In Delhi, Lucknow, Agra and other towns in the Punjab and the United Provinces a special wedding dress is worn by the bride, called _rit-kajora_, the "dress of custom." It is worn on the wedding night only; and it is a rule that no scissors are employed in making it. The trouser string of this dress is not the usual _kamarband_, but is made of untwisted cotton thread called _kalawa_. Out of doors Mahommedan women wear the _burka_, a long loose white garment entirely covering the head and body. It has two holes for the eyes. Mahommedan women pencil the eyes with _kohl_ or _surma_, use _missi_ for the teeth and colour the palms and nails of the hand with henna. A nose-ring is a sign of marriage.
HINDUS.--Caste does not influence dress amongst Hindus as much as might be expected. The garment distinctive of the Hindus of all castes, men and women, all over India, is the _dhoti_ or loin cloth. It is a very ancient dress, and their gods are represented as clothed in it in old sculptures.
The general term used for clothing is _kapra_, _lata_ or _luga_. Under Mahommedan influence Hindu clothing developed into "suits," consisting of five pieces for men, hence called _pancho tuk kapra_--(1) head-dress, (2) _dhoti_, (3) coat, (4) _chaddar_ or sheet, (5) bathing cloth; and three for women, hence called _tin tuk_--(1) _dhoti_, (2) jacket, (3) shawl.
_Men._--The Hindu (except the Rajput) shaves his head, leaving only a top-knot on the point of the skull. He shaves the face (except the eye-brows) and his body. The Rajput wears a full beard and whiskers, usually parted in the middle. He sometimes draws the beard and whiskers to the side of the head, and to keep it tidy wraps round it a cloth called _dhata_ or _galmocha_.
_Head-dress._--Hindus wear sometimes turbans and sometimes caps. When the turban is worn it is always of the _pagri_ form, never the _amamah_. Hindus wind the _pagri_ in various ways as described for Mussulmans, but the angles are formed over the ears and not from front to back. Mahrattas wear flat red pagris, with a small conical peak variously shaped and placed. The _pagri_ is known in different parts of India as _pag_, _phenta_, _phag_, _phagdi_ and many other names. In Bengal a sort of turban is worn which can be taken off like a hat. When Hindus wear caps or _topis_ they resemble those worn by Mahommedans, but they never wear the _fez_, _tarbush_ or _irani topi_. In Gaya a peculiar cap made of _tal_ leaves is worn in rainy weather, called _ghunga_. Bengalis, whether Brahmans or of other castes, frequently go bareheaded.