India Traditional Clothes Definition
Source(google.com.pk)Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. South Indian culture though with its visible differences forms an important part of the Indian culture. The South Indian Culture is essentially the celebration of the eternal universe through the celebration of the beauty of the body and motherhood.It is exemplified through its dance, clothing, and sculptures.South Indian women traditionally wear the sari while the men wear a type of sarong, which could be either a white dhoti or a colourful lungi with typical batik patterns. The sari, being an unstitched drape, enhances the shape of the wearer while only partially covering the midriff. In Indian philosophy, the navel of the Supreme Being is considered as the source of life and creativity. Hence by tradition, the stomach and the navel is to be left unconcealed, though the philosophy behind the costume has largely been forgotten.This makes the realization of sharira-mandala, where in Angikam bhuvanam yasya (the body is your world) unites with the shaarira-mandala (the whole universe), as expressed in the Natyashastra. These principles of the sari, also hold for other forms of drapes, like the lungi or mundu or anchey (a white lungi with colourful silk borders in kannada) worn by men. The lungi is draped over clockwise or counterclockwise and is tied at the back or fixed just along the waist line. It's sometimes lifted till knee and tied at the waist leisurely or just held in hand to speed up walking. In Andhra and in parts of north karnataka men wear kachche panchey where it is tied at back by taking it between legs.Similar pattern is seen in women. All over the peninsular coastal region men wear coloured lungis and women wear sari in a way tying it at back.The Araimudi (araimuti) was worn by young Tamil girls.
The Araimudi (araimuti) (Tamil: அரைமுடி, araimūḍi ?) is a small silver metal plate shaped like a heart or a fig leaf formerly worn by young Tamil girls on their genitals. "Arai" means loin and "mudi" means cover. The araimudi is also known as the "Genital shield" and an araimudi was mentioned in the "Guide to the principal exhibits in the Government Museum, Pudukkottai", by M. S. Chandrasekhar, published in 1966 as being displayed in an exhibit in the Madras Government Museum. "A Manual of the Salem district in the presidency of Madras, Volume 1" said "The children sometimes, to the age of ten years or more, go in a state of nudity, relieved perhaps by a piece of string round the waist which sustains the "araimudi" or heart-shaped piece of silver, which calls attention to what it purports to conceal." The "Madras district gazetteers, Volume 1, Part 1" said 'Little girls, up to the age of about 3, wear nothing but the little heart-shaped piece of silver suspended by a waist-cord (arai- mudi) " which calls attention to what it purports to conceal."'"Percival's Tamil-English dictionary", edited by P. Percival defined Araimudi as "அரைமுடி arai múḍi, A small plate of gold or silver, appended to the girdle of female children, for the sake of decency". Miron Winslow's dictionary, "A comprehensive Tamil and English Dictionary of High and Low Tamil" defined araimudi as "அரைமுடி, s. A small plate of metal worn by little girls over the private parts." Abbe Dubois's book "Hindu manners, customs and ceremonies", translated from French and edited by Henry Beauchamp stated that "Even the private parts of the children have their own particular decorations. Little girls wear a gold or silver shield or codpiece on which is graven some indecent picture ; while a boy's ornament, also of gold or silver, is an exact copy of that member which it is meant to decorate." "Description of the character, manners, and customs of the people of India; and their institutions, religious and civil", also written by Dubois said "The children of either sex are likewise ornamented with various trinkets of the same form, though smaller than those of grown persons. They have also some that are peculiar. As all children in India go perfectly naked till they are six or seven years old, the parents of course, adapt the ornaments to the natural parts of the body. Thus, the girls have a plate of metal suspended so as to conceal, in some measure, their nakedness. The boys, on the other hand, have little bells hung round them, or some similar device of silver or gold, attached to the little belt with which they are girt. Amongst the rest, a particular trinket appears in front, bearing a resemblance to the sexual part of the lad." Until the 1960s in the Ampara District of Sri Lanka girls wore the Araimudi.
What makes the Indian couture so unique is the fact that you will find each and every state of the country having its own distinct traditional clothing for men and women. For instance, the salwaar kameez is the ethnic attire of women in Punjab; the Mekhala Chadar is worn by Assamese women, and so on. However, all types of Indian clothing look very elegant and Indians wear them with a lot of pride. The festivities and other special occasions are the time when you can see maximum Indians donning their ethnic garb, be it sari, kurta pajama or dhoti. A sari is long strip of colorful multi-patterned cloth seductively wrapped around the body, teemed with a blouse! It's the traditional dress for the women folk in India and there are many styles in which you can drape it. The blouse worn with sari is also called the choli or ravika. The salwaar kameez, on the other hand, is the most ubiquitous of all traditional women attires in India. Due to its popularity in the Punjab region, it is sometimes also called the Punjabi suit. The Indian men's traditional attire consists of the kurta and pajama, dhoti, lungi and other dresses. Worn on both formal and informal occasions, kurta and pajama are quite popular dress of Indian men. The kurta is like a loose long shirt almost reaching the knees, whereas the Pyjama is a lightweight drawstring trouser. The men's dhoti is a rectangular piece of unstitched cloth about five yards long, wrapped about the waist and the legs and knotted at the waist. It is known by different names like Laacha in Punjabi, Mundu in Malayalam, Dhuti in Bangla, etc.Traditional Indian clothing has come into prominence once again. Well, if you notice the trends in fashion industry, you'll realize that modern fashion has aped the styling and designing of the bygone eras, the period of royalty, when Maharajas and Ranis used to spend extravagantly on their clothing. Whatever the royals chose to go in for was reminiscent of splendor and luxury. The creative fashion designers of today are in a lookout for ethnic designs that take us close to our cultural roots and remind us of the glorious past. Well, in this section, we will provide you with information on the different kinds of traditional clothing in India, so read on…Dhoti .Dhoti kurta is the traditional Indian clothing of men. Unlike other dresses, it is an unstitched piece of cloth usually 5 yards long that is tied around the waist and legs. The knot is tied at the waist. Dhoti is known by different names at different places such as Laacha in Punjabi, dhuti in Bangla. Kurta is a term used to refer to a long loose shirt, the length of which falls below or may be just above the knees of the wearer. In the olden times, it was primarily worn by men, but today, it has become a unisex dress that both men and women can wear. Indian Salwar KameezSalwar kameez is the traditional Indian clothing for women. Due to its high popularity in the region of Punjab, shalwar kameez is commonly referred to as Punjabi suit. The fashion of Shalwar Kameez in India is not new. Since the past many few centuries, women have been wearing this wonderful attire. Indian Sari.Sari is one of the most wonderful dresses worn by Indian women. Infact, when one thinks of a typical Indian woman, the first thing that strikes the mind is a woman clad in sari, who is wearing the solah shringar including bindi, chudi, kajal etc. Sherwani is a long coat resembling achkan in styling. It is buttoned upto the collar and lengthwise it is usually below the knee. It adds to the charm and grace of men, especially the taller ones. Indian men spend lavishly on buying the sherwani suit for the special occasion of their wedding. In India, one can spot many men wearing turban. Well, turban is tied not for the sake of fashion, but because it has a lot of significance in the lives of Indians. The hair turban is a headdress that basically consists of a long piece of unstitched cloth, which is wrapped around the head.
No comments:
Post a Comment