Ghoonghat

The word ghoongat, ghunghat or ghunghta is derived from Avagunthana (Sanskrit: अवगुण्ठन) meaning veil, hiding and cloak and Oguntheti (Pali: ओगुन्थेति) to cover, veil over and hide.[5][6]

Woman in ghoonghat; Rajput miniature painting from Bundi, Rajasthan, India.

The ghoongat, ghunghat or ghunghta veil evolved from ancient Avagunthana in (Sanskrit: अवगुण्ठन) veil, hiding and cloak.[7] Early Sanskrit literature has a wide vocabulary of terms for the veils used by women, such as avagunthana meaning cloak-veil, uttariya meaning shoulder-veil, adhikantha pata meaning neck-veil, and sirovas-tra meaning head-veil.[8][9]

Gupta-period depiction of women in veiling, 320 CE–550 CE, Uttar Pradesh, India.

In the post-Gupta period, Śūdraka, the author of Mṛcchakatika set in the fifth century AD, mentions that some females wore a thin head-veil (avagunthana) to conceal and beautify their coiffures. This hair-net of various colors was called as jālaka and it was used to keep the hair from being ruffled by breezes. However, this female hair-dress was not used by women every day and at every time. It was worn on special occasions like marriage or at the time of going out. Śūdraka notes that a married woman was expected to put on a veil while moving in the public. This may indicate that it was not necessary for unmarried females to put on a veil.[10]

In Mṛcchakatika, courtesan Vasantasena's mother, having received ornaments for her daughter from a wealthy suitor to keep her as his mistress, she sends Vasantasena with her maid, asks her to go in the carriage bedecked with ornaments and to put on her avagunthana veil. This instruction is taken to signify that a courtesan who has accepted a suitor, had to use a veil in public similar to married women.[11] At the end of the play when Vasanthasena is legally wedded, she receives the title "Vadhūśabda" meaning "title of a bride" simultaneously with the veil "vasantasenām avagunthya" meaning "a token of honorable marriage".[12] In the same literature, courtesans' maid servant Madanika marries her lover Sarvilaka, a thief who changes his ways. Her new husband says to her that she has achieved what is difficult to acquire: "Vadhūśabda avagunthanam" meaning "the title and veil of a bride".[13]

In the Pratimānātaka, a play by Bhāsa (3 - 4 CE) describes in context of the Avagunthana cloak-veil that "ladies may be seen without any blame [for the parties concerned] in a religious session, in marriage festivities, during a calamity and in a forest".[14] The same sentiment is more generically expressed in Nāgānanda and Priyadarśikā by Harsha, where maidens were expected to wear no veil; it was donned only after the marriage.[15] Later, the veil was referred to by the same term, avagunthana, in Śiśupālavadha and the Dashakumaracharita.[16] According to commentator Sankara, the ladies of Sthanvisvara used to go about covering their faces with a veil.[17]

Bride in ghoonghat during Muh Dikhai ceremony in Rajasthan, India.

In Buddhist Mahayana literature, Lalitavistara Sūtra written in the 3rd century CE, young bride Yasodharā objected to observe veiling (oguntheti/oguṇthikā) in front of respected elders. This was taken to be a sign of immodesty and willfulness, as people criticized her and gossiped.[18] When she became aware of this, Yasodharā came before the assembled court and defended herself in a long statement: "Those whose thoughts have no cover, no shame or decorum or any virtue, those who gossip, may cover themselves with a thousand garments, yet they walk the earth naked. But those who veil their minds, control their senses, and have no thought for any other except their husband, why should they veil their faces?" Yasodharā's parents-in-law were delighted with their daughter-in-law's proud statement and gave her two white garments covered with jewels.[19]

The Lalitavistara Sūtra reflects changing times around the 3rd century CE and Buddhists' attempt to counter this growing practice, as there is no mention of this entire incident in early Buddhist Theravada literature.[20][21]

In Valmiki's Ramayana dated between the 5th century BCE to the first century BCE, Prince Rama asks his wife Sita to unveil herself so that the gathered citizens of Ayodhya can take a look at them before they go in exile to the forest; there is no mention of Sita veiling herself again after this incident.[22] At the end of the epic, hearing the news of Ravana's death, his queens giving up to lamentations rush outside without their Avagunthana, in which chief queen Mandodari surrounding his corpse says "Why do you not get angry, beholding me, having put off my veil, walk out on foot by the city gate? Do you behold your wives who have thrown off their veils. Why are you not angry seeing them all come out of the city?"[23] Thus, it is notable that royal women avoided public gaze and veiling was expected to be worn only by married women.[24]

In Abhijñānaśākuntalam by Kālidāsa, written between the 3rd and 4th century CE, when the heroine arrives at King Duhsanta's palace, seeking to take up her wifely status, the king first remarks "Kā svid avagunthanavati" meaning "who is this veiled one?" and immediately forbears to look at her, with the words "Anirvarnaniyam parakalatram" meaning "The wife of another is not to be inspected."[25] This largely indicates that Avagunthana was a sign of a respectable married woman, and was a married woman's raiment.[26]

Medieval period

In Kathāsaritsāgara written in the 11th century AD, heroine in the story Ratnaprabhā protesting: "I consider that the strict seclusion of women is a folly produced by jealousy. It is of no use whatsoever. Women of good character are guarded only by their own virtue and nothing else."[27] Rational opposition against veiling and seclusion from spirited ladies resulted in the system not becoming popular for several centuries.[28] However, it is notable that some section of society from the 1st century B.C. advocated the use of the veil for married women. There is no proof that a large section of society observed strict veiling until the medieval period.[29]

Under the Islamic Mughal Empire, various aspects of veiling and seclusion of women was adopted, such as the concept of Purdah and Zenana, partly as an additional protection for women.[30] Purdah became common in the 15th and 16th century, as both Vidyāpati and Chaitanya mention it.[31] Sikhism was highly critical of purdah; Guru Amar Das condemned it and rejected seclusion and veiling of women, which saw decline of purdah among most classes during this period.

A Hindu bride with full veiling during Hindu wedding ceremony in Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.