2.11. Wedding Dress

Wedding garments were usually gorgeous and costly. They were made of silk and were embroidered with different patterns and were of different colours. Wedding dress of different countries was different. Bridal costume was known by different names in different periods. During the marriage ceremony, different sorts of clothing were worn on different stages. Like today, there was a custom of presenting clothes as gift on the occasion of marriage.

Wedding dress of royals was Dukūla, decorated with swan motif. Kālidāsa attests this in the descriptions of certain wedding ceremonies.—[...], etc. are some common expressions found in the works of Kālidāsa^[1]. In Mālavikāgnimitra^[2], we come across Mālavikā attired in her marital costume, which is made from Vidarbha. Kālidāsa^[3] has also alluded to the custom of presenting Dukūlayugma, i.e. a pair of silk garments by the bride’s father to the bridegroom. After the nuptial bath, a bride was given white bleached garments to wear. When the dressing is over, bleached garments were replaced with silk garments. Kālidāsa gives an account of such customs when describing Pārvatī’s wedding^[4]. He has referred to both white and red as colours of wedding garment. In Ṛtusaṃhāra^[5], he speaks of bridal dress having white colour resembling Kāśa flower. There in another context, a season is compared to a newly married woman attired in red. Similarly Mālatī’s wedding dress as represented by Bhavabhūti, includes a red upper garment and a white breast garment^[6]. Bāṇa has depicted Rājyaśrī, her face covered with a red veil on her wedding day^[7].

Ṛgveda^[8] gives the name Śamūlya to the wedding garment of a bride. It was a black and red coloured one. There in another context, mention of Vādhūya^[9] is seen, which also forms part of a bride’s attire. But whether it was an upper garment or lower garment is not clear. Bāṇa^[10] names Tirodhāna to the wedding garment of his period.