Dressing style of warriors and dancers

[Full title: Dressing style of Men: Warriors and dancers]

Both warriors and dancers in Pallava art wear similar kind of lower garment in the form of shorts, reaching only to the mid-thigh region. So dress of these two glaringly distinct classes can be examined simultaneously. Perhaps, such a dress became a necessity of their profession as it demands free movement of their limbs. Dancing figures in this period are found in the form of Siva in various dancing poses depicted in the various structural temples, male and female dancers in the panels from Thantontrisvara temple and dancers, musicians depicted on the panels in the Vaikunthaperumal temple at Kanchipuram. Mention should also be made of Krishna dancing atop the hoods of serpent Kaliya in the Dharmaraja-ratha at Mamallapuram (fig. 62) and his kuda kuttu dance (fig. 29) carved in one of the miniature panels on the adhisthana portion of the Pundarikakshaperumal temple at Tiruvellarai (Tiruchirappalli district).Warriors in Pallava art were depicted only in three temples–the Avanibhajanapallavesvara-griham at Siyamangalam (fig. 30), the Mahishasuramardini cave temple at Mamallapuram and in the Vaikunthaperumal temple at Kanchipuram.

At Siyamangalam, the warrior men flanking the facade, wear a lower garment reaching up to the knee region as can be seen by the prominent folds and the border. This ardoruka is also worn in the kachchha fashion as indicated by its pleats hanging in between the legs and at the back. It is further fastened at the waist by means of a band with a central knot. These twin sculptures can be regarded as a fine example of a warrior cum dancer. In the Mahishasuramardini cave temple and in the Vaikunthaperumal temple, the warrior men (fig. 107) are seen wearing a garment reaching only to the thigh region in the form of shorts i.e. janghia. The sculptures of Narasimha in the act of killing Hiranyakasipu (fig. 63) and Siva in the grab of Kirata and Arjuna in the act of fighting (fig. 33), in the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram also wears a similar garment. However, additionally an uttariya forming into loops is seen adorning their waist. Thus, it seems that such a type of short lower garment was especially worn for facilitating free movement of the limbs, while engaged in acts such as fighting or wrestling.