is currently Chennai (previously called Madras). The map above displays the general extent of the Chola Dynasty however it's influence extended far beyond this to Java and beyond. The Chola Dynasty left it's mark in history in many ways, but this posts focus is their acclaimed copper alloy statues of the 12-13th century. One statue in particular for auction at Bonhams is a beautiful example and has some very high resolution images, perfect for the armchair reenactor. All images below will be of this statue unless stated otherwise.

This is what caught my eye first. Are they amazing floral droopy earrings or braids decorated with flowers? The necklaces appear to be multiple individual necklaces stacked upon themselves with a single clasp seen from the back that peeks out from under her curls.

On her arms, she has tied a decorative plaque and a plain, circular armband as well. I originally thought this was one larger cuff but the jewellery on her right arm dips towards each other suggesting they are individual pieces. She also wears multiple bangles and finger rings. Around her ankles, she appears to have little balls, bells or mangos perhaps?

Drape: Parvati wears an assymetric (veshti / vaetti - tamil, or dhoti - sanskrit) drape with one leg wrapped to a few centimeters above the ankle and the other resting gently on the knee. 

 

Depending on your interpretation, you could construct bands of floral patterns with leaves, or alternatively, geometric designs or potentially human torsos. I do like the floral patterns best but interestingly, there are whole flowers in places and halves in others. Th designs don't seem to cross the horizontal stripes. Are these supposed to represent block printing, woven patterns or thin bands of fabric joined together?

The girdle (red) appears to be a wide band slung low over the hips. Three loops on each side progress from just outside the buttcheek (so you dont sit on them) around and connect to the front. The top and the bottom of the girdle are stiff yet flexible. I suspect they are fabric. There is a possibility this is the top edge of the dhoti garment folded over but I doubt it. The girdle seems to be wrapped around the waist, possibly tied, and then secured with a beaded belt. 

The beaded belt appears to be a double set of plaques or beads. At the centre front, and centre back, two larger plaque sections provide and avenue for tightening. The pink loops can be pulled to tighten the cord that runs through the beads. At the front the spare piece of cord or sash is tighten through the top most plaques and the falls to one side (pink). This would suggest that the end plaques on the back have two holes through which the cord / sash is run to prevent the fabric from slipping. The top front fastening could be achieved by running three pieces of fabric through one hole but a double hole would make removing the belt less likely to create a situation in which it'd need to be restrung. I am really going to have to play around with this design to see if my ideas would work!