White: Color of Mourning in ancient India (was: Black as Evil)

[Venkatraman Iyer]

>I can testify only for my (north Indian) community  -- "Mathur Vaishya" --
>by customs widows wear white. -Arun Gupta

Yes, in many Indian communities white is the colour of mourning in old
times. Nowadays due to impact of Islam and Christianity, this is
changing a little.

Brides all across India are draped in Red saris, because Red is the
prominent colour of blood and fertlity. Traditionally, they are not
given white saris as this is symbolic of widowhood and disinterest.

A 2000 year old Tamil sangam poem describes a happy mother rejoicing
the return of her son from a battle. Note that veL-, meaning white
is the word that repeats in a maNDala in the description of a funeral.
But luckily that did not happen to the Chief.

Poet: AuvvaiyAr, tiNai: karantai, tuRai: vEttiyal
-------------------------------------------------

   veLLai veLyATTuc ceccai pOlat
   tan2n2Or an2n2a iLaiyar iruppap,
   palarmItu nITTiya maNTaiyen2 ciRuvan2aik
   kAlkazi kaTTiliR kiTappit
   tUveL aRuvai pOrppit tilatE!
                         - puRam 286

   Like white goats, the young men surrounded him
   and a cup was passed above the heads of many
   to my son and yet it did not lead to his
   being laid on a legless bed
   and covered with a pure white cloth.

             -Translated by George L. Hart

------------
"Before the funeral, the dead man would be placed on a "bed without
legs" and covered with a white cloth (PuR. 286), a practice showing
that, then as now, white was the colour of mourning. A soldier would
be carried on his shield (PuR. 310), as in ancient Greece. At the
house of the dead man, drums would beat out a rhythm called 'neytal',
which is also the name of the division of akam poems in which the
heroine despairs." From The Poems of Ancient Tamil: Their milieu
and Their Sanskrit counterparts, G. Hart.

The "karupporuL" ('preganant/significant' material)  relevant to
neytal tiNai is the product of the sea.  That means 'uppu' = salt,
white in color.





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