Coiffure of Women

It is customary for women to grow their tresses at full length, arrange in different forms and bedeck them with various ornaments and flowers. In the sculptural art of this period a minute study shows all these features. The various styles of coiffure worn by the women of this can be listed as following:

Hair combed backwards and twisted into spiral locks

In this type of coiffure the hair is combed backwards and the tresses which are let loose behind are twisted in the form of spirals. Such a type can be seen worn by a dancer (fig. 191) depicted in ae panel from the Thantontrisvara temple at Kanchipuram. Here she is depicted wearing a karanda-makuta and the tresses coming out from it and falling over her shoulders are modeled into spiral curls. It seems that such a type of ornamental twisting of the locks of hair was especially adopted by theatre artisans like dancers and similar hair style can also be seen among male dancers as well.

Hair combed upwards and fastened in oval form

In the Govardhanadhari panel, the lady (fig. 192) who is portrayed in dancing pose along with a male figure is shown with her hair gathered at the top of her head and fastened, leaving the tresses in oval shape. It is not known from this sculpture whether she is wearing any net like thing to support her tresses and to beautify them, as the carving is incomplete and roughly finished.

Dome shaped hair-do

In the Govardhanadhari panel the lady with a child seated on her hips is shown with this type of hair-do. The head of the lady is shown lifted up and is in the act of conveying something to the flute player, who is shown to her left. Her hair is bounded over her head in the form of a hemispherical dome by means of a band, worn near her head. No parting line is seen in this case also. Similar type of hair-do can also be seen in the sculpture of Rati (fig. 193) standing by the side of Manmatha in the Sundaravaradaperumal temple at Uttiramerur. An almost similar type is worn by the consort of Adisesha in the Varaha panel of Varaha-mandapa at Mamallapuram. As she was portrayed in profile, a view of her back is also shown, where few more locks of hair can be seen falling over her back.

Hair combed backwards and allowed to fall at the back

In the Govardhanadhari panel at Mamallapuram, the lady (fig. 194) depicted as carrying a hay stack above her head and a set of three pots in her right hand is shown with this simple type of hair-do. In this, she is shown with the hair simply combed backwards from the forehead without any parting line in between and her tresses can be seen falling on her back. The slight depression of the tresses near her head and the band like appearance may indicate that she has tied her hair with a band. Similar type of hair-do can also be seen worn by a woman depicted immediately to the left of Gajalakshmi in the panel at Varaha-mandapa.

Hair combed sideward and knotted in the form of a bun

A panel (lower row) on the northern cloister wall of the Vaikunthaperumal temple at Kanchipuram shows a lady (fig. 195) seated along with a man, wearing her hair combed to the side of the head and gathered her tresses in the form of a bun. It is not clear whether she is wearing any net like thing as a support to her hair.

Hair combed upwards and knotted in the form of a bun to the side of the head

The lady (fig. 196) with royal appearance standing to the right side of Balarama is depicted in this style. She was portrayed in the act of gazing at Krishna, who had lifted the Govardhanadhari hill. So her face is shown in profile. It appears as if she has combed her hair upward to the right side of her head proper and knotted it in the form of a bun, leaving the end of her tresses hanging out from the top knot. She also appears to wears a broad head-scarf with a floral decor in the middle, almost covering the front part of her head.

Hair combed upwards and twisted into spirals in receding tiers, forming a karanda-makuta

As discussed supra, the karanda-makuta type of head-dress worn by various goddesses in fact had its origin from a type of coiffure, worn by the women belonging to the upper classes of the society. In this type the tresses are lifted above the head and are twisted into spirals in a straight line, with the lower one bigger than the succeeding one, in the form of receding tiers. Then the entire mass of tiered hair is bedecked with ornaments like tiara, bands, tassels and other decorations. Many of these decorative appliances also seem to have a functional purpose as well in preventing the hair from ruffling, just like the modern day hair-bands and hair-pins. This gives to the onlooker the appearance of a makuta and it also served the functional purpose of supporting the curled tresses. It is most probable that the pair of dvarapalikas flanking the shrine-cell in the Kotikal-mandapam at Mamallapuram have coiffure of this type. A variant of this type can also be noticed in the sculpture of Vidhyadhari (fig. 197) carved on the Larger Bhagiratha bas-relief panel at Mamallapuram. Here the top most tier of the spiral coiffure is arranged in the form of a pony tail. In addition to the ornamental cage–like head-dress, festoons probably formed of colored silk ribbons and beaded tassels can also be seen.

In the sculptural art of this period it is near to impossible to distinguish clearly between the karandamakuta type of head-dress and a coiffure formed of such receding spirals. Almost all the sculptures of goddesses, especially Durga in her various forms, dvarapalikas and celestial women are seen in this attire or coiffure. In some cases like the chamara-dhari figures seen flanking the niches in the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram, their tresses flowing over their shoulders can also be noticed.

Hair combed backward with a parting line and knotted in the form of a bun

This is one of the simplest type of hair-do, in which the hairs are combed backward by parting them from the middle of the head leaving a kesavithi in the middle. Then the tresses are gathered at the back, near the nape and wounded in the form of a bun. The shape and size of the bun varies based on the method of coiling. In the case of a woman (fig/. 198) depicted as carrying three pots on her head in the Govardhanadhari panel at Mamallapuram, the tresses in the form of bun is elongated and flattened at the back. For the onlooker it appears as if the woman was balancing those pots on her head with the support of the bun-shaped arrangement of her hair at the back. It seems that the entire hair mass at the back is bound together by means of a cord.

Hair combed backward with a loose spiral knot

This type of hair-do can be seen worn by Bhu-devi (fig. 199) in the Varaha panel of Varaha-mandapa at Mamallapuram. She is shown in profile and is seen seated on the thigh of Varaha, who is in the act of lifting Her from the netherworlds. She wears a Karandamakuta type of head-dress and from beneath Her makuta can be seen the tresses coming out, which was bound into a loose knot near Her neck and shoulders. The loose end of the locks is seen coming out of the knot and falling over Her back.

Hair combed backward and plaite

It is rather interesting to note that in the sculptures of this period a hair-do with the tresses plaited appears rarely. One such form, though in profile seems to be depicted in the Seshasayi-Vishnu panel in the Mahishasuramardini cave temple at Mamallapuram.

Here Bhu-devi (fig. 160) shown kneeling down and saluting at the feet of Vishnu seems to wear a tiara like head-dress. Issuing from beneath the head-dress at the back of Her head can be seen Her tresses falling over Her back, which appears to be plaited.

Curled hair with the tresses arranged in the form of spiral roll above the head

This type of hair-do appear once as worn by Jaya, (fig. 200) the attendant of Durga in the Mahishasuramardini panel of the cave temple at Mamallapuram. Here Jaya is seem in profile, in the act of fighting and holds a sword valiantly. She is seen with curly hairs and Her tresses from the back were rolled up on to the head in a spiral form leaving concentric rings. The entire mass of hair is fastened by means of band having ornamental floral decor in the middle.

Hair combed upwards and knotted in the form of a bun at the top of the head

In the panels depicting scenes of dancing and theatre play from Thantortrisvara temple at Kanchipuram, one panel depicts a lady (fig. 201) with the hairs rolled up on the top of the head in the form of a bun. The bun shaped coiffure is further decorated by a string of beads and another band having a floral jewel in the centre was used to fasten the bun at its bottom. Similar style of arranging the hair can also be seen in the smaller Bhagiratha relief panel at Mamallapuram. However, here owing to the worn out condition of the sculpture, other embellishments if any could not be noticed. Similar worn-out bas-relief sculpture can be seen in the later Pallava temple of Pundarikaksha-perumal at Tiruvellarai. The adhisthana portion of the temple has many miniature panels on it. Among them is on one panel having a figure of salabhanjika with similar type of coiffure.

(13?) Jatabhara and Jatamakuta type

In this type of hair-do, few locks of hair gathered from either side are arranged to form a conical jatamakuta at the centre of the head and the remaining locks are let loose to hang on either sides in the form of a jatabhara. Thus such a type of coiffure can be best identified as a combined form of jatabhara cum jatamakuta type. It is seen popularly in some forms of goddess like Bhairavi and Chamund`i (fig. 202). Fine examples of Bhairavi can be seen in the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram. The image of Chamundi fixed on a platform along with other Saptamatrikas in Mamallapuram, also sports a similar coiffure, though the individual jatas are not prominently seen.

Hair arranged in trifoliate design

This unique and rare type of coiffure can be seen beautifully rendered in the sculpture of a chauri bearer (fig. 203) flanking the image of Durga enshrined in the niche on the northern wall of the mandapa preceding the Kailasanatha temple at Kanchipuram. In this type the locks of hair parting on either side of the head are rolled in the form of a bun in front and the remaining locks of hair from the back of the head is combed upwards and bound into a fan shaped coiffure at the top. Thus, on the whole it gives a trifoliate form to the coiffure. As an addition to this exuberant form, was added an ornament formed of beads or pearls which bordered the hair-do.

Hair knotted into double bun at the side of the head

In the Vaikunthaperumal temple at Kanchipuram, a panel (upper row) on the southern cloister wall shows the figure of three queens seated on a throne (fig. 204). All of them seem to have combed their hair to the back and tied it in the form of two buns. Similar hair-do can also be seen worn by the queen of Hiranyavarman in an another panel on the same wall.