For DU’s 100th convocation, officials get new, ‘traditional’ angvastras

Last year, the event saw students and administration members in Indian attire with angvastras instead of the “old colonial gowns”.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Singh said, “We are set to hold our convocation next month on the 24th and have invited Vice-President Dhankar… This year, we have also made a slight change to the angvastras which will be worn by administration members on the day of convocation.”

While there is no change in the angvastras for students, DU has decided to make the ones that will be worn by admin members, deans and principals of colleges and departments more traditional.

“The base colour for the Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor, Registrar etc will remain purple. The changes made this year include adding the DU logo on the right and ‘Delhi University’ written in Hindi on the left side of the angvastra. This time, we got the back of the angvastra stitched to make it easier to drape,” said OSD Examination, Ajay Arora.

“Last year, it looked like a semi-angvastra and was more designer-like and not completely traditional. This time, we wanted to reflect that we are Indian and decided to make it more similar to the ‘Bharatiya Angvastra’,” Arora added.

Another distinct feature of the new angvastra is the three saffron stripes on the right, each of a different thickness, representing the Chancellor, Pro-Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor — 3 inches, 2.75 inches and 2.5 inches — respectively as per their hierarchy.

“The purple stoles will be worn by the administration members and the maroon ones by deans and principals of colleges and departments. The new angvastras were designed by teachers from the Institute of Home Economics, Lady Irwin College, and Laxmibai College,” Arora added.

This year, the degrees will have the student’s photograph, mother‘s name and safety features like those on a banknote. Around 1.45 lakh students, including undergraduate, post-graduate, and School of Open Learning students, will be awarded degrees, officials said.