2.14. Dress for Stage performance

The costume of a character on the stage manifests his rank in a social hierarchy, his ancestral region, profession, religious creed and the fashion of the period. In Nāṭyaśāstra, Bharata much elaborately discusses the different aspects of dressing of actors representing different characters, which is a part of Āhāryābhinaya. Some of the common rules regarding the mode of dressing were maintained by the actors also. Bharata classifies their costume on the basis of the nature of characters they represent. In general, white garments, colourful garments, soiled garments, barks and skins are prescribed by Bharata^[1].

The following table describes it.

Characters	Garments	Example
Ascetics, hermits	Bark	Śakuntalā and Kaṇva in Abhijñānaśākuntala
Abstainers, recluse	Skin
Performing or attending religious ceremonies, engaged in propitiating gods, old men, Brahmins, Śreṣṭhiṃs, ministers, royal priest, Kañcuki, business persons, worried people, Kṣatriyās, Vaiśya,Vidyādhara ladies, a king in the wake of a public disaster, a lover in separation, those going on pilgrimage.	White colour	Urvaśī, Purūravas and his queen on different occasions, Pārvatī observing penance in Kumārasambhava, Vidyādhara damsels in Nāgānanda, Kāśīrājaputrī in Vikramorvaśīya, presenting of white silk clothes to Śakuntalā by Vanadevata’s on the occasion of her journey towards her husband.
Friars male as well as females, Buddhist monks, employees in the lower Rank at the harem, Gandharva females and Śakyamunis.	Kāṣāya (Saffron colour)	Some characters in Mṛcchakaṭika, Priyadarśikā (Priyadarśikā) and Abhijñānaśākuntala, Kauśiki in Mālavikāgnimitra, Kāmandakī and Avalokita in Mālatīmādhava (Mālatīmādhava), Yaugandharāyaṇa in Svapnavāsavadatta
Nymphs	Green colour
Siddha females	Yellow colour	Malayavatī in Nāgānanda
Abhisārikās in general, who include nymphs or damsels, Divyavānarī (Female monkey)	Blue colour	Ūrvaśī in act III of Vikramorvaśīya, Vasantasenā in Mṛcchakaṭika.
Censured to death	Red colour	Cārudatta in Mṛcchakaṭika, Nāga and Jīmūtavāhana in Nāgānanda
Rākṣasīs	Black colour
Vidūṣaka	Tattered cloths
Frantic, wayfarers, mentally distressed due to hardships, inebriated	Soiled clothes, rags	Purūravas in Vikramorvaśīya and damsel in Mattavilāsaprahasana, Viṭa and the maid in Nāgānanda and Abhijñānaśākuntala.

In Rājataraṅgiṇi^[2], it is stated that each character should be represented as attired in the same manner in which they are dressed in their own country.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Nāṭyaśāstra, XXI.55-90

[2]:

Rājataraṅgiṇi, VII