Religious undershirt; Parsi woman's; white muslin; thin shoulder straps, wide circular neckline with symbolic pocket in front; donor's relative's initial sewn in back in red cotton thread; length 22 cm, width 53.5 cm. Sadra religious shirt, cotton, hand sewn. Traditionally worn at all times by Parsis following their initiation as a badge of Zorastrianism. Bound around the waist with the kasti or sacrwed thread. This speciman is interesting for its extreem abbreviation and deviation from the traatiional style in that it was made to conform to the short cholis or sari blouses that became fasionable from 1950 onwards.
Donor:
M. B. Ichaporia and Mrs. M. B. Ichaporia
Collection place:
Mumbai (Bombay), Maharashtra State, India
Culture or time period:
Parsi
Collector:
Niloufer Hirschmann Ichaporia
Object type:
ethnography
Object class:
Undershirts
Function:
5.1 Religion and Divination: Objects and garb associated with practices reflecting submission, devotion, obedience, and service to supernatural agencies