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Ramanuja List Archive: Message 00062 Apr 2006

 
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SRIMATHE RAMANUJAYA NAMAHA.

>From ancient Tamil works, it is known that a separate community of
weavers had existed whose job is to prepare the vasthram for perumal.

This vasthram is known as 'dEvAngu' or 'dEvAngi', meaning the vasthram
for dEvu (God).

(another popular cloth of yore is 'kaNdaangi' the cloth woven around
the neck. This kaNdaangi is exclusively for women. The name itself
makes it clear that women wore the upper garment or the garment that
covers their neck as against only the waist-vasthram or pattigai worn
by men.)

The community who made this dEvaangu  was known as dEvAngu-ch-chetty.
dEvAngu is known as 'nar-paNi-th-thoosu', the cloth made as a good service.

This community's contribution is regarded as a good service as their
product is exclusively meant for adorning the Lord.

We know that the entire population of a town or village in those days
was involved in some or other activity which will be a kind of service
to the Lord. Of them Devaangu-ch-chettiars were those  engaged in
weaving cloths for the Lord.

Enquiries with this comminity or with those settled in divya desams
where such services are still being rendered by some, will throw more
light on the types of vasthrams for God.

The practice must have been such that anyone wishing to present
vasthram for the Lord would get it wowen by this community who would
do it with utmost / special care.
Another practice is to gift the best one that one can afford. It is in
this way, silk made of silk worm would have entered into practice. The
'best' part of silk is its cost and rarity in those days.

It is possible that pattu with the soft touch and finish could have
been made from special silk cotton tress.

Sriman Krishnaswamy informs us that two such trees have been mentioned
in the Cologne sanskrit dictionary.

ahikA =  the silk-cotton tree (Salmalia Malabarica);
apUraNI = the silk cotton tree (Bombax Heptaphyllum).

More information on these will tell us whether the pattu woven by
dEvaangu-ch -chetty was drawn from these trees or whether silk is
woven from from the cotton of these tress even today.

with humble pranams,
jayasree




Azhvar EmberumAnAr JeeyAr ThiruvadigalE Saranam 
http://www.vedics.net

 
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