Anuttariya (uttarīya) is a loose piece of upper bodyclothing with its origins inancient 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.[1][2][3][4] An uttariya is similar toa veil, a long scarf andshawl.[5] TheVedas describe the garment to comprise various loose cloths worn for upper body such asupavasana,parayanahana andadhivasa,varhatika andvarnaka,uttarsanghasamvyana.[5]
The worduttarīya is fromSanskrit. It is a compound word, consisting of the wordsuttara (उत्तर) and suffixīya (ईय).[6]
The uttariya was a garment for upper body inVedic period (1500 and 500 BCE).[5] 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 calledparidhana which was pleated in front and used to tie with a belt calledmekhala and an upper garment called the uttariya (covered like a shawl) which they used to remove during summers. "Orthodox males and females usually wore theuttariya by throwing it over the left shoulder only, in the style calledupavita".[7] There was another garment calledpravara 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 aloincloth only while the wealthy would wear it extending to the feet as a sign of prestige.
TheMahabharata (compiled between 4th BC 4th CE) refers the use of the uttariya as a garment.[8][9][10] The colors of the uttariya were associated with distinctvarna in society then. ThePandavas were observed wearing white.[8]
Women were using two uttariya sometimes, viz. for covering the chest, when a woman usedsatanmasuska orSattanapatta (also known askurpsika orkanchuki) to cover her breasts. As per mention in BuddhistPali literature during the 6th century BC,Sariśāṭikā (Sanskrit:शाटिका) is an evolved form of combining Sattanapatta, the uttariya and theantariya.[1][2][3][11][12][13]
It was usually made of finecotton orsilk, but can be suggested also with finehide.
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.[14]
Priests in Hindu temples adorn themurti of a temple's deity with an uttariya, employed for the upper body, while the deity's lower body is dressed with a tadapa.[15][16]
Laymen of the Buddhist community would typically be dressed with the antariya, accompanied by an uttariya and a largerchadder, all colored in saffron.
The uttariya is still worn throughoutIndian subcontinent and is traditionally worn overkurta,achkan, or asherwani. It was usually used in combination with theantariya, an ancient version of thedhoti, held with a sash or a cummerbund. The uttariya is also used as a dupatta, turban, by both men and women.
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