Ghoonghat

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. 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.

Since the ancient period of India, certain veiling practices (what became known as ghoonghat) has been partially practiced among a section of women. 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. This process mostly established in the current form after the arrival of Islam in the subcontinent. Today, facial veiling by Hindu women as part of everyday attire is now mostly limited to the Hindi Belt region of India, particularly Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, and some parts of Bihar Sindh and Punjab.

It has been both romanticized and criticized in religious and folk literature.