Ghoonghat
Traditional South Asian Hindu headscarf / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A ghoonghat (ghunghat, ghunghta, ghomta, orhni, odani, laaj, chunari, jhund, kundh) is a headcovering or headscarf, worn primarily in the Indian subcontinent, by some married Hindu, Jain, and Sikh women to cover their heads, and often their faces.[1][2] Generally aanchal or pallu, the loose end of a sari is pulled over the head and face to act as a ghoonghat. A dupatta (long scarf) is also commonly used as a ghoongat.[3]
Since the ancient period of India, certain veiling practices (what became known as ghoonghat) has been partially practiced among a section of women.[4][5] However, it is notable that some section of society from the 1st century B.C. advocated the use of the veil for married women. There is no proof that a large section of society observed strict veiling until the medieval period.[6] This process mostly established in the current form after the arrival of Islam in the subcontinent.[7] Today, facial veiling by Hindu women as part of everyday attire is now mostly limited to the Hindi Belt region of India,[8][9] particularly Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and some parts of Bihar Sindh and Punjab.[3]
It has been both romanticized and criticized in religious and folk literature.[10]