Sari in Nepal) and petticoat called "parkar" or "ul-pavadai". In the modern Indian subcontinent, the sari is considered a cultural icon. The word "sari" described in Sanskrit शाटी which means 'strip of cloth' and शाडी or साडी in Pali, and which evolved to in modern Indian languages. The word 'Sattika' is mentioned as describing women's attire in ancient India in Sanskrit literature and Buddhist literature called Jatakas. This could be equivalent to modern day 'Sari'. The term for female bodice, the "choli" evolved from ancient "Stanapatta". Rajatarangini (meaning the 'river of kings'), a tenth-century literary work by Kalhana, states that the
Midriff Ghagra Cholis. However, these women often cover their heads with a Dupatta and even cover their faces in front of strangers, which enforces the belief that midriff-baring in India has a symbolic, almost mystical, association with birth and life and that the display is meant to emphasise the centrality of nature in the nurture role. In spite of it, some Indian philosophers gave opposition to exposing midriff in saris. They considered it to be a symbol of adultery. The only ornament accepted by the Hindu culture that can be worn in the midriff region are the waist chains. They are