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Dukula

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dukula was an ancient Indian cloth made from the bark of trees.[1] Some contemporary varieties kshauma, netra, and tiritpatta including Dukul were among the fabrics that were comparable to silk.[2] Some sources suggest that Dukula was silk,[3] but actually it was made of bark fiber As a result, it was a fine linen. According to Amarasimha, the word "dukula" was a synonym for "ksauma" (linen)[4][5]: 11 

Mentions

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Dukula (especially with the swan pattern) is recognized as arguably the finest cloth in the Gupta period literature.[2]: 15 Bāṇabhaṭṭa, a seventh-century scholar (who was the Asthana Kavi in the court of King Harsha Vardhana), also makes reference to "hansa dukula", a material patterned with hansa (swan or goose). The gods and kings wore it. The Harshacharita (King Harsha Vardhana of Kanauj's biography) lists a variety of textiles, Banabhatta describes a range of textiles displayed during an exhibition at Harsha's sister's (Rajyashri's) wedding. "Dukula," "amshuka," "kshauma," "badara," and "netra" are among the names he mentions.[2]: 15  [5]: 15 [6]: 276 

Kumārasambhava poem of Kalidasa also refers to "dukula" while comparing the attire of Lord Shiva and the Hindu goddess Parvati.[2]: 15  Kalidasa also mentioned Dukula in Vikramōrvaśīyam and Ṛtusaṃhāra. He referred to Dukula as silk.[2]: 15 

Production

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Bengal was a well-known production centre for these types of cloths.[6] Kautilya in Arthashastra acknowledges Bengal as a producer of Dukula.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Prakash, Om (2005). Cultural History of India. New Age International. p. 382. ISBN 978-81-224-1587-2.
  2. ^ a b c d e Agrawal, Yashodhara (2003). Silk brocades. Internet Archive. New Delhi : Roli Books. p. 10. ISBN 978-81-7436-258-2.
  3. ^ Eitel, Ernest John; Takakuwa, K. (1904). Hand-book of Chinese Buddhism, being a Sanskrit-Chinese dictionary with vocabularies of Buddhist terms in Pali, Singhalese, Siamese, Burmese, Tibetan, Mongolian and Japanese. Robarts - University of Toronto. Tokyo, Sanshusha. pp. 54, 55.
  4. ^ Mookerji, Radhakumud (2016-01-01). Chandragupta Maurya and His Times. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 117. ISBN 978-81-208-0433-3.
  5. ^ a b Journal Of The Indian Society Of Oriental Art Vol.12. 1944.
  6. ^ a b Das, Santosh Kumar (1925). Economic history of ancient India. Santosh Kumar Das, Howrah. p. 146.
  7. ^ Journal of the Bihar and Orissa research society. 1919. p. 320.