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A medium to promote the use of the Komanam or Kaupinam (South India - tear and wear,self fit, girdling the loins or crotch), the Langot (North India - unstitched,self fit, wrapped around thighs and loins) or indeed any form of Loincloth. To disseminate the ease, safety, comfort and health benefits of traditional and practical inner wear. To disseminate tips on the "How to" of self fitted inner wear. To exchange views, personal experiences. Explore, Enjoy. And switch to the Komanam !

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Dr Otto Steinmeyer on the Komanam or Kaupinam

Here we have a brief but clear introduction to the Komanam written by Dr Steinmeyer. He also compares the Komanam and the Langot and explains the differences in usage. Interesting but correct observations in this short item are shown in red.
LANGOTTI, KAUPINAM OR KOMANAM

Dr. Otto Steinmayer

A kaupîna is a simple strip of cloth passed between the legs and held by a string at the waist. The word is derived from kûpa "genitals".

From Sanskrit literature we can tell that for a man to have nothing to wear but a sole kaupîna marked the extreme state of poverty. See the story of Nala in the Mahâbharata, and Dandin's Dasakumaracarita. The kaupîna still is the sole garment of an ascetic, who chooses poverty voluntarily. Thus, wearing nothing but a kaupîna is not at all in itself shameful, and indeed, the kaupîna and nakedness is strongly associated with holiness---and with sexual potency, which asceticism increases. The only thing S´iva wears is a kaupîna.

There is plenty of other kaupîna lore, which I'll omit here.

Up to the recent present Indian men, particularly in the south, used to wear only a kaupîna for messy or wet work (men plowing fields, bathing elephants, dhobis doing laundry, etc.). Whether men still do I don't know. The basic breechcloth is called by different names in the various languages.

Classical Sanskrit literature speaks of ascetics making clothing of bark-cloth. Most people I'm sure used cotton.

The word langoti (its equivalent in modern Indian languages) seems to have replaced kaupîna as a general term for a breechcloth. In ancient times, though, the langoti was a different thing from a kaupîna. The word langoti is derived from the Sanskrit root langh- "leap." This is an athlete's loincloth. In New York's Metropolitan Museum of art is an ancient exercise-weight of stone, carved with a relief of Krsna fighting the Demon Horse. Krsna is wearing a langoti, and from this carving we can tell that this was a loincloth identical to the modern Japanese rokushaku fundoshi, that is, a long narrow strip of cotton whose loose ends are secured in back, so there is no front apron.

The modern day athlete's langoti, so far as I've seen in photos, is sewn together out of a strip and a triangular piece to cover the buttocks, and ties with tapes.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I take this oppurtunity to congratulate the owner of this blog for taking sincere efforts in promoting the ancient costume called the Komanam (innerwear) to the mordern civilized era where the people are forced to and much more fond of macchine made garments
with no proper protection and the fit when it is required for.
Me a diehard fan of the ancient costume wears it from the childhood days anywhere everytime without any problem and continuing the same till date.
Hoping that after reading this blog
many may change to this ancient costume partially or give try,those who wears will come out without any hesitation and share their views,experiences which will enable those who want to overcome the shyness in them and revive the old ancient ascetic costume as much as we can which our fore fathers has given us for the genarations.

Anonymous said...

Yes kavi8626@gmail.com hangouts any one to share or chat

About Me

I, and a few like minded people, have started this blog to promote the use of the Komanam or any form of Loincloth as well as the habitual wearing by women of the Madisar sari or any other Nine-yard sari such as Nauvari, Kashta or other forms of Kaccha saris. It is the practicality, comfort, safety and health benefits of such traditional form of outer and inner wear that we wish to publicise and promote. In addition there is the wish to do what we could to see that these forms of traditional and sensible inner and outer wear are not lost to future generations or compromised at the altar of fashion. The question is, if G-string bikinis are fashionable and acceptable, even in public, why is a dignified form of inner wear like the Komanam fading away? And why not the Madisar or Nine yard sari for women? We hope you will visit regularly and reflect on the posts. And that you will post comments and suggestions as well as share your experiences. Please ask questions and feel free to criticise constructively. We will always take your views in to account. And we would hope that we can encourage many of you to convert to the Komanam or the Madisar.