Indian Ethnic Clothing

Indian Ethnic Clothing Definition

Source(google.com.pk)
 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.
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.

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. 

Indian Ethnic Clothing

Indian Ethnic Clothing

Indian Ethnic Clothing

Indian Ethnic Clothing

Indian Ethnic Clothing

Indian Ethnic Clothing

Indian Ethnic Clothing

Indian Ethnic Clothing

Indian Ethnic Clothing

Indian Ethnic Clothing

Indian Ethnic Clothing