Stanapatta

Indian dancer depicted with example of stanapatta worn across chest.

Goddess Durga dipicted with stanapatta chest-band, 8th century.

Stanapatta (Stanmasuka) was a loose wrap cloth for the upper body. It was a chest band used in ancient India. It was a simple upper garment of the females during the ancient time similar to the strophium or mamillare used by the Roman women. Stanapatta was a part of Poshaka (the women's attire). Kālidāsa mentions kurpasika, another form of breastband that is synonymized with uttarasanga and stanapatta by him. Innerwears for lower parts were called nivi or nivi bandha.^[1][2] The Skandamata sculpture of Malhar depicts the use of stanapatta and kanchuki in ancient times.^[3] Similar surviving garment wrapped around the chest by women is called "Risha" in Tripura.^[4]

Style

The garment was used by women to cover the breasts. It was also decorated with embellishments and worn with many successor clothes of uttariya, for instance, Sari. Stanapatta changed with the time; few evolved forms are choli or blouse.^[5][6]

See also

• Uttariya
• Antariya
• Adivasah

References

1. Mahapatra, N. N. (2016). Sarees of India. Woodhead Publishing India PVT. Limited. p. 3. ISBN 978-93-85059-69-8.
2. Nair, Rukmini Bhaya; deSouza, Peter Ronald (2020-02-20). Keywords for India: A Conceptual Lexicon for the 21st Century. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-350-03925-4.
3. Prachya Pratibha. Birla Institute of Art and Music. 1978. p. 121.
4. K.G, Pramod Kumar (24 May 2024). "Woven by peasants and princesses | Aratrik Dev Varman on Tripura's risha". The Hindu.
5. Padma, Sree (1991). Costume, Coiffure, and Ornaments in the Temple Sculpture of Northern Andhra. Agam Kala Prakashan. p. 118. ISBN 978-99911-22-35-9.
6. "The history of sari: The nine yard wonder - Times of India". The Times of India. 24 July 2019. Retrieved 2021-01-21.