In the sixteenth-century paintings of Ahmadnagar, most of the dress follows northern fashion. Which item of dress is a southern fashion, seen in the Lepakshi frescoes?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Long scarf worn below the hips
Option (1) Choli (bodice) worn by the women — Incorrect. The choli is part of the modified northern costume of the Ahmadnagar women.
Option (2) Long braided pigtails ending in a tassel — Incorrect. The long braided pigtails also belong to the modified northern costume.
Option (3) Long scarf worn below the hips — Correct. Only the long scarf passing round the body below the hips is a southern fashion, seen in the Lepakshi frescoes.
Option (4) Jama with pointed tails worn by men — Incorrect. The jama with pointed tails is part of the male costume, which is decisively northern.
NCERT (2026-27): “Ahmadnagar School of Painting …The earliest examples of Deccani painting are in a volume of poems, celebrating the reign of Hussain Nizam Shah I of Ahmadnagar (1553–1565). …The woman represented in it belongs to the northern tradition of pre-Mughal painting, which was flourishing especially in Malwa and Ahmedabad during this period. The women in the paintings of Ahmadnagar wear a modified northern costume with choli (bodice) and long braided pigtails, ending in a tassel. Only a long scarf, passing round the body below the hips, is a southern fashion, which is seen in the Lepakshi frescoes.” |