View source for Uttariya

{{short description|Upper body garment of Vedic period}}
{{Distinguish|Uttarayana}}
[[File:In Welcome of Buddha - ACCN 34-2542 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 5941.JPG|thumb|250px|Relief depicting men wearing an  [[antriya|antariya]] and an uttariya, 1st century CE.]]
An '''uttariya''' ({{Transliteration|sa|ISO|uttarīya}}) is a loose piece of upper body [[clothing]] with its origins in [[Ancient india|ancient India]]. It is a single piece of cloth that falls from the back of the neck to curl around both arms and could also drape the top half of the body.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" /><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Shastri|first1=Ajay Mitra|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NhVWAAAAYAAJ&q=An+antariya+is+a+lower+garment+from+ancient+India.|title=Ancient Indian Heritage, Varahamihira's India: Historical geography, religion, and society|last2=Varāhamihira|date=1996|publisher=Aryan Books International|isbn=978-81-7305-081-7|pages=224|language=en}}</ref> An uttariya is similar to [[Veil|a veil]], a long scarf and [[shawl]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite book|last=Ayyar|first=Sulochana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9eHPXL6UE0C|title=Costumes and Ornaments as Depicted in the Sculptures of Gwalior Museum|date=1987|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=978-81-7099-002-4|pages=34|language=en}}</ref> The ''[[Vedas]]'' describe the garment to comprise various loose cloths worn for upper body such as {{Transliteration|sa|ISO|upavasana}}, {{Transliteration|sa|ISO|parayanahana}} and {{Transliteration|sa|ISO|adhivasa}}, {{Transliteration|sa|ISO|varhatika}} and {{Transliteration|sa|ISO|varnaka}}, {{Transliteration|sa|ISO|uttarsangha}} {{Transliteration|sa|ISO|samvyana}}.<ref name=":4" />

== Etymology ==
The word {{lang|sa-Latn|uttarīya}} is from [[Sanskrit]]. It is a compound word, consisting of the words {{lang|sa-Latn|uttara}} ({{lang|sa|उत्तर}}) and suffix {{lang|sa-Latn|īya}} ({{lang|sa|ईय}}).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mehta |first=Tarla |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l7naMj1UxIkC&q=An+antariya+is+a+lower+garment+from+ancient+India.&pg=PA172 |title=Sanskrit Play Production in Ancient India |date=1995 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ. |isbn=978-81-208-1057-0 |language=en }}</ref>

== History ==
the uttariya was a garment for upper body in the [[Vedic period]] (1500 and 500 BCE).<ref name=":4" /> The garments worn in the Vedic period mainly included a single cloth wrapped around the whole body and draped over the shoulder. People used to wear the lower garment called ''paridhana'' which was pleated in front and used to tie with a belt called ''mekhala'' and an upper garment called the uttariya (covered like a shawl) which they used to remove during summers. "Orthodox males and females usually wore the ''uttariya'' by throwing it over the left shoulder only, in the style called ''upavita''".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ayyar|first1=Sulochana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9eHPXL6UE0C|title=Costumes and Ornaments as Depicted in the Sculptures of Gwalior Museum|date=1987|publisher=Mittal Publications|isbn=9788170990024|pages=95–96}}</ref> There was another garment called ''pravara'' that they used to wear in cold. This was the general garb of both the sexes but the difference existed only in size of cloth and manner of wearing. Sometimes the poor people used to wear the lower garment as a [[loincloth]] only while the wealthy would wear it extending to the feet as a sign of prestige.

The ''[[Mahabharata]]'' (compiled between 4th BC 4th CE) refers the use of the uttariya as a garment.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Vaidya|first=Chintaman Vinayak|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dmOUq73LZLgC&q=%22Uttariya%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA144|title=Epic India, Or, India as Described in the Mahabharata and the Ramayana|date=2001|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1564-9|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Varadpande|first=Manohar Laxman|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fOZB7MbeMrAC&q=uttariya+pandavas&pg=PA23|title=History of Indian Theatre: Classical theatre|date=1987|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-430-1|pages=47|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Jain|first=Simmi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NH1qr33kfXAC&q=%22Uttariya%22+-wikipedia&pg=PA99|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Women Through the Ages: Ancient India|date=2003|publisher=Gyan Publishing House|isbn=978-81-7835-172-8|pages=99|language=en}}</ref> The colors of the uttariya were associated with distinct [[Varna (Hinduism)|varna]] in society then. The [[Pandava]]s were observed wearing white.<ref name=":0" />

Women were using two uttariya sometimes, viz. for covering the chest, when a woman used ''satanmasuska or [[Choli|Sattanapatta]]'' (also known as ''kurpsika'' or ''kanchuki)'' to cover her breasts. As per mention in Buddhist [[Pali]] literature during the 6th century BC,  [[Sari]] {{Transliteration|sa|ISO|śāṭikā}} ({{langx|sa|शाटिका}}) is an evolved form of combining Sattanapatta, the uttariya and the [[antariya]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=Women's Sarees guide and information resource about Women's Sarees : Clothing, Style and Fashion Style Directory by Apparel Search|url=https://www.apparelsearch.com/clothes/womens/s/sarees_guide_womens_sarees.htm|access-date=2020-12-09|website=www.apparelsearch.com}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|title=The history of sari: The nine yard wonder - Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/fashion/buzz/the-history-of-sari-the-nine-yard-wonder/articleshow/70277974.cms|access-date=2020-12-09|website=The Times of India|language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=[[Ananth Prabhu Gurpur|Ananth Prabhu G]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gyfoDwAAQBAJ&q=sari+evolved+from+antriya&pg=PA39|title=Glorious Bharat - Part 1|date=2020-05-30|publisher=[[Ananth Prabhu Gurpur|Ananth Prabhu G]]|pages=39|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QO2BAAAAMAAJ&q=Stanapatta|page=35|title=Fashion Styles of Ancient India: A Study of Kalinga from Earliest Times to Sixteenth Century Ad|first=Ramesh |last=Prasad Mohapatra|publisher=B.R. Publishing Corporation|year=1992|isbn=9788170187233}}</ref><ref>Prachya Pratibha, 1978 "Prachya Pratibha, Volume 6", p. 121</ref><ref>Agam Kala Prakashan, 1991 "Costume, coiffure, and ornaments in the temple sculpture of northern Andhra", p. 118</ref>

It was usually made of fine [[cotton]] or [[silk]], but can be suggested also with fine [[Hide (skin)|hide]].

Carvings that feature this garment date back a long way but there are few examples of this garment surviving so fashion historians study the reliefs.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kumar|first=Raj|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f-1XyQ2eIG8C&q=uttariya+pandavas&pg=PA7|title=Paintings and Lifestyles of Jammu Region: From 17th to 19th Century A.D.|date=2006|publisher=Gyan Publishing House|isbn=978-81-7835-577-1|language=en}}</ref>

== Contemporary use ==

=== Rituals in Hindu temples ===
[[Pujari|Priests]] in Hindu temples adorn the ''[[murti]]'' of a temple's deity with an uttariya, employed for the upper body, while the deity's lower body is dressed with a  tadapa.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ghurye|first=G. S.|title=Some Notes on Hindu Costume|date=1947|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/42929589|journal=Bulletin of the Deccan College Research Institute|volume=8|pages=97–172|jstor=42929589|issn=0045-9801}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=B Samall - JASO|first=Journal of the Anthropological Society of Oxford, 1998 - anthro.ox.ac.uk|title=Applique Craft in Orissa, India: Continuity, Change, and Commercialization|url=https://www.anthro.ox.ac.uk/sites/default/files/anthro/documents/media/jaso29_1998.pdf#page=54}}</ref>

=== Buddhist clothing ===
Laymen of the Buddhist community would typically be dressed with the antariya, accompanied by an uttariya and a larger [[Chador|chadder]], all colored in saffron.

=== Daily use ===
The uttariya is still worn throughout [[Indian subcontinent]] and is traditionally worn over [[kurta]], [[achkan]], or a [[sherwani]]. It was usually used in combination with the [[antriya|antariya]], an ancient version of the [[dhoti]], held with a sash or a cummerbund. The uttariya is also used as a dupatta, turban, by both men and women.

== See also ==

* [[Antariya]]
* [[Adivasah]]
* [[History of clothing in the Indian subcontinent]]
*[[Pratidhi]]
* [[Sari]]
*[[Stanapatta]]
*[[Nivi (garment)]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Buddhism topics}}
{{Clothing in South Asia}}
{{Hindudharma}}
{{Religion topics}}
{{History of religions|state=collapsed}}
{{Portal bar|Hinduism|India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:History Of Hinduism}}
[[Category:History of Asian clothing]]
[[Category:Indian clothing]]
[[Category:Hindu religious clothing]]
[[Category:Buddhist religious clothing]]