| All over India, you will see men walking around with a | | | | addressed both of these problems by making |
| thin cotton "scarf" around their shoulders. Called | | | | oversized towels with silicone nibs attached to one |
| "gamchhas," these colorful, checked "scarves" are | | | | side. The nibs solve the slippage problems when the |
| actually some of the most versatile and useful towels | | | | towel is face down and those who use them love the |
| ever invented. Their thin cotton is surprisingly absorbent | | | | acupressure feel of the silicone nibs when the towel is |
| and yet dries quickly in the hot Indian sun, making them | | | | reversed. These towels are very compact, making |
| a perfect go-anywhere bathing towel. Workers use | | | | them excellent for travel. They also double as a towel |
| them to wipe the sweat off their brows and to | | | | for drying off after a workout in the gym. |
| provide padding when they're carrying heavy loads. | | | | Another popular type of yoga towel is similar to the |
| The uses of the gamchha seem almost endless, but | | | | chamois used to dry off the family car, only larger. |
| interestingly, they are next to useless to yogis, who | | | | These are made of a mixture of natural and synthetic |
| need a towel of sterner stuff. | | | | fibers that give them a number of qualities that make |
| Traditional Indian yogis carry as few possessions as | | | | them perfect for the yogi on the go. Like a chamois, |
| possible. Even today you can occasionally see one | | | | they stick to a surface if placed flat and glide smoothly |
| wandering the countryside of India wearing only a | | | | if bunched up. They provide a degree of padding that |
| loincloth and a white gamchha draped over his | | | | makes them a useful substitute for a yoga mat when |
| shoulders for protection from the sun. He will be usually | | | | you're traveling, camping or attending a yoga retreat. |
| be carrying a brass lota or gourd for his drinking water | | | | At the end of a session, you can dry off quickly with |
| and if he is a hatha yogi, he'll often have a thicker | | | | one of these, rinse it clean, wring it out and hang it up. |
| towel or mat made of woven cotton or wool tucked | | | | By nightfall it will be dry again and you can wrap it |
| under his arm. In lieu of the older tradition of a tiger skin, | | | | around your shoulders to keep you warm during your |
| this towel serves as his mattress, his meditation | | | | evening meditation. |
| blanket and his exercise mat. | | | | When it comes to versatility and practicality, the |
| Western yogis have come up with some clever | | | | traditional Indian gamchha has found a new rival in the |
| variations on the yoga towel that combines some of | | | | modern yoga towel. There are so many brands, styles |
| the versatility of the gamchha with the usefulness in | | | | and colors available that the only way to effectively |
| yoga of the highly portable mat-towels of traditional | | | | shop for one is online. A specialty item, you'd have to |
| yogis. These yoga towels aren't designed to replace | | | | do a lot of looking before you found one in your |
| the yoga mat, but to supplement it. | | | | shopping center. If you happen to buy a yoga towel |
| The only thing wrong with a traditional Western terry | | | | and take it to India with you, maybe you should think |
| cloth towel is that it can't double as a yoga mat. It's the | | | | about giving it to a wandering yogi you meet along the |
| wrong size, for one thing, and it slips around on the | | | | way. It is one possession he would really welcome! |
| floor, for another. Some inventive Western yogis have | | | | |