South Indian Inscriptions

SOCIETY

attended it had to extricate his necklace while had got entangled in his armelt¹. Rich men wore golden wristlets (kanaka-valayas). In the Mēghadūta Kālidāsa describes how the forearm of the exiled Yaksha, who had become emaciated owing to separation from his beloved, appeared bare by the fall of a golden wristlet². The fingers were adorned with rings. The confusion caused in the Śākuntala by the loss of the signet ring of Dushyanta is well known. Rich people wore a many-stringed pearl necklace after the manner of a yajñopavīta. The pictures of kings and princes assembled to hear the sermon of the Buddha or that of the flying Indra in Cave XVII³ give us a fairly clear idea of the jewellery worn by rich men in the Vākāṭaka age. That boys also wore similar ornaments will be clear from the picture of Rāhula, who goes forth to welcome the Buddha.

... Women too put on very varied and beautiful jewellery. In many of the frescoes at Ajaṇṭā women are shown with a head-ornament called lalāṭikā, one string of which followed the parting line of hair. Bāṇa has described ti as ‘a tilaka-maṇi kissing the sīmanta’. This lalāṭikā had, in some cases, a cluster of pearls or a round golden disc suspended on the forehead, which gave is the name chaṭulā-ṭilaka.⁴ Boys also wore this kind of ornament . See, for instance, the pictures of Yaśōdharā and Rāhula welcoming the Buddha in Ajaṇṭā Cave XVI⁵ . Some women wore a network of pearls in their hair, which Kālidāsa has mentioned in the Mēghadūta , v. 65. They also put on pearl-necklaces of one or more strings. In the Mēghadūta Kālidāsa mentions a pearl-necklace with a large saphire woven in the middle.⁶ Some women used to wear kaṇṭhikās (necklace) of rubies and emeralds, while others liked those made of gold coins (nishkas). Several Indian and Roman coins have been found in excavations, with a hole at the top, which shows that they were worn in such necklaces.

... The ornaments worn by women of Vidarbha showed a much more refined taste.

... Men used a footwear which was tied with straps near the ankle.⁷ When they went to fight or hunt, they had a sword suspended from their belt and a dagger fixed in it. The accoutrement of horses such as the saddle, bridle etc. was just as at present,⁸ but the stirrups are nowhere noticed. Horses for riding were well decorated. The warrior’s quiver of arrows was fastened to the saddle. Foot-soldiers used to tie it on their back. Elephants were adorned with gold ornaments and pearl strings, with large discs suspended on their trunks, but their bodies are nowhere noticed painted as described by Kālidāsa in the Mēghadūta v. 19. Nor do we notice a howdah on the back of any elephant.
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¹Raghuvaṁśa, CantoVI, v. 14.
² Cf. कनकवलयभ्रंशरिक्‍तप्रकोष्‍ठ: । Mēghadūta v. 2.
³ Ajanta, Part III, Pl. LXVII.
⁴ Cf. सुवणंशुङ्‌ललावद्धो नानारत्नीषमण्डित:। ललाटलभ्व्यलंकारश्‍चटुलातिलको मत:॥ Com. on the Harshacharita, p. 32.
⁵ Ajanta, Part IV, Pl. XLI.
⁶ Mēghadūta, v. 48.
⁷ Ajanta, Part III, Pl. LXII.
⁸ Ibid., Part IV, Pl. LXVIII (b).