Priyanka Virajini Medagedara Karunaratne Dress for Dance ...(Pigeon), and Selalihini Sandesha poems of the Kotte period have fascinating descriptions of the dresses and adornments

Priyanka Virajini Medagedara Karunaratne(1)

Dress for Dance; Costumes during Kotte Period

(1) Fashion Design & Product Development, Department of Textile & Clothing Technology,

Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka.

(email : [email protected])

Abstract: Dress has always been a distinctive mark ofa historical period. The aim of this article is to presenta comprehensive study of dance costumes in useduring the Kotte period. Two ivory caskets at presentin the Munich Treasury reveal an interestingrepresentation of period dance costume. This attire wasinspired by South Indian culture. A profusion ofjewelry and an abundance of drapery signified thatthese dresses were definitely utilized by the courtperformers of the period.

Keywords: Dance costume, Cultural aspects, Ivorycaskets, Kotte period, South Indian inspiration

Introduction

The dress in historical times reveals curious,tantalizing cultural phenomena which signify theircomplex origins. Two Ivory caskets of the Kotte periodat present in the Residenz Munich, Schatzkammer,Germany(Amin & Melanie 1999) (casket no 1-Inventory no 1241, 18x 30x 16cm and casket no 2,Inventory No 1242, 15x 25x14cm) provides aninteresting representation of period attire inspired bothby Portuguese and South Indian culture. These twocaskets are said to have been produced under thepatronage of King Buwanekabahu VIIi (1521-1551AD)the eldest son of Vijayabahu VI (1513- 1521 AD) whosent a delegation to Lisbon carrying an image of princeDharmapala(1551-1597 AD) with the intention ofhaving it crowned to ensure the succession ofDharmapala to the Kotte throne.

Front side Rear side

Fig. 1: casket no 1 (Schroeder 1990, 468)

Front slanting lid panel on the left - two Sinhalesedancers with a baby and a leafMiddle and right panel - two dancersRear side in the middle - dancers andmusiciansRear side sloping lid surfaces on the - bearded sworddancers right and the middle panel

Rear sideFig. 2: casket no2 (Schroeder 1990, 469)

Front side

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Proceedings of the Third International Symposium,SEUSL: 6-7 July 2013, Oluvil, Sri Lanka

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Front slanting lid panel on the middle - twoSinhalese dancers Rear side sloping lid surfaces on the middle panel - twodancers

There are eleven female dancers shown withseven types of costumes. The scenes depicted in bothcaskets show that it happened inside the king’s court.Therefore it is possible to think that these dancers werethe dancers who were attached to the dance platoon inthe court. Most probably they would have been courtdancers. These collections of dresses include exclusivepatterned lower garments and highly developed andwell structured head dresses. The unique forms and theshapes of the dresses portray a range of forms andstyles. The study of dance costumes can be discussedunder four heads. Which are,

1. Interesting picto-graphic representation

2. Some cultural aspects in the Kotte period.

3. Exclusive lower costume styles.

4. South Indian Influences

Discussion

Importance of Kotte period

Kotte was one of the kingdoms to which thelowlands were divided and lasted for 197 years (1400–1597 AD). It received many foreign influences fromSouth India, Portugal, and Chinaii. Parakramabahu VIruled 55 years (1411 - 1466 AD) and the country wasprosperous and united signifying the last gloriousperiod of Sinhalese history with notable achievementsin peace such as trade, commerce, art, architecture, andliterature. The Portuguese arrived in Kotte in the 16th

century and became an influential factor in its politicalhistory. The 197 year reign of the 8 kings of Kotteended with Dharmapala, grandson of BhuvanekabahuVI, who survived for 46 years as a puppet king in thehands of the Portuguese.

Costumes and their cultural impact:

The costumes of the Kotte period were welldeveloped artistically. Some of them stand out asperiod costumes found in history. Their externalappearance is an indication of their cultural origin. De

Silva (1981, 93) has noted that ‘Although South Indianinfluence was very prominent in the Polonnaruwaperiod onwards it was deeper rooted in every aspect ofthe Kotte kingdom than ever before. The upper crustof the Sinhalese society was fast becoming Hindu inoutlook’. Similarly Schroeder (1990, 146) has statedthat the ‘Kotte caskets do not represent an indigenoustradition and were certainly influenced by SouthIndian works.’ These two statements go to show that inthe Kotte period South Indian influence was strong inthe upper strata of society. It is important to note howSouth Indian influence penetrated into this period.

The former kingdom of Gampola was the sourceof Kotte culture. Bhuvanekabahu V (1371 -1408 AD)king of Gampola ruled Kotte as well in the early partof his reign. The Gampola period shows superiority inboth art and architecture during the 70 years of itsexistence under four kings. South Indian influencecomes to a zenith during this period. The bestexamples of South Indian inspired temples wereGadaladeniyaiii and Lankathilaka. Gadaladeniya wasbuilt by South Indian chief architectGaneshwaracharya under the patronage of kingBhuwanekabahu IV (1341-1351 AD) and Lankathilakawas built by the architect Sthapathi Rayar on thedirections of the chief minister Senadhilankaraiv.Senadhilankara was descended from the South IndianMehenawarav clan and, the sculptors who wereemployed at Gadaladeniya and Lankathilaka werebrought from India (Mudiyanse n.d 81). The SouthIndian Vijayanagar Empire was at the peak of itsdevelopment during the Gampola period. Dance andmusic developed in Hindu temples of the time and aredepicted as graceful rhythmic figures in architecturalfriezes. This style was merged with Sinhala tradition(Ragavan 1967, 25). Gadaladeniya and Niyamgampayadancing friezes are similar examples. The Devadasidancing style had emerged during the Vijayanagarperiod as a ritual function in honor of the Hindu gods.Similar to this function a ‘Digge Dancevi’ began at someof the Gampola temples (Mudiyanse n.d 81) withdistinct elements. Coomaraswamy (1956, 26) said thatthese Digge dancers were supposed to be of Tamilorigin. Practitioners of the art would have migratedfrom the Gampola kingdom for the service of the courtof Kotte. Craftsmen of the Gampola period woulddefinitely have brought their artistic tradition to the

Priyanka Virajini Medagedara KarunaratneDress for Dance; Costumes during Kotte Period

Kotte period because, the kingdom had been shiftedalready to Kotte while Gampola still existed as aregional kingdom. Therefore we can assume that theGampola period was the origin of the artistic traditionof Kotte (De Silva 1998, 38).

Significance of the dance costumes:

A costume worn in dance has in it the quality ofRhythm. Even each type of attire has its own rhythm.However these rhythmic characteristics arise from theculture from which they originate. That rhythm is nota haphazard incident but evolved from the bodymovements. These are described in Shilpasastras(Shilpa texts). Every costume comes alive when it isworn on the human body. Skillfully choreographedmovements of the human body can be enhanced bythe delicate wraps and draperies of transparent textiles.However textiles that are two dimensional when wornon the bodies as costumes become three dimensional.

Rhythm is the essence of dance costumes and isalso enhanced by accessories. Form, style, texture,proportion, shape, gravity, length, have been utilizedsuccessfully in these attires to emphasize rhythmicmovements. Rhythm has also been facilitated by thesound of the accessories attached to the dance attire.Anklets and armlets are important accessories in thissense. Extended frills, long chords, layers of pleats,wads of pleats, detailed fringes, and decorated hemlines are also incorporated in the attire. Therefore thestyle of the dance costumes is not to be thought of assomething independent of movement. Movement andgarments are conceived as a single whole.

Interesting picto-graphic representation:

People of groups and organizations of a particularperiod share a common culture. The dress of thesegroups is indicative of the common culture. Howeverthese period dresses tend to conform to establishedrules and traditions linked to formal standards and ahierarchical structure. (Performance dresses could beregarded as a special case of organizational culture.These attires reveal objects of clothing as public andpersonal. It is very clear that these dance costumessignify a desired public image along with anunderstanding of appearance.)

The Kotte period, dance costumes have beenidentified as a well-known form of period attire. Therewere two categories of female dancers which can beidentified by the descriptions of the Sandesha poetry.There were dancers who performed at the king’s courtand dancers who performed at Hindu shrines. TheGira (Parrot), Hamsa (Swan), Kouvl (Cuckoo), Paravi(Pigeon), and Selalihini Sandesha poems of the Kotteperiod have fascinating descriptions of the dresses andadornments of both categories. Among these theKokila (Kovul) and Hamsa Sandeshas give aninteresting account of dance performers at court andthe Paravi and Selalihini Sandesha give an idea aboutthe dresses and adornments of temple dancers. Thesepoems have interesting glimpses of jewelry and thedresses worn. The frills, folds, materials used in dancecostumes can be identified in these poems.

Evidence of some cultural aspects in the Kotte period:

The dance costumes represented in the ivorycaskets of the time also shed some light on danceforms in Kotte. As shown above the literature of thetime shows that dance was a strong culturalphenomenon. It has been a part of cultural ceremoniesin two different contexts, secular and religious. Seculardance can be identified as the dance for aristocraticcircles, and dance for the public. Religious dance wasin honor of the gods. The former dance forms weremeant for the amusement of royalty and the court.Every king had a dance company. Dancers performedwith a considerable professional skill in front ofappreciative audiences at the king’s court. Dr P.H.D.H.De Siva has commentedvii on the presentation ofdancers in the ivory caskets. He assumes that the sixfigures of dancers with impressive head dressesrepresented a ritual which was held at the court afterthe birth of the infant Prince Dharmapala. The figurecarrying the infant Prince is identified as the queenmother, the royal consort of Bhuwanekabahu VII, withleaves of Neam (Kohomba) in the pose of avadanavaor wishing the child long life. Other dancers areperforming ceremonial dances before the infantPrince. However these are unsubstantiatedassumptions. But they cannot be completelydisregarded since it is a dancer who carries the infant.There is no valid evidence to establish that the female

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figure carrying the infant is the consort of KingBuwanekabahu VII. It is also possible that what thecasket shows is a kind of ritualistic performance insidethe court. As for religious dance, temple dancers havealways been honored and rewarded by royalty inappreciation of their skillviii in dancing in honor of agod as it was considered as an act of worship andseveral religious dance performances were held atmany Hindu temples in the Kotte kingdom. Dancingin public was always connected with processions andcarnivals which were held in the capital of thekingdom. All this goes to show that the art of dancehad been very popular in the king’s court of the Kotteperiod.

A range of exclusive lower costume styles:

The dress of the period can be distinguishedbetween the upper garment and the lower garment.The word style means “a distinctive characteristic orway of expression”. Style in clothing describes the linesthat distinguish one form or shape from another(Kaiser 1998, 4). Accordingly style must have certainfeatures. Thus in this period breast cups were used asan upper garment of all these dresses and skirts for thelower garments. There are two ivory caskets in whicheleven female dancers are represented. Casket no 1shows five lower garment styles and casket no 2 showstwo types of lower garments and altogether sevendistinctive styles each with unique features. The lowergarments in both caskets can be classified as follows:

Style no 1 Layered garment Style no 2 Scallopedpatterned, Style no3 Drapery wraps

Style no 4 Folded tights like garment, Style no 5Folded Wrap, Style no 6 folded drapery , Style no7Folded layered garment.

Fig. 9 Style no 7

Upper garments: Breast ornaments

The ivory carvings show four types of impressivebreast cups identifying different styles. Flowery designcups flatter the breast and emphasize the femininebeauty of the nautch girls. Under the breast cups thereare beaded pattern linings visible. This can beidentified as the Sthana Bhushanamau in Natya Sastra.(Nirmala 1995)

Fig. 10 Breast bands

Elsewhere the dancers expose their breasts whichare encircled with pearl necklaces. Besides these theexclusive lower garments, folds and head dresses canbe considered as significant fashion devices in dancecostumes.

Fashion devices: Head dresses

A crown or high makuta was a common headornament of the kings and the gods from the earliesttimes. A god is considered a replication of the king,because the kings’ image was very familiar and themost influential live visual of that period. The artistportrayed an elaborate head ornament for the dancersin the ivory casket emphasizing the significance ofcourt performers in comparison with the dancers thatcan be found for instance on the stone door jamb atBenthara Galapatha (fig.11) temple and theAmbulugala temple( fig. 12)which also belong to theKotte period.

Fig. 3 Style no 1 Fig. 4 style no 2 Fig. 5 Style no 3

Fig. 6 Style no 4 Fig. 7 Style no 5 Fig 8. Style no 6


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Fig. 11Benthara Galapatha

temple

Fig. 12Ambulugalaa

temple

Fig. 13Ivory casket

figure

Kotte is the only period in which impressive andimaginative head dresses are found. The shape of thehead gear was in keeping with the dance costumes.Dancing damsels adorn their tresses in various ways tocomplement their beauty. The dancers enhance theirimages with beautiful head dresses and hair styles. Thehead gear was shaped in such a way as to be inrhythmic balance with the proportions of the face andthe beauty of the countenance. There are six types ofhead dresses and, three types of women’s hair styles,depicted in the two caskets. The secular poetry of theSalalihini( Wijesooriya 2004) gives an interestingglimpse of the aesthetics of head dresses. Verse 73describes the dancers of Sri Jayewardenepura Kottedecking their heads with flowers. Furthermore itdescribed flowers as being braided into the hair.Compared to the Galapatha and Ambulugala headornaments the ivory carver exhibited clever forms anda range of structures. These structures function also asspace fillers.

There are six types of head dresses and threetypes of hair styles depicted in both caskets.

Type 1- A crown of madalam flowers with hangingdecorated strings

Type 2- A crown of madalam flowers with loopingpearl strings

Type 3- A crown of layered flower buds

Type 4 A crown of conical structure with strings tocontrol it

Type 5 - A crown of conical structure without stringsto control it

Type 6 - A three layered crown.

Their forms suggest many ideas. These formsblended with the attire. The Aesthetics of these headdresses can be discussed under four heads, dimension,design, structure, and shape.

Dance costumes and South Indian influences:

Kotte was the period when the South Indianelement was manifested in every aspect of the society.From the king to the royal court officials such aschaplains, court recorders, chief Brahmins, PrimeMinister, were mostly Tamil in origin. Therefore onecan assume that Kotte was greatly influenced by Tamilculture. Anthropologist Bruce Kapferer( 1983,19) hassaid “that people do not proselytize their culture, butthey do proselytize ideology’. There were someelements inspired by South Indian culture which canbe identified in the lower garments. The impressive useof surface texture is very remarkable in skirt no 2 (fig.9). The skirt in figure 21 below is represented in awooden figure (fig. 21) from the Hoisala period(12thcen). The Kotte period skirt was better developedstage of the style and shows more refinedcraftsmanship of skirt.

Fig. 14 Type 1 Fig. 15 Type 2

Fig. 16 Type 3 Fig .17 Type 4 Fig. 18 Type 5

Fig. 19 Type 6

Fig. 20 Kotte dress Fig. 21 South Indiandress, Hoisala

(Huntington 1985, 325)


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The circular arrangement of a head dress is verysimilar to the head dress depicted in fig 25 known asDakshinamurthi (Tamil God). Strings of pearls andornamental ribbons also are shown here at the cornerof the ears. This circular head gear is calledJatamandalam (Sthapathi 2002, 130). The swayingtresses shown here are more similar to those shown infigures 23, 24 Virisadai (Sthapathi 2002, 138) styleswhich are normally shown in the Nataraja dancingform. There are some textured ornamental garlandssuspended from both shoulders. A bunch of pearlstrands freely sway suggesting rhythmic movement.Figure 16 from Virabhadra temple in South India alsoshows some similarities in arranging the semi circularhead gear.

Figure 28 from South India shows similarities inthe arrangement where the crown is adorned with

flowers. This is called Dancing Devi (Postel 1989, 67).When analyzing all these representations it is very clearthat the artist employed in the Kotte period was ableassimilate elements from abroad.

Methodology

The qualitative method was adopted for theresearch .Sequence of observational studies withtemple paintings, wood carvings, sculptures and ivorycarvings at the Munich Treasury in Germany alongwith the continuous literature review with the use ofdocumented manuscripts, records, published researchand inscriptions were used to gather and sort data.Validation was confirmed with cross checking withliterary sources and random interviews. Gadermar’sinterpretation theory applied for synthesis of data.

Results

The literary evidence shows that dressarrangements of court dancers and temple dancers arevery similar. The costumes, the alluring jewelry andother accessories, the pleasing movements of thedancers and the stages of the dances performed alsoshow similarities. The dance costumes are veryimportant because the carver of the casket hasattempted to show that the dress has been prepared forthis performance. Furthermore, the magnificentcreative head dress of the dancer is not described in thefive Sandesa poems of the Kotte period. Perhaps therepresentation of a multitude of flowers in the headdress is intended to suggest their perfume. The artist(ivory carver) no doubt took the familiar dancers of hisday for his creations. However dancers could havebeen the people who performed both in the court aswell as in the shrines. These dancers may have worn aspecial head dress for performance at the king’s court.This head dress may have been very similar to that ofSouth Indian temple dancers. It was most likely thatthe dance scenes shown in the ivory carvings wereperformances at the king’s court and not at the shrine.The results show that the Sri Lankan dance dress wasmade up of a rich set of possible combinations (SouthIndian and Sri Lankan) which entails authenticindividuation of an outfit.

Fig. 22 Kotte headdress Fig 23. Virisidai

Fig. 25 Jatamandalam(Sthapathi 2002, 130)

Fig. 24 Virisidai (Sthapathi 2002, 132)

Fig. 26 South Indian headdress(Michel 1995, 61)

Fig. 27 Kotte headdress Fig. 28 South Indianheaddress

(Postel 1989, 67)


End notes

i Jaffer Amin,& Schwabe Anne Melanie, A group of 16th

century ivory caskets from Ceylon, Appllo, March 1999, p7 The two caskets in the Residenz in Munich are carved withimages which allow us to date them more accurately. Thefirst which depicts scenes relating to the embassy to Lisbonmust have been made after the envoy from Kotte returnedhome in 1543, while the second illustrates political eventsof 1547 – 48 and is likely to have been made soon after.The earlier of the two caskets in Munich is carved on thefront with scenes of the coronation of the effigy ofDharmapala and has rich gold mounts inset withcabochon rubies and sapphires. The front right and leftpanels depict respectively, the crowning by Dom Joao iii ofthe effigy of Dharmapala and the swearing of an oath ofloyalty to the Portuguese crown by the young prince.

ii Paranavithana .S, 1960, UCHC, vol 1, Gampola andRaigama, p 652, The Chinese emperor treated the captives withconsideration , set Alagakkonara and his family free, andordered those from Ceylon to select ‘the most worthymember of the tribe ‘ to be placed on the throne. The choicefell on a personage whose name appears as Yeh- pa- nai-na- in the Chinese account. Accordingly he was sent backto Ceylon, bearing the seals of office and proclaimed kingunder Chinese suzerainty. The Chine chronicle Woo- heo-peen has recorded that the king of Ceylon, obviouslyParakramabahu VI, personally visited the Chinese Court,bearing tribute, in 1416, and 1421. In 1433Parakramabahu Raja sent envoys to China bearing tribute.In 1436 the Sinhalese envoys who had been to China weresent back on board the tribute – junks from Java, anImperial mandate having been issued to that effect. In1445, the Sinhalese envoys to China went in company withthose from Malacca. The last reference to Ceylon in

Chinese chronicles for this period for 1459, king of Ceylonsent envoys with tribute. Ibid, p 665

iii De Silva, K.M , 1981, The History of Sri Lanka, Madras,p 94

iv Mudiyanse, Nadasena, The Art and architecture ofGampola period, Colombo, p 25Gadaladeniya inscription noted, Ganeshwaracharya, whoas the name itself suggests was a south Indian.

v Kulasooriya S, Anada, 1976, JRAS of Great BritainIreland, No 2, p 141 .Senadhilankara is a title and not a personal name. In theSaddharma ratnakaraya cited before, he is describedfurther as Senevirat Mantriyana, that is a minister who isalso commander of the armed forces. Ibid p 142

vi Deraniyagala,P.E.P ,Spolia Zelanica, 27,Part iii, p 305, Digge dance was performed by the Alaththi Amma womenas feudal service either before the King or at the templewhere they danced at the preaching hall known as Dig –Ge. Digge or the Pillared porch was a main feature of thereligious buildings in the Gampola period.

vii .De Silva, P.H.D.H., 1975, A catalogue of Antiquities andother cultural objects from Sri Lanka abroad, Nationalmuseum of Sri Lanka, p 72

viii Ariyawathi, Ajantha ,Narthana Vikashaya, Maharagama,p74During the period of king Parakramabahu VI gifted manyland grants to the Alaththi Ammas dancers who performedDigge dance at the god shrine.there were 24 femalemembers in the group. Manikka Mahage ofSabaragamuwa, manikka Mahage of Egoda Kuttama,Hunuwila manikka mahage , Kandeniya Mahage are stillperformimg the rituals dance to the god Saman at theSaman Devale Rathnapura.

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References

Bruce,Kapferer,1983,Exorism & the Aesthetics ofhealing in Sri Lanka, Bloomington,p19

Coomaraswamy, A. 1956. Medieval Sinhalese Art. 2nd

ed. New York: Pantheon books

Ferguson, Donald.1907. The discovery of Ceylon bythe Portuguese in 1905: Journal of Royal AsiaticSociety Ceylon Branch, vol xix, no.59: 284-400.

Huntington, Susan.L.1985. The art of ancient India.New York: Weather hill.

Jaffer, Amin . & Schwabe, and Anne. Melanie. 1999. Agroup of 16TH century ivory caskets from Ceylon,:Appllo Art the international magazine of theoriental art,1-14.

Jayasuriya M.H.F.2001. Vijayantatantra. Colombo:Godage Book Emporium.

Jayasuriya, Edmund. 2005. Hamsa sandeshaya. trans.Colombo: Central Cultural Fund Publication.

Keiser, B. Susan.1998. The social psychology of clothing.New York: Fairchild publication.

Kulasuriya, S.Anada. 1976. Regional independence andelite change in the politics of 14th century SriLanka: Journal of Royal Asiatic Society of GreatBritain Ireland, no.2:136-154.

Kumari, Nirmala. Y.1995. Social life as reflected insculptures and paintings of the late Vijayanagarperiod. Madras: T.R publications Pvt Ltd.

Michell, George.1995. The new cambridge history ofIndia: architecture & art of South India,Cambridge : Cambridge University press.


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Mudiyanse, Nadasena, n.d, The art and architecture ofGampola period. Colombo: M.D Gunasena.

Pathmanathan, S. 1986/87. Buddhism and Hinduismin Sri Lanka AD 1300- 1600: Kalyani, Universityof Kelaniya, vol V/VI, 78-112 .

Pieris, P.E.1992. 2nd edition, Ceylon the Portuguese era,Vol 1, Dehiwala: Thisara Publishers.

Postel, Michel. 1989. Ear ornaments of ancient India.Bombay: Vakil & sons Ltd.

Ragawan, M.D. 1958. Spolia zelanica: Traditions andchronicles of the dance in Ceylon. Vol 28, 205-216.

Raghavan, M. D. 1967. Sinhala natum. Colombo: M.DGunasena & co ltd.

Schroeder, U, Von. 1990. Buddhist Sculptures of SriLanka. Hong Kong: Visual Dharma Publications.

Senevirathna, John. M. 1915. The Mekhaladhama:Ceylon Antiquary and Literary Register, Vol 1, pII: 129-132.

Silva, K.H. De and Abhayasinghe Wijayasriwardhane.

1953. Sinhala sandesha vicharaya. Colombo:Malcom book shop.

Silva, K.M. De. 1981. A history of Sri Lanka. Delhi:Oxford University Press.

Silva, Nimal. De. 1998. Art and crafts of Kotte,Battaramulla: Cultural Department.

Silva, P.H.D.H. De. 1975. A catalogue of antiquities andother cultural objects from Sri Lanka abroad.Colombo: National museum of Sri Lanka.

Stahapathi, Ganapathi.V. 2002. Indian sculpture andiconography forms and measurements,Ahmendabad: Sri Aurovindo Society.

Stella, Kranrisch. 1960, Indian sculpture. Philadelphia:University of Pennsylvania press.

Wijesooriya, S.2004. Sinhahala sandesha kavya, Kotte:Shabageethwa Sanwardana parshadaya

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Gayathri Ranathunga(1)

Historical View of Foreign Influences onQueens’ and Elite Females’ Dress in the

Kandyan Kingdom of Sri Lanka(1) Fashion Design and Product Development, Department of Textile and Clothing Technology,

Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa, Katubedda, Sri Lanka. (email: [email protected])

Abstract: Foreign influences played a pivotal role inchanging ancient fashion trends of Sri Lanka from timeto time .The influences made huge differences inwomen’s fashions. As a result of foreign influences anew hybrid formation of fashions emerged in women’sdress. This research attempts to find out how differentforeign influences caused exquisites fashions in queens’and elite female dresses in the Kandyan Kingdom ofSri Lanka.

Keywords: Foreign influences, Hybrid fashions,Queens, Elite females, Kandyan Kingdom

Introduction

Kandy was the last Kingdom of Sri Lankanadministration which extended from the 14th centuryAD to 1815.The Kandyan era is the last and the firstera of the early Sri Lankan administration duringwhich both western and eastern foreign influencesspread over the Kingdom within a short period oftime, namely South Indian, western (Portuguese,Dutch, British) and Siamese. These influences causeda huge impact on Kandyan costumes in every aspectlike novel dress items and patterns, silhouette,accessories, headdresses, dress materials, colours andeven the methodology of wearing. The importance ofthis historical era is that for the first time Sri Lankanpeople were exposed to varied foreign clothinginfluences.

Queens and Elite females bore the highest statusin civil society. Plenty of foreign influences werereflected in the costume of the queens and elite females

because they were the first ladies of the country. Royalfemales including the Queen, princesses and theirrelatives of the early 16th Century were converted toChristianity. Most of the early royalties of the KandyanKingdom from their childhood grew up underPortuguese protection. When Karalliyadde Bandara(1552-82) (Father of Queen Dona Catherine), wasexpelled to Mannar by King Mayadunne ofSitawaka(1521-81), Karalliyadde Bandara and his twochildren accepted the Catholic faith expecting politicalprotection from the Portuguese (Lankananda 1996,verses 73,76), they acquired considerable Portuguesecultural influences. The first Dutch admiral Jori VanSpilbergen who visited Kandy in 1602 AD reportedthat the Queen and her children all were dressed in theChristian manner (Paranavithana 1997:32). During thecolonial occupation Queen Dona Catherine was adirect victim of Portuguese political pressures. ThePortuguese kept her under their command as she wasthe rightful heir to the Kandyan throne. Queyros(Perera 1930, 483) expresses how she was cared for andisolated purposely from her own people. It is said that“the general places Portuguese to guard the princessand not allowing the Chingalaz to speak to her”(Perera 1930, 483). Nevertheless, Francisco de Silva,who had brought the princess to the hill noticing herloneliness supplied a Portuguese lady (Catherina deAbreu) and four religious at the order of St. Francisand one from the Society of Jesus for her company(Perera 1930,482). The education imparted to princesand princesses’ knowledge of the manners and customsof royalty in the West was given to her. When shemarried King Vimala Dharma Suriya I and becameQueen of the Kandy she had enormous power, wealth


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and connections and much awareness of followingWestern dress etiquettes.

During the 16th Century the existing SinhaleseBuddhist tradition blended thoroughly with SouthIndian Culture. The elementary reason was, KingNarendra Simha, the last Sinhalese king by blood hadseveral matrimonial alliances with South Indianprincesses ( Dewaraja 1988.38-45). The NayakkarKings’ era marks an important historical phase inSouth Indian dress inspirations. As a result of KingNarendrasingha’s marriage the Nayakkar supremacystarted. King Narenrdasinhga’s wife was a princess of‘Madura’, he subsequently married two other sisters,died without children and nominated the brother ofthe queens to succeed him. This began the Malabardynasty(Dewaraja 1988)

The series of royal marriages with South Indianfamilies had created quite a colony in Kandy ofNayakkar relatives of the king, towards the middle ofthe eighteenth century (Dewaraja 1988,43). HenceRaghavan M D expresses that from 1739 to 1815Kandy had had its own impact on the socio-culturallandscape of the political alliances with South India.This situation opened the door to Tamil social andcultural influences. They brought their own culturalhabits during the same reign. Language, their customsand manners, beliefs and practices as dress and the wayof life closely resembled those of South Indian families(Sastri 1955:302,303,304) .

Siamese textiles gradually became popular amongKandyans. During the Dutch occupational era, theDutch especially brought Siamese textiles. Brocadecould be seen only in the elite and royal family. Thiswas also an imported textile material from Batavia(Indonesea).This textile type was widely known as‘Sangket’ in Indonesia. Somana, brocade (goldthreaded fabric), silk and muslin were luxurioustextiles used only by royalty and high nobles.Indonesian textiles like somana, silk, and brocade werebroadly imported by the Dutch East India Companyduring the 17th Century. Therefore during that time acommon sartorial sense appeared among Sri Lankans.The Dutch maintained well a textile monopoly withinthe country. They strategically made the environmentso as to make the population depend only on theirtextiles. First of all they achieved the autocratic power

for all maritime lands around Sri Lanka. The politicalexpansion of 1665 AD and the increase in the landsand subjects of the Dutch in Ceylon influenced deeplytheir trade policy (Arsarathnam 1956, 159). They couldnow supply all these people with their clothing(Arsarathnam 1956,158).Then they strictly restrictedother private trading activities carried out by Hindusand Muslims and increased discriminatory duties.Therefore Sri Lankans had to be satisfied with thetextiles that were brought by the Dutch. The Dutchidentified the interests of natives and largely suppliedthose textiles (Arsarathnam 1956, 161). Brocade waswidely used in making the Kandyan Queens’ and elitefemales’ jackets.

Native consorts who belonged to elite families ofthe Kandyan Kingdom belonged to high cast families(radala) and they were the next fashion consciousgroup of the Kandyan society. The elites consisted ofhigh ranking officers in the King’s service. Higheradministrative officers were drawn from a few familiesof radala rank. They were descendants of the GampolaKingdom. They were a powerful civil group from itsorigin and commonly known as ‘Bandaravaliya’. Theyhad constant contests between each other for thethrone (Lankananda 1996, Verse 428). Dewaraja (1988,55) suggests that the title of Bandara was borrowedfrom the Tamil pandaram, priest of the vellala cast whoofficiated in Siva Temples in South India andimmigrated to Sri Lanka and then they were absorbedinto the high cast called govikula. Dewaraja (1988, 60)suggests that the radala preserved its status by frequentintermarriages within its own ranks. Robert Knox(Knox 1966, 106) says that thus by each rank marryingconstantly within itself, the descent and dignity thereofwas preserved forever. Dewaraja (1988, 66) suggeststhat birth, office, wealth and military authoritycombined with a specific style of living andconspicuous status symbols made the radala a sociallyprivileged group. They were stuck in the group andhardly escaped from it.

Mante (collar) jacket and lower garment, Shawl(Lansoluwa) with long lower garment, canopy orkerchief (mottakkiliya) and ohoriya (a dress) were themain components of the queens’ and noble womens’attire. These clothing styles resembled Portuguese andSouth Indian dress features. The full attire of a woman

Gayathri RanathungaHistorical View of Foreign Influences on Queens’and Elite Females’ Dress in the KandyanKingdom of Sri Lanka

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was completed with the lower garment, upper garment,necklace, earrings, armlets, anklets, belts, andheadgear.

Materials and Method

The present analysis is explored through anobservational study of actual descriptions made byobservational - participants, historical records, muralsof the period and reviewing ancient literature andresearch papers relevant to the subject. Memoing,coding and concept mapping helped to discoverpatterns of the Kandyan tradition. Reliability of thedata incorporated for the research has been ensured.The pictorial data were cross checked from differentliterary sources such as temple murals, cross checkedwith particular literature and interviews. Many originalsources were used. Temple murals were compared withcontemporary sketches which were produced byforeigners (true observations). Interviews withacademic scholars, artists, inheritances of Kandyanaristocrats enabled to build a strong logical analysis.

Western Dress

Direct Portuguese influences on Queen DonaCatherine (1602-1613 AD) were manifested in herdress habits. She wore a long robe like a draped dresswhich had a front opening. This may be the originalshape of Portuguese elite women’s dresses. These kindsof garments were known as ‘roppilios’ which indicatesa large loose garment in Portuguese (Ferguson 1927,396). Loose sleeves had been gathered at the elbow.The skirt part was voluminous and ‘hand made lacebands’ would have been attached all over making ahorizontal design. Lace works was an exquisitePortuguese influenced item of Sinhalese ladies dressduring the 16th century. Perera S.G (1922:45,60) givessome Portuguese words in connection with lacemaking. Biralu (bobbin), Bikkuva( in dress- makingthe Sinhalese use Bikkuva for a pattern cut to a point.Lace makers apply it to points in lace. A belt was wornat the waist. The method of wearing would have beeneasy and simple. The Queen tied her hair at the top asa knot. She might have arranged her hair in Portuguesefashion.

Figure 1 Queen Dona Catherine – (R.K. de. Silva. Beumer W.G.M,

Illustrations and views of Dutch Ceylon, SerendipPublications, London, p.16)

mante jacket (jacket with a collarpart) with long lower garment.

mante jacket (jacket with a collar part) with along lower garment is the most depicted dress in wallpaintings. Ananda Coomaraswamy (1956:34)in his‘Medieval Sinhalese Art’ describes this fashion as, ‘Thedress of women of high cast consisted of a hette withmante like that of a man, and a cloth (helaya) roundthe lions arranged in various ways’. The dress isdepicted in many temple paintings as atHanguranketha, Gangarama, Medawala andDegaldoruwa temple paintings. In the popular sceneryof attending the Buddha by a retinue of royal ladiesand on that occasion all noble females wore a shortsleeved mante jacket and a long lower garment.

These dress styles belonged to local queens whodid not follow western dress styles. The queens whowere descended from the Gampola Kingdom andfollowed the Gampola tradition might not havecovered the upper part of the body. Therefore, it is clearthat the jacket was introduced in later periods. Withthe arrival of queen Dona Catherine the rest of thelocal queens tended to change them. It is quite visiblethrough pictorial evidences that Sinhalese queens didnot follow the same dress styles as Dona Catherine, buttook some elements like mante, jacket, hair pin andlace.

Mante jacket was a newly introduced sartorialitem for the local queens’ costume as mentioned


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earlier. It shows the direct influences of Portuguesefashion. Coomaraswamy (1905,20) also states that thefemale jacket shows either Portuguese or Dutchinfluences. Loose waist coat type mante jacket, tight,body fitted, high mandarin collar jacket, pleated jacketwith a tail were different styles of jackets. Short sleevesor long sleeves would have been added according tothe wearer’s desire as depicted in temple paintings.

The lower garment which was meant to be wornwith mante jacket was long up, to the ankle. The lowergarment consisted of two pieces of cloths; each wasarranged into different levels and that arrangementemphasised the body contour. The whole arrangementseemed as a series of fabrics wrapped around theposterior and the calves were made to look like lotusbuds just before opening.

The lower garment style shows positive traces ofSouth Indian influences. The lower garmentarrangement is similar to 17th century Nayak queens’and noble women’s costumes. Indian style of lowergarment is called the sakaccha style which reachesdown to the ankles. The goddesses and queens woretheir lower garment in the same pattern. In thisgarment the front was arranged in a decorative stylewith fan- shaped ends (Kumari 1995,34).

At first the lowest layer might have been worn bywrapping it around the waist .Then the second onehangs from the back up to the ankle and in the frontthe lower end rises upward and is tucked at the hip.The shortest one which goes around the back again isalso tucked at the hip at the front side. The dress wastightened round the waist by a belt. Finally two fallsincluding deep and short falls were hanging from thefront. These falls would have been worn separately atthe end of the dressing. In many paintings at a glanceit is seen as a pleated fall, obviously the artist must havedepicted it with subtle coloured stripes. Finally, theabdominal part of each woman is seen as very bulky asseveral wads of fabric are gathered at the hip.

Figure 2

A royal lady (Davy J, 1821, An Account of the Interior ofCeylon and of Its Inhabitants, London: Longman,p.124-125)

Canopy or Kerchief

Canopy or Kerchief traditionally calledmottakkiliya was a newly introduced dress item fromSouth Indian dress styles during the Kandyan reign.The whole body was fully covered by mottakkiliyaaccording to social laws or religious purposes.Mottakkiliya was definitely a queens’ dress codebecause in a wooden panel, where the king and queenare painted, the queen wears a mottakkiliya. This mighthave come directly from South Indian Nayak queens’dress etiquettes. It seems that the dress habits ofNayaks’ were limited only to themselves. In theDegaldoruwa murals two categories of queens can beidentified by their costumes. Some noble women weredepicted with mottakkiliya and some with mante jacketand long lower garment. However, in those paintingsit is clearly evident that the women who woremottakkiliya were respected and treated honorably bythe royal family and noble women. Hence it can besuggested that mottakkiliya might have been practisedas a royal queens’ dress for some time. This costumemight have been arranged by a long lower cloth, thehood part being arranged by one edge of the lowergarment being draped over the head.

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Figure 3 Elite Females with Mottakkiliya. Murals of Degaldoruwa

Lansoluwa

Another popular dress style was Lansoluwawhich was often thrown over the shoulder. Lansoluwawas a kind of long shawl worn by Sinhalese women fora long period of time. It was normally worn with asimply wrapped cloth (redda) for the lower part.However during the kandyan reign, lansoluwa hadbeen used to cover the women’s head. It seems as amottakkiliya of South Indian queens. However, thedress is different from the South Indian queen’smottakkiliya. South Indian queens are always depictedwith well covered bodies. Lansoluwa had not beenused to cover the upper body properly as always ithardly covered the upper body. This etiquette is similarto early Sinhalese women’s dress practice. It would havebeen worn as a fashionable item as it was alwaysadorned with beautiful traditional designs withmultiple colours. These women are always depictedwith the king. Therefore these women definitelyresemble local queens. The style of covering the headwith lansoluwa would have been adapted to the localqueens’ dress styles during the Kandyan reign.Therefore it is possible to assume that local queensmight have made an effort to follow the South Indianqueen’s mottakkiliya as foreign queens were consideredsuperior to local queens.

Figure 4Queen with Lansoluwa. Murals of Hindagala

Ohoriya

Ohoriya was introduced, modified andcompleted during the period with the help of foreigninfluences. Ananda Coomaraswamy (1956,34) claimsthat ‘ohoriya is no doubt of Tamil origin’. The evolutionof the ohoriya can be narrated with the support oftemple paintings. Ananda Coomaraswamy (1956,34)suggests that ohoriya is derived from the long lowergarment. This dress code is shown in Hindagala andMalaagammana temple murals where the oldest formof ohoriya is shown. There women were depictedwithout the jacket .According to these paintings it canbe suggested that the ohori pota (the long fold whichflows over one shoulder) had been used to cover theupper body earlier. Later ohoriya was completed witha body fitted jacket. Ohoriya with jacket is an amazingblend of Eastern and Western flavor. Ohoriya isarranged from one end of the lower garment and thatpart is thrown over one shoulder.

Figure 5The methodology of wearing ohoriya ( Ambrose Kay, 1980,Classical Dances and Costumes of India, New Delhi: OrientalBooks Reprint Corporation, p.92).

Since the 18th century Ohoriya has continued asthe basic garment among elite females. It is thenational costume of Sinhalese women.



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Figure 6 Ladies of Kandy Coomaraswamy A; 1959, MeadivalSinhalese Art, National Museum Colombo, II plate.

The last queen of the Kandyan kingdom VenkataRangamal would have worn a more developed versionof South Indian dress styles. According to her portraitshe seems to have worn a body fitted jacket withsleeves flowing to the elbows. She wore a long lowergarment and she covered her shoulders with a shawl.The shawl seems to be made of brocade or satin fabric.A jacket of the queen Venkata Rangamal has beenconserved by the National Museum of Colombo.Vangeyzel (2008:242) in her careful observation statesthat the jacket was made of an imported fabric. Thefabric is of silk material with a floral pattern of red,dark blue and golden yellow and it was hand woven.

Figure 7Queen Venkata Rangamal Andreas,N.,1916,Portrait of a

Kandyan Queen, Journal of Royal Asiatic Society (C. B)N.&Q.,Vol XXIV,part VI,n.i,xcv-c,p,xcv.

Jewellery Coomaraswamy (1956.211) indicates a range of

jewellery worn by Kandyan females like ear-rings,chains, pendants, girdles, bracelets and finger rings.Kandyan women possessed a range of jewellery.

Garlands and large pendants were essentially worn byqueens and elite females. Coomaraswamy suggests thatin the case of Kandyan chains, they have names offlowers or seeds such as pol-mal-malaya (coconut-flower –necklace), aralu-malaya (aralu-seed- necklace)which are highly characteristic of Indian art.Coomaraswamy remarks that these names arereminiscent of the garlands of real flowers which playsuch an important part in Indian festivals. Kumari,N.Y(1995.50) remarks that ‘apart from gold, pearl,diamond and gem neck-ornaments, there are necklacesmade of seeds, beads, flowers, cotton and other humblematerials like guriginja seeds and garlands of pikiliflowers. It can be suggested that Indian jewelleryconcepts would have influenced Sinhalese jewelleryalso.

Western influences are clearly evident in namesand designs of Kandyan jewellery. Alpentiya (pin),Arungole (ear-ring), Avana (Fan),Boralikkama (medal),Ganchuva (hook), Gesbara ( waist-belt) Such wordsmight have entered the native culture with designelements from the Portuguese. Da Silva Cosme(1990.499) states that the Portuguese bracelet/ bracalhas left its traces in the Sinhala word barsal and alsohe states that karabu for ear-ornament is derived fromcravo which gives the meaning of small nail and alsospice. Coomaraswamy suggests that Jewellery items ofcombs, brooches and rings show low-country Dutchinfluences. Coomaraswamy also labels brooches,buttons and ear-rings as Indo-Portuguese jewelleries.

Figure 8South Indian design influenced jewellery

(Coomaraswamy A; 1956, ‘Medieval Sinhalese Art’,National Museum Colombo,plate XXIII.)

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Conclusion

Different clothing habits would have beenpopular among queens and noble women as differentforeign influences were exerted over the socialorganization of the Kandyan Kingdom. The majorityof influences came from South India because many ofthe queens were fetched from South India. Becausethey were honorably treated and considered as rightfulheirs to the queenship, gradually their fashion becamepopular among Singhalese high noble women. Thenative queens (yakada doli) and other elite femalesalways tried different fashions to make a unique nativecharacter by observing the superior queens.

It is revealed that the noble women’s attires showhybrid formation of western and South Indian andSinhalese traditional sartorial features. They combineddifferent foreign dress items together and made theirown one like the full costume of ohoriya. The way ofassimilating foreign influences to Sri Lankan elitefemale dress was special to Sri Lankan culture. All theforeign influences were filtered and converted inaccordance with their own culture. Though they wereinspired by the current trends they arranged themaccording to their own fashion consciousness.

References

Arasaratnam, S. 1958. Dutch Power in Ceylon 1658-1687. The Netherlands Institute for InternationalCultural Relations.

Coomaraswamy, A. 1959 .Meadival Sinhalese Art.Published by the National Museum. Sri Lanka.

Coomaraswamy, A. 1905. Borrowed Plums, (SomeKandyan crafts, A lecture given in the Town Hall,Kandy, November, 14, 1904), Author: at theIndustrial School.

da Silva, Cosme. O.M.1990. Fidalgos in the Kingdom ofKotte 1505-1656. Colombo: Harwoods.

Dewaraja, L. S. 1988. (Second edit.), The KandyanKingdom of Sri Lanka 1707-1782, Pannipitiya:Stamford Lake (Pvt) Ltd.

Ferguson, D. 1907. The Discovery of Ceylon by thePortuguese in 1506. Journal of Royal AsiaticSociety (C. B).vol. XIX. no. 59.

Knox, R. 1966. Historical Relation of Ceylon. Colombo:Tissara Prakasakayo.

Kumari, N.Y. 1995.Social life as Reflected in Sculpturesand Paintings of late Vijayanagara period (AD1500-1650)(with special reference to Andra), T.R.Publications Pvt, Ltd, PMG Complex, II floor, 57.South Usman Road, T Nagar, Madras.

Lankananda, L. 1996 .Mandarampurapuwatha.Department of Cultural Affairs.

Paranavitana, K.D. trans. 1997. Journal Of Spilbergen:the first dutch envoy to ceylon 1602. Published bythe Author.

Perera S. G.1922, Portuguese influence on SinhalaSpeech, The Ceylon Antiquary and LiteratureRegister, Vol. VIII, part.I, July, p.45-60.

Perera, S.G. 1930. (trns.) Queyros; Father FernaoDe,TheTemporal and Spiritual Conquest of Ceylon. NewDelhi: J. Jettey for Asian Educational Services.Volume. II, Book 3-4.

Raghavan M D; Tamil Culture in Ceylon, A GeneralIntroduction, Kalai Nilayam, 19 MilagiriyaAvenue, Colombo 4, p.54

Shasthri, N.K.A. 1955. The History of South India: fromPre Historic time to the fall of Vijayanagar.Geoffrey Cumberlege. Oxford University Press.

Vangeyzel, G.E. 2008.Traditional Textiles, In theColombo National Museum, Published byNational Museum Colombo.


Documents

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