Indian Traditional Dress Regional Variations

 

What people wear in different parts of India is a good way to judge the cultural diversity of this land. It is also interesting to note what people of regions to wear, the commonalities and the dissimilarities. Despite so much of variety in clothing, particularly that of the womenfolk, there still remains the penchant for the traditional clothing. This traditional clothing, also called the ethnic wear, has regional variations in India. Would you not like to know what are the peculiarities of indian traditional dress from different regions of the country?

Sari

Basically, this is  a piece of unstitched clothing which can range up to 9 meters in length. This is made from different fabrics and is worn in different styles throughout India. Quite rightly, this is considered to be the original ethnic or traditional wear of women in India. Some of the famous saree types have regional connotations in their names. So, we have Banarsi saree from Varanasi, Kanchipuram saree from Tamil Nadu, Sambhalpuri from eastern parts of India, Mysore saree from Karnataka and Paithani from Maharashtra.

Mundum Neriyathum

It is a type of saree only and is worn in Kerala. The word ‘mundum’ denotes that this piece of clothing was worn in ancient times at the lower end of the body. The Neriyathum was worn on the upper part of the body. This is believed to the oldest form of garment still being worn in India.

Mekhela Sador

This is the traditional dress of the people of Assam in India. This is generally a three-piece of clothing. The Sador is worn in the upper part of the body whereas the Mekhela is worn on the lower half of the body. Women can also wear a stringed skirt beneath the Mekhela garment.

Rignai

This is another famous traditional wear of women folk in India, and is extremely popular in Tripura. This is a saree and is worn with Rikutu, which is a blouse piece.

Salwar Kameez

This is the ethnic wear from the state of Punjab in India. Kameez is the upper wear which is waist or thigh length, and Salwar is the bottom wear. This is worn by people in north India, Pakistan and even in Afghanistan.

These are some of the most popular variants of the ethnic style clothing for women in India. This is also famous in the countries abroad and is worn by women having origins in the Indian subcontinent.