...each and every part of the feminine physique... have consistently been used to support ornaments... the simple appearance without ornament is "not enough"... Hence the stress on adornment of the women, who are but the poetry of nature...
In Indian tradition dance was...a divine dimension of the man's act... The dancer...sublimated his own self...and united with the supreme Self... The ancient Indian mind...had unique reverence for dance... it conceived its gods as dancers...
Three conventionalised modes of clothing - one, for the divine female representing fertility, abundance and beauty; two, for an ecclesiastical being; and three, for an entertainer....defined his distinction, rank and role in society. Manu prescribes...