DIIOTI. HIND. Dovati, SAME. The unsewed garment with which Hindu men clothe the lower parts of their persons. It is mentioned by Near chns. It is passed round the waist, then between the legs, and fastened by being tucked in behind, and the appearance becomes that of wide or narrow trousers. A coarse cotton one, worn by cultivators and labourers in the field, may cost about two rupeea. Ono of yellow silk, called pitambar, is I largely made at Benares. With every IIindu man, ' of all parts of India alike, the dhoti is an indis pensable garment. Should he even wear drawers I or trousers, he will have a dhoti, large or small, underneath. It is a single piece of cloth, from two and a half to three and a half yards long by two to three feet broad, with ornamented ends and borders ; but may be somewhat broader and longer. As a general rule, there is literally no change up to the present day, from the costume of the male figures in Buddhist and Hindu sculp tures of nearly two thousand years ago. All other articles of male attire are sewn garments, cut out by tailors and made by them ; and there are, perhaps, as many varieties of vests a,nd tunics, angraka, joobbha, koorta, ehapkun, mirzai, and the like, as there aro surtouts, paletots, cambridges, etc., fashioned in Europe. Many of these are worn by Mahomedans and Hindus alike, the only difference being that the Hindu ties or buttons his vest on the right side, the Mahotnedans on the left. Hindu tailors aro found everywhere, possibly
descendants of the needle-plying handicraftsmen, who, like the weavers, smiths, and carpenters, found a place in the enumeration of trades in Menu's Institutes and the Yagnyawalkya. The texture of the dhoti, saree, and lungi fabrics, manu factured in Britain and sent to India, is not that required by the people, nor _what they are accus tomed to. It is in general too close, too much like calico, in fact, which of course makes the garment hot, heavy in wear, and difficult to wash. Again, the surface becomes rough, and, as it is generally called, fuzzy in use, while the native fabrio remains free. Comparatively few native women of any class or degree wear white ; if they do wear it, the dress has broad borders and ends. But all classes wear coloured cloths,—black, red, blue, occasionally orange and green, violet and grey. All through Western, Central, and Southern India, sarees are striped and checked in an infinite variety of patterns. Narrainpet, Dhanwar and .Muktul, in the Nizana's territories; Gudduk and Bettigerry in Dharwar, Kolhapur, Nasik, Yeola, and many other manufacturing towns in the Dekhan, Arnee in the south, and elsewhere, send out articles of excellent texture, with beautifully arranged colours and patterns, both in stripes and cheeks.