Wearing Madras
Checked clothing has been fashionable in South India for hundreds of years. Figures dressed in checks can be found in South Indian art dating as far back as the 7th century, and South Indian texts dating back to the early 12th century describe patterns made up of lines of varying widths and colours.
Terms for checked patterns vary widely across South India's languages and regions, and change depending on the style of the pattern and the form of the garment. Checked clothing ranges from rough cottons to extremely rich garments of silk and gold, and are worn by all genders and classes. Handkerchiefs were worn as headwraps, shoulder and waist cloths, alongside checked cotton skirt cloths, saris, and other forms of wrapped and tailored dress.
This mural is one of many painted inside a South Indian temple in the mid-1500s. The figures in these murals are depicted wearing brightly coloured checked saris, lungis (skirt cloths), and other forms of check-patterned dress.
Related Database Records
- Entry no. 42094: TBA
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