Page:History of India Vol 9.djvu/167

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THE CLOTHING OF THE HINDUS
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In North India, where the climate is cold, the people wear short and close-fitting garments, very similar to those of the Hu people (Tartars). Some wear peacocks' feathers; some wear as ornaments necklaces made of skull bones (the Kapala-dharinas); some have no clothing, but go naked (the Nirgranthas); some use grasses or bark to cover their bodies; some pull out their hair and cut off their moustaches; others have bushy side-whiskers and their hair braided on the top of their heads. The costume of the people is not uniform in colour, whether red or white.

A FAKIR.

The costume of the Shamans (the Buddhist monks) is the three robes and the sang-kio-ki and ni-fo-si-na. The cut of the three robes is not the same, but depends on the school. Some have wide or narrow borders, others have small or large folds. The sang-kio-ki covers the left shoulder and conceals the two armpits. It is worn open on the left and closed on the right, and reaches down below the waist. The ni-fo-si-na has neither belt nor bands. When putting it on, it is plaited in folds and worn round the loins with a cord to fasten

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