Authentic Vaishnava dress - Audio-visual experience of harinama

Meaning of authentic Vaishnava dress
Different coloured plastic sport shoes, too short or too thin industry dhoties, different styles of massproduced kurtas, matajis looking like rejecting feminity, plastic massproduced drums, portable microphones, etc. Is a neglectful dressed harinama party actually representing Gaudiya-Vaishnava philosophy?
Especially when participants are on the level of being tools and not yet able to produce pure transcendental sound themselves?



Shouldn't a Gaudiya Vaishnava harinama party not also attract the sense of sublime aesthetic of curious materialists, similiar effect like tasting prasadam or smelling offered incense? And not to audio-visually turn you off by the sight of a totally neglectful dressed kirtan party, claiming to represent the Supreme Lord's original harinama party? Isn't the dress of a Gaudiya-Vaishnava in the western hemisphere of extraordinaire importance, because western people naturally show respect when seeing a real original traditional outfit of an old spiritual culture? Various westernized Vaishnava groups consider the dress of a Vaishnava as something like the compelling fate of being a monk, what's very similiar to a mayavada negation. Doesn't the Vaishnava outfit in the western hemisphere has primarily the function of representing traditional Gaudiya-Vaishnavism, an authentic uniform with all the symbols of Gaudiya tradition - an ancient spiritually advanced civilization, in fact the cradle of all present world's religions?
A royal guard doesnt wear a perfectly assembled uniform for being dressed up but for representing monarchy the best possible way.
After viewing hundreds of western kirtan parties I'm sorry to say that the audio-visual appearance is mostly shocking for common people. The unlucky mixture of plastic shoes, plastic drums, portable microphones, reminds more of a new temporary invention (counter-cult movement ) and surely not like culture from the cradle of the world's spirituality. Is there any expertise of a devoted, blessed western/indian scolar about the early way Vaishnava's used to dress when going out - like everything being handmade, all the clothes perfumed with sandalwood, original flags, symbol to hold up, etc? Or a museum with realy old relicts of Bengali Harinam Vaishnavas? Once there was a kirtan party (goose-stepping ), women and men, wearing wooden shoes (pic below), vaishnavis with long plaits and it just looked wonderful!

Hey, these guys look pretty excellent compared to what I'm used to seeing here. Guys wearing sandals with over-sized thick woolen socks inside (or better even, tennis shoes with those same socks), long light blue underwear with some silly patterns, a wrinkly dhoti flying back and forth with the wind, a kurta not exactly of the same colour, and possibly a worn-out sweater on top of it all. And late autumn, a silly woolen hat worn a bit sideways. And enthusiastic like I don't know what.

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Here's a traditional painting of Mahaprabhu and his associates chanting and dancing in Puri.

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In the Boston ISKCON temple they have sort of a public function (harinama, sunday feasts) dress code. Everyone (for the men) have the same type of cloth and the same color (respective to asrama). It makes them at least look presentable to the public. At one point years ago, all the brahmacaris decided to dye their cloth at the same time so their color would be consistant and you don't have "Bhakta Fritz" wearing one shade of saffron kurta and another shade for his dhoti.

Sounds like the way things were in Denmark when I was there. Always one devotee for whom it was always cold. He would show up for the chanting party wearing moonboots, a huge woolen hat, an enormous scarf, etc. Then someone else would feel that it was not cold at all and would come barefoot in sandals. The result was this totally weird group of people bouncing down the streets. And oh boy, do I remember the long underwear being exposed when the wind got hold of someone's dhoti!

Well, that's still pretty advanced if long underwear are exposed only when the wind gets hold of the dhoti! We would more likely see either (1) long underwear exposed all the time as the back tuft of the dhoti is pulled way too high, or (2) short underwear exposed as two brahmacharis would grab each others' hands and whirl around wildly counterclockwise.

What happened to kaupina?

I always wore kaupina and still do in India.

Now I am lazy in Hawaii and wear shorts underneath. So I can shed the dhoti at a moments notice and go swimming or just walk around before or after the bhajan anywhere without looking too weird. Of course I usually wear a lunghi (vesti) which is pretty much like a sarong anyway here in Hawaii.

Reality is that Sriman Mahaprabhu adopted this way of dressing from the Mayavada school because HE felt that the population of 15th century in West-Bengal strongly related in a positive respectful way to that specific outfit. Shouldn't with this very logic Gaudiya Vaishnavas of 21th in the western hemisphere use a similiar creative strategy to aproach people according their mentality, who have no plugin whatsoever to relate with the exotic fashion of the 15 th century Mayavada school?

So you're saying we should adopt the style of the modern mayavadis?

I have a beard. I wonder if that counts for anything.

Is that it? Women are acceptable as long as they "look" "feminine"?

Not all of Mahaprahus followers adopted advaita sannyasin cloth and shaved head..where in the world you get that idea?
Nityananda Himself and Virabhadra after returning to Bengal wore fine silks with jewels.

I like Sadhu Baba's look myself....

I don't think any of the folks in the picture are matajis aside the half-face seen on the background, however, so I wonder wherefrom this came in to begin with. If one of the front line characters is a mataji, then I'd say we do have an issue here.

That is exactly why I wear ordinary western dress suitable to the occasion and live like the westerner I am. I felt traditional Indian dress as adopted by ISKCON lost its value as a preaching tool back in 1974 due to their debasing its image in the western mentality. I prefer to distance myself from that image and its associations. If I lived in India, I would likely dress differently.

Advaita Acarya has a nice beard in the picture...dont worry Madhava!

I dont mean to bust your chops here but Mahaprabhu's mission and reason for accepting sannyass was not to change the fashion in Bengal..

I do beg your pardon, but your slip is showing!

"The clothes make the devotee." Narada Muni

Another thing is that in Bengal and South India where Mahaprabhu was on tour practically the whole year the climate was not colder than springtime, what makes everything much easier.

What exactly are you saying here Jayatu?

Jayatu:
"Another thing is that in Bengal and South India where Mahaprabhu was on tour practically the whole year the climate was not colder than springtime, what makes everything much easier"

I dont follow your train of thought here, I honestly hope your not putting forth the idea that Sri Chaitanya influenced fashion in South India now. His goin on 'tour' was not an every year event, you do know this right?

Besides the advaita school of shankara was long established in South India way before Sri Chaitanyas time.
But as far as I know Shankara did not establish any catwalks or never came out with his own line of springtime activewear.

Sri Chaitanya influenced South India with his ecstatic Bhakti and Kirtan..

Question and title of this topic is "What is authentic Vaishnava dress". Seems there's is no feedback/interest to this question and instead of relating to "What is authentic Vaishnava dress" I feel now personally attacked. Remember, a forum doesnt present a full view of each of us and easily drifts to misunderstandings.
When I cant agree to a certain point of view I stay on topic or pass.

I'm sorry if you feel attacked Jatayu, you did say a few things that were a bit questionable..

we were just having a go at you.

It was meant only in a playful spirit,

namaskar,

bangli

I wonder whether there is really such a thing as an "authentic Vaishnava dress". A dress from which era of Vaishnavism? None of the clothes in any era were specifically developed by Vaishnavas as far as I know. Wearing the signs of a Vaishnava, as we read in Bhakti-rasamrita-sindhu and other such works, is commonly defined as wearing tilaka and kanthi-mala of tulasi-beads. Otherwise, we are talking about traditional Indian clothes, which don't really per se a Vaishnava style make. They are by no means unique to Gaudiya Vaishnavas, or Vaishnavas in general.

I also feel Iskcon had significantly debased western dress in its preaching efforts and I feel uncomfortable with wearing western styled clothing as well because of this. I dress as an Indian (Native American).

The whole 'shaved head/vairagi look' for everyone was 'correct me if Im wrong' instituted by BSS in Gaudiya Math.

Actually, I don't think it was introduced as such even in the Gaudiya Math, I believe this tradition of shaving up everybody is largely an ISKCON thing.

LOL

You are putting the cart before the horse. First find the authentic Vaishnav, then tell us what he or she is wearing.

Good luck!