saree - the ultimate in feminity!

[Guest guest]

hello folks,

 

i was just looking at db's updates on home page - i specially liked

the way sree mahalakshmi has draped her saree in the very first

picture- it is very 'alluring' and attractive... this is called

the 'iyengar kattu' (or mode of draping the sare by sri

vaishnavites) and the 'iyer' version ( worn by shaivites) is

different where there is exposure of 'legs'...

 

did you know that there are several different ways of draping the

saree ? in fact, our db has mentioned in one of the articles on

the 'kaveri' river how the coorgi women draped their saree by tucking

it in the back so the saree will not get 'wet' while standing in the

river.... in fsact. a sexier version of draping the saree! smiles...

 

I CAME ACROSS THIS ARTICLE BY NITIN KUMAR ON THE SAREE in

http://www.exoticindia.com

 

hERE ARE SOME EXCERPTS...

 

charming folktale explains the origin of the Sari as follows:

 

"The Sari, it is said, was born on the loom of a fanciful weaver. He

dreamt of Woman. The shimmer of her tears. The drape of her tumbling

hair. The colors of her many moods. The softness of her touch. All

these he wove together. He couldn't stop. He wove for many yards. And

when he was done, the story goes, he sat back and smiled and smiled

and smiled".

 

ALSO THERE ARE TWO POEMS WRITTEN BY MODERN POETESSES...

 

one criticizes the sareee thus...

 

BURN THIS SARI

 

Burn this sari.

When I see this end

Of the sari on my shoulder..

I think of chastity a log

Hung from my neck.

 

It does not let me stand up straight

It presses my chest with its hands

bows me down,

teaches me shame

and whirls around me

a certain bird like confusion

 

It hypnotizes me telling You

You are a woman

Makes me forget I am human

It covers both my shoulders

with its own hands and flutters

announcing "See, see, this woman, she is chaste"

 

I feel like screaming "No, No I am not"

But my throat does not open

I am defeated by this sari

It throws me down like a whirl wind.

 

It is blame generations have laid on me.

The unseen patriarchal hand

This sari is the white shroud on the corpse

That is me in this culture of loot and plunder

 

If I've to stop being the walking dead

I've to burn this sari first

Just burn this sari.

 

- Jayaprabha

 

But the defenders of the sari are quick to add their rejoinder:

 

SAVE THIS SARI

 

Oh my beautiful sari

I love you much to tell you free

You enlighten the feminism in me

For which I should thank you much

For I am a woman first

The birth I consider the best.

 

When I see this end of the sari

I think of chastity enhanced by its

Long free flow.

 

It helps me cover my head from sun

It solaces me by wiping my tears

It straightens me to stand among the mass

 

And because of that it stands for generations.

 

If I've to stop being the walking dead

First accept womanhood is superior

Why to burn a sari?

Burn your slavery thoughts!

I need not change into a man

To become superior

And thus declaring him superior.

 

- S. Santha Devi.

 

the author notes...

 

Noted psychologist Carl Jung has waxed lyrical about the elegance of

the sari thus:

 

"It would be a loss to the whole world if the Indian woman should

cease to wear her native costume. India is practically the only

civilized country where one can see on living models how woman can

and should dress".

 

If you like to read the full article please go to the website and

look under articles onf the month (march 2002 on the saree)

 

folks, if you want to know how to drape the saree , visit this

website..

 

www.massala.com/sari.htm

 

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in india , specially in south india, this is an occasion on which

everyone thrives- deepavali season... all the famous showrooms

display the best of 'saree' selections and jewellery !!! in fact, now

you can buy them on the web also ... the music season will start soon

in madras ... and ten all the ladies will proudly display their

latest deepavali collection!

 

well, although i do not wear 'sarees' that often anymore as it is

not a 'practcal' and convenient attire specially during the winter

season in washington dc... i still enjoy collecting them and wearing

them to the 'temple' ... this year, i got a beautiful lavndar

kanchipuram saree with gold 'hamsa' (swan) motifs and gold palloo -

very exquisite... but did you know that sree lakshmi only stays in

that house where 'money' is spent and not 'hoarded'.... also, when

you spend 'money' you are putting 'bread' on somebody else's table!!!

good for the economy also!!! more consumer spending means the economy

is looking up!!!

 

love to all!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Guest guest]

I love the sari, and I love these selections expressing the equally

valid but very different reactions to this particularly female form

of dress. I really like the dialog that it presents and how it

brings to mind that an experience can be held as joy for one woman

and opression for another. There are no easy answers.

 

For me there is nothing more feminine than a naked woman in the

moonlight, unless it is several naked women standing in the

moonlight, gathered to honor the Goddess.

 

We need no clothes, nor any eyes to evaluate us. We need not even

see ourselves to know: we are women.

 

Blessings,

 

prainbow

[Guest guest]

Greetings Prainbow!

 

you make a 'valid' point.... yes, the 'divine female' is worshippable

no matter if she is fully clothed or stark naked....

 

nudity is only a state of mind... i may wear a six yards saree but a

man may still strip me naked with his lustful eyes -- to shri

ramkrishna paramahamsa, a woman will always appear as 'mother' ...

swami vivekananda will address a woman as 'sister' .... an elderly

gentleman may regard all women as his daughter and a lecherous man

may regard all women as 'sex' objects!!! it is all in the eyes of the

beholder....

 

i would like to draw your attention to a passage in george orwell's

famous book 1984...

 

"The girl with dark hair was coming towards him across the field.

With what seemed a single movement she tore off her clothes and flung

them disdainfully aside. Her body was white and smooth, but it

aroused no desire in him, indeed he barely looked at it. What

overwhelmed him in that instant was admiration for the gesture with

which she had thrown her clothes aside. With all its grace and

carelessness it seemed to annihilate a whole [oppressive] culture, a

whole system of thought."

 

prainbow, i am proud to say that hinduism is one religion

where 'nudity' is not condemned - if you look at the idol of lord

shiva, the ascetic, he wears only a tiger skin as a loin cloth ....

and all the hindu goddesses look very divine in their 'natural' state-

with beautiful ornaments covering their 'bare' essentials.... in

fact, the shiva linga itself represents the male-female organs... in

the temple of kamakaya, one of the shakti-peeths in assam, india,

the 'yoni' is worshipped ....

 

in tantra, the human body is considered very sacred and is worshipeed

as a temple housing the god/ess...

 

in all tribal societies, nudity is considered very natural - the

adivasis as they are called -

 

in the recent kumbhamela that was held in india, a lot of 'naga'

sadhus drew worldwide media attention when they were roaming naked

in the streets of haridwar with just a kamandal in one hand and

a cell phone in the other....

 

the digambara sanyasis of the jain religion to this date roam about

naked - wearing only sky as an ornament...

 

in all the temples of khajuraho in central india, , one can see the

sculptures of all nude female godessese and male gods engazed in

copulation; same is true of konark in orissa state.... here , what

was being celebrated was not 'eroticism' but creation !!!!!

 

in srimad bhagvatam, there is a scene in which lord krishna is shown

hiding all the gopis clothes behind a tree when the gopis go to the

river for bathing.... now, to a rasika of krishna prema - this is

not at all surprising .. for a rasika simply enjoys all of lord's

leela without questioning - but a JNANI EXPLAINS IT THUS... WELL,

LORD KRISHNA REPRESENTS THE PARAMATMA (SUPREME SOUL) AND THE GOPIS

REPRESENT THE JIVATMA (THE INDIVIDUAL SOUL) and the message lord

krishna is conveying to gopis is - ' approach me 'naked' like a child

baring your soul ' - this is the deep meaning....

 

there is a similar passage in the bible...

 

jesus's disciples asked, 'When will you become revealed to us and

when shall we see you?' Jesus answered, 'When you disrobe without

being ashamed and take up your garments and place them under your

feet like little children and tread on them, then will you see the

son of the Living One, and you will not be afraid.'"

- From the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas

 

prainbow ! only in paganism and hinduism , 'divine' female is

worshipped in all her glory (naked or otherwise...) you are

absolutely right on that score...

 

thank you.

 

ps - sister usha may be able to throw more light on this...

 

"For me there is nothing more feminine than a naked woman in the

moonlight, unless it is several naked women standing in the

moonlight, gathered to honor the Goddess.

 

We need no clothes, nor any eyes to evaluate us. We need not even

see ourselves to know: we are women."

[Guest guest]

Adi,

 

Even before your response I was reminded of a passage from a

favorite book of mine. So very many perspectives on devotion!

>From "Women in Praise of the Sacred" edited by Jane Hirschfield

Mahadeviyakka (12th c.)

Mahadeviyakka was born in the Indian village of Udatadi, and wrote

in the Kannada dialect. A disciple of Shiva and the path of Oneness

from the age of ten, she was forcibly married to the local ruler - a

Jain - but left him to take up again the life of an ecstatic devoted

only to Shiva, who she addresses in her poems as her Whit Jasmine

Lord and only truly satisfactory lover. Like other bhakti poets in

this collection, she gave up conventional dress along with

conventional life, and traveled the countryside alone. Stories say

that when she died in her twenties she disappeared into a burst of

light.

 

(On Her Decision to Stop Wearing Clothes)

 

Coins in the hand

Can be stolen,

But who can rob this body

Of its own treasure?

 

The last thread of clothing

Can be stripped away,

But who can peel off Emptiness,

That nakedness covering all?

 

Fools, while I dress

In the Jasmine Lord's morning light,

I cannot be shamed -

What would you have me hide under silk

And the glitter of jewels?

 

*******

 

Namaste,

 

prainbow

[Guest guest]

yes, my own 'rainbow'!

 

thanx for this timely post- i wrote on akka mahadevi in the shakti

sadhana club --- i am familiar with the poems of this great karnataka

saint... land indeed it is nice you decided to share with us poems

from the pen of this great woman saint of karnataka...

 

Akkamahadevi (12th century) was a Virashaivawoman saint who lived in

the south indian state of Karnataka, India. . Once, when a certain

king tried to molest her, she suddenlythrew away all her clothes

and stepped out into the streets nude. This act of

purity so stunned the king that he repented of his

foolish lust.

 

Akkamahadevi wandered about as a naked ascetic, clad only in her long

hair, enduring the taunts of the men and teaching an example of

purity and devotion to God Shiva.

 

"Akka" (or "yakka" if attached at the end) means "respected elder

sister."

 

LEGEND says that although she wished to remain an

unmarried devotee of Shiva, her family insisted she marry

the ruler of her land. Asserting that Shiva, whom she

called Cenna Mallikarjuna (Lord white as jasmine), was

her only lover and husband, she ran away FROM HOME

and joined a community of Virasaivas .

 

Akka Mahadevi's poems are called vacanas (literally, "sayings"),

free verse lyrics written in the Kannada language.

 

here is a sample...

 

Get back, I hate you!

Don't hold my sari, you fool!

A she-buffalo is worried of its life,

And the butcher, of its killing!

The pious think of virtues,

And the wicked, of vices;

I am worried of my soul,

And you, of lust....

Fie on this body!

Why do you damn yourself

In love of it--this pot of excrement,

The vessel of urine, the frame of bones,

This stench of purulence!

Think of Lord Shiva,<br>You fool!

 

another one...

 

You can confiscate money in hands;

Can you confiscate the body's glory?

Or peel away every strip you wear

But can you peel the Nothing, the Nakedness

that covers and veils?

To the shameless girl

Wearing the white Jasmine,

Lord's light of morning

You fool,>Where is the need for cover and jewel?

 

well,gloria steinham and other feminists burned their bras in

public in the 60s as an expression of rebellion against

male-defined norms of female beauty.

Mahadevi Akka "challenged social norms and discarded traditional

notions of femininity in ways explosive enough to shock both men and

women of her time."

 

akka shocked the entire society of her time with her ideas and with

her sensuous poems. Today she is a presiding deity and an icon to

many women in india.

 

what does "shedding of clothes" or "burning the bras" mean? -

metaphorically and literally speaking ? Mahadevi akka had the

courage we do not have., the shedding of clothes and

wandering around naked in search of Lord Shiva

(Chennamallikarjuna in Kannada) was a mark of protest against the

sexual claims made on her body by the lechrous local

king !akkamadevi, meerabai and lallaleshweri-

all women saints who had the courage of their

convictions and who embraced GOD as their beloved- in a

mystical union !

 

also, lalleshweri devi (the kashmiri saivite saint) was criticzed

by her mother-in-law for being so fat and ugly - this lady left her

house and took refuge under a guru! she also roamed about naked

wearing her long hair as a covering!!! she was a lady godiva but for

different reasons! she was not fighting for 'taxes' but for freedom

of the soul!!! she later on became a sufi believer!!

 

prainbow, i am really proud of you!! i am glad you are reading all

these great books ; not only that you are sharing them here with all

of us!!

 

the best way to approach god/ess is in the shaja bhava- like that of

an innocent child, naked ! in fact, in tantra, when disciples get

initiated, they approach the guru totally naked - discarding all

outer garments!!

 

much love to you and your devotion to the divine feminine!!!