Ghoonghat

A ghoonghat (ghunghat, ghunghta, laaj, chunni, jhund or Odhni) is a veil or headscarf worn by some married Hindu, Jain, and Sikh women to cover their head, and often their face. Generally aanchal or pallu, the loose end of a sari is pulled over the head and face to act as a ghunghat. A dupatta (long scarf) is also commonly used as a ghungat. Today, facial veiling by Hindu women as part of everyday attire is now mostly limited to Hindi-speaking areas of India.

Facial veiling is not sanctioned in Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism but some sections of the society from the 1st century B.C. advocated the use of the veil for married women, which came to be known as ghoonghat. It has been both romanticized and criticized in religious and folk literature.

The word ghoongat, ghunghat or ghunghta is derived from Avagunthana (Sanskrit: अवगुण्ठन) meaning veil, hiding and cloak and Oguntheti (Pali: ओगुन्थेति) to cover, veil over and hide.

The ghoongat, ghunghat or ghunghta veil evolved from ancient Avagunthana in (Sanskrit: अवगुण्ठन) veil, hiding and cloak. Early Sanskrit literature has a wide vocabulary of terms for the veils used by women, such as avagunthana meaning cloak-veil, uttariya meaning shoulder-veil, mukha-pata meaning face-veil, and sirovas-tra meaning head-veil.

In the Pratimānātaka, a play by Bhāsa describes in context of the Avagunthana cloak-veil that "ladies may be seen without any blame [for the parties concerned] in a religious session, in marriage festivities, during a calamity and in a forest". The same sentiment is more generically expressed in Nāgānanda and Priyadarśikā by Harsha, where maidens were expected to wear no veil; it was donned only after the marriage. Later, the veil was referred to by the same term, avagunthana, in Śiśupālavadha and the Dashakumaracharita. According to commentator Sankara, the ladies of Sthanvisvara used to go about covering their faces with a veil.

In Buddhist Mahayana literature, Lalitavistara Sūtra written in the 3rd century CE, young bride Yasodharā objected to observe veiling (oguntheti/oguṇthikā) in front of respected elders. This was taken to be a sign of immodesty and willfulness, as people criticized her and gossiped. When she became aware of this, Yasodharā came before the assembled court and defended herself in a long statement: "Those whose thoughts have no cover, no shame or decorum or any virtue, those who gossip, may cover themselves with a thousand garments, yet they walk the earth naked. But those who veil their minds, control their senses, and have no thought for any other except their husband, why should they veil their faces?" Yasodharā's parents-in-law were delighted with their daughter-in-law's proud statement and gave her two white garments covered with jewels.

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Wikipedia