Indian costume - a tribute to centuries-old traditions

2024 Author: Sierra Becker | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-26 03:46

There are many national costumes in the world, reflecting the traditional and ethnic originality of this or that people.

Probably one of the brightest and most unusual is the Indian costume. Despite the centuries-old influence of other ethnic groups and cultures, these clothes have retained all their national features. It combines all the best, it is comfortable, elegant and comfortable. Even in modern India, representatives of all walks of life prefer to spend all family celebrations, any holidays and official ceremonies in national clothes.

Men's Indian costume

Men's clothing in different parts of India is very different, but despite this, they follow the general principles: comfort, simplicity and convenience. Each nationality of this multinational country has its own characteristics and traditions of wearing clothes. Most poor men wear the so-called dhoti. This skillfully draped garment is a rectangular piece of fabric that reaches a length of 5 meters. It can be white or any other solid color. Dhoti is worn on the hips. In different parts of the country thisthe traditional costume has different names ("dhuti", "veshti", "laacha", "mundu"). There are several ways to drape a loincloth. It does not start from the edges, but from the middle of the fabric. Most often, dhoti is worn with a kurta (long shirt) or with a shoulder cape - angavashtram. The kurta is most often knee length, although it can be shorter. Her neckline is on her chest. Most often it is decorated with embroidery. Many nationalities wear it with churidars - skinny pants or with shalvars (wide and loose trousers). In some parts of India, men wear a lungi, which is a 2x1.5 m strip of fabric sewn like a skirt. Such a long frock coat as shervani is also common in the country. Its length falls below the knees. Traditional clothing is made from silk, cotton, wool and khadi (a mixture of the above materials). Complement the national Indian costume with such headdresses as a turban (5 m long fabric skillfully wrapped around the head) and gandhi (a headdress in the form of a cap).

Women's Indian costume

The most feminine clothing known all over the world is the sari. Amazingly, this is a simple piece of fabric, 5-9 m long, skillfully wrapped around the body of the fair sex. Depending on who owns it, the sari can be woven from cotton or the finest silk. It can be decorated with a variety of patterns and plain, decorated with embroidery, gold threads, sequins, beads, sequins. They produce casual and festive saris. There isthere are many ways to drape this garment, but the most common is when the fabric is tied around the waist, where numerous folds are formed. The end of the sari is thrown over the shoulder, covering the chest. These clothes are worn with a tight blouse (ravika, choli) and an underskirt. Very bright and elegant handmade wedding saris are the most expensive. Most often, their patterns never repeat. The color scheme of the sari is so diverse that it makes no sense to list the shades. Representatives of many nationalities of India wear shalwars and kameez. Shalwars are pants that are very wide at the top and narrowed at the bottom. Kameez is an elongated tunic with side slits. This dress is very comfortable and beautiful. On the bottom of the pants and tunic, these clothes are trimmed with hand embroidery. Cutouts are also decorated in a variety of ways. This traditional costume is complemented by a wide and long scarf (chunni or dupatta).

In some areas, the so-called lenga choli is worn, which is a suit of a blouse (choli), a skirt (lenga) and a cape.

Indian costume accessories

It is almost impossible to imagine an Indian woman without exquisite gold jewelry. Among the rich population of the country, preference is given to diamonds, rubies, pearls, emeralds and other precious stones in gold and platinum. Also, great attention is paid to shoes. Many models are finished with intricate embroidery and even precious stones.