Indian Traditional Dresses

                                  Indian Traditional Dresses

India has 28 states and 9 union territories, each having a different culture and civilization. Each state has its own traditional clothes and fashion culture. Here we are presenting a collection of dress codes of 28 Indian states.Clothing in India is dependent upon the different ethnicity, geography, climate, and cultural traditions of the people of each region of India. Historically, male and female clothing has evolved from simple garments like kaupina, langota, dhoti, lungi, sari, gamcha, and loincloths to cover the body into elaborate costumes not only used in daily wear, but also on festive occasions, as well as rituals and dance performances. In urban areas, western clothing is common and uniformly worn by people of all social levels. India also has a great diversity in terms of weaves, fibers, colours, and material of clothing. Sometimes, color codes are followed in clothing based on the religion and ritual concerned. The clothing in India also encompasses the wide variety of Indian embroidery, prints, handwork, embellishment, styles of wearing clothes. A wide mix of Indian traditional clothing and western styles can be seen in India.

1. Andhra Pradesh:

Andra Pardesh

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh is a southern state in India. It shares its boundaries with Telangana, Chhatisgarh, and Odisha with Bay of Bengal in the east. Called “Rice Bowl of India” as they grow rice in plenty.

 

Andhra Pradesh is regarded as the Kohinoor of India for its famous weaving and dying industry. The traditional wear of Andhra Pradesh is much same as other southern Indian states. Men usually wear kurta and dhoti, while lungis are also worn with a kurta. Muslim men wear pajamas with kurta in place of the dhoti.

The women of Andhra Pradesh wear saree and they are original handloom sarees, young women wear Langa Voni. For marriage ceremonies, the bride wears silk sarees which are red and decorated with gold plating, while the bridegroom wears kurta and full-length dhoti.

 

With the influence of western culture people of urban areas wear western clothes in office/workplace. women prefer to wear salwar kameez or western clothing rather than saree. Youth and kids wear pants, shirts, and t-shirts.

2. Arunachal Pradesh:

arunachal Pradesh

Image source = https://pasighat.wordpress.com

Arunachal Pradesh is the north-eastern state of India bordering with Nagaland and Assam to the south, while Myanmar to the east, Bhutan in the west, and China to the north. Their dresses are very vibrant, bright and their myriad patterns vary with different tribes. The Attire of Arunachal Pradesh is remarkable and famous all over India.

The Monpas, Buddhist community are famous for their skull cap, women wear sleeveless chemise with a long jacket. There is a narrow strip of cloth that they tied around their waist to keep chemise tied in place.

Bamboo earring and silver earrings are very common. Females of tribes residing in lower Kamla valley have a very peculiar costume. They tie their hairs in a knot just above their forehead.

 

Men wear sleeveless material made of silk with two edges pinned to the shoulder area. The clothing is knee-long and its hallmark is the skull -cap smeared with hairs of yak.

Tang’s tribe people adorn costume which is the style of Burmese. Men wear sleeveless shirt and lungi of green color with white, red and yellow yarn. Women wear woven petticoat with a blouse. Miji women wear a long cloak and big earrings.

 

3. Assam:

Assam

Assam

Assam is surrounded by seven northeastern states in India. The traditional dress for men is dhoti-kurta while for women they wear ‘Mekhela-Chador‘ or ‘Riha-Mekhela’.

This traditional dress is made from the prestigious ‘Muga Silk‘ which is the peculiarity, as well as the pride of Assam. They also wear ‘Dokhora’ and dresses like a salwar suit, sari, etc. Women feel proud to wear handloom products, especially Mekhela chador, during special occasions like weddings and festivals like Bihu and Saraswati puja.

 

The women of the Bodo Tribe wear Mekhela paired with a chadar while women of the Thai Phake Tribe wear a striped girdle called Chiarchin. The traditional dress worn by the menfolk of Assam is ‘Suria’ or ‘dhoti’ and ‘kameez’ or ‘shirt’ and over it, a chadar known as ‘Seleng’ is spread.

4. Bihar:

chhatpuja

Bihar

The traditional dress of Bihari people includes the dhoti-mirjai or the kurta for men and Saree for women. The effects of western culture have also affected the lives of the people of Bihar where women prefer to wear saree or Kameez-Salwar.

 

The saree is worn in the “Seedha Aanchal” style traditionally. Western shirts and trousers are also becoming very popular in both rural and urban male population.

5. Chhattisgarh:

Tribal Dance & Music in Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh

Chhattisgarh is a central state of India. It’s rich in culture, legacy, and enormous diversity of various ethnic sets. Chhattisgarh tribes wear bright and colorful fabrics. They love to wear jewelry in their neck. Chhattisgarh traditional women clothing is Kuchhora style saree. Their saree are knee-length.

 

Men in tribal groups wear dhotis and headgears like cotton turbans. The fabrics used are linen, silk, and cotton and they are usually painted with molten wax. Their tie and dye technique used in fabrics is called Batik.

6. Goa:

Goa

Goa

Goa the land of beaches is immensely popular among tourists. The women of goa wear Nav Vari which is a 9-yard saree studded with precious stones and worn with beautiful accessories.

Other women’s traditional costumes are ‘Pano Bhaju‘. The men in goa wear brightly colored shirts, half pants, and bamboo hats.

7. Gujarat:

dandiya

The traditional dress of Gujarat is unique in its own way. The women wear Chaniyo choli, Chaniyo is a colored petticoat embroidered with glass pieces while choli is a colored piece of coarse cloth covering the upper body.

Along with the colorful attire, women adorn themselves in sparkling ornaments. Men wear Chrono & Kediyu, but nowadays instead of wearing traditional outfits, people dress in modern apparel.

8. Haryana:

Haryana Costume

Women love to wear colorful dresses. Their basic trousseau includes ‘Damaan’, ‘Kurti’ & ‘Chunder’. ‘Chunder’ is the long, colored piece of cloth, decorated with shiny laces, meant to cover the head and is drawn in the front like the ‘pallav’ of the saree. Kurti is a shirt like a blouse, usually white in color. The ‘Daaman’ is the flair ankle-long skirt, in striking colors.

The men generally wear ‘Dhoti’, the wrap-around cloth, tucked in between the legs with a white-colored kurta worn atop it. ‘Pagri’ is the traditional headgear for men, which is now worn mainly by the old villagers. All-white attire is a status symbol for men.

9. Himachal Pradesh:

Himachal Pradesh

Himachal Pradesh

The people of Himachal Pradesh mostly wear woolens as its best suited to the climate. Scarves and shawls are ubiquitous with the women while the men can be found in various types of Kurtas and the typical Himachal cap.

The Rajput males comprise starch stiffened Kurtas and body-hugging ‘Churidaars’. The females of this group apparel themselves little conventionally costumes like kurtas (shirt-like oriental blouse), Salwars, Ghaghri (Indian long skirts), a choli (blouses or tops), and Rahide (headscarves decked with golden periphery).

10. Jammu and Kashmir:

Dance of kashmir

The Pheran is the prominent attire for Kashmiri women. The Pheran is worn by women usually has Zari, embroidery on the hemline, around pockets, and mostly on the collar area. Ladies prefer a suit and Burgha in summer and Pheran are preferred in autumn.

The typical dress of a Kashmiris man both Hindu and Muslim is Pheran, a long loose gown hanging down below the knees. The men wear a skullcap, a close-fitting shalwar (Muslims), or churidar pajama (Pandits).

11. Jharkhand:

Jharkhand

Jharkhand

On auspicious occasions in Jharkhand like Pooja Text or Wedding Vagera, people wear their local traditional clothes like kurta, pajamas, lehenga, saris, dhoti, sherwani, etc. Tussar silk sarees are made in Jharkhand, known for their elegance and unique look. Tribal women wear Parthan and Panchi.

But nowadays people have moved on from wearing traditional dresses to adopt western culture garments. People here started wearing jeans, t-shirts, shirts, lower, jackets, belly, blazer suits, etc.

12. Karnataka:

pongal

The traditional clothing for women in Karnataka is saree made of silk. Karnataka is known as the Silk hub of India as a wide variety of silk can be found here. Mysore and Banglore are mainly famous for their silk industries.

Kanchipuram or Kanjeevaram silks of Karnataka are very famous all over India. The traditional dress for men in Karnataka is Lungi, worn under the waist below a shirt. Mysore Peta is a conventional headdress for men.

13. Kerala:

Kerala clothing

Kerala clothing

The traditional clothing of women in Kerala is the ‘Kerala Saree’ or the Mundum Neriyathum. This is in two pieces, one is draped on the lower part of the body and then the neriyathu is worn over a blouse.

The men of Kerala tend to be more conservative than women and stick to tradition. Mundu is worn on the lower part of the body and is a long garment tucked around the waist, it reaches their ankles. Many prefer to wear it above their waist and the higher caste drape a cloth over their shoulders.

14. Madhya Pradesh:

Madhya pradesh

Image source = https://indiathedestiny.com/india-society/costumes/madya-pradesh-traditional-costumes

Women of Madhya Pradesh wear Lehenga and Choli with an Orni or Lugra, which is additional cloth wrapped around their heads and shoulders. Whereas the male community wears dhoti along with Bandi, which is a kind of jacket and headgear.

15. Maharashtra:

Maharastra

Maharastra

Traditional clothes for Maharashtrian males include the dhoti, also known as Dhotar, and pheta, while a choli and nine-yard saree locally known as Nauwari Saadi or Lugda are for women.

Traditional clothing is famous in rural areas while traditional people from cities also wear these clothes. These clothes are worn by Maharashtrians while performing various festivals.

16. Manipur:

Manipur

Manipur

Innaphi and Phanek are the Manipuri traditional dress for women in Manipur. A shawl or dupatta called Innaphi and a skirt called a Phanek, which is wrapped around the chest. The dress is woven with a hand in horizontal lines.

Men wear dhotis which is four and a half meters long. These are wrapped around the waist and legs and knotted at the waist, and paired with smart jackets or bundis. Headgear is a white pagri or turban.

17. Meghalaya:

Meghalaya

Meghalaya

Meghalaya has three main tribes Khasi, Jaintias, and Garos, and the traditional dress of each tribe is peculiar. The traditional Khasi female dress is called the Jainsem or Dhara, both of which are rather elaborate with several pieces of cloth, giving the body a cylindrical shape. The traditional Khasi male dress is a Jymphong, a longish sleeveless coat without collar, fastened by thongs in front.

A Garo woman also wears a blouse and an unstitched ‘lungi’ like cloth which is known as ‘Dakmanda.’ It is fastened around the waist. Both Garo men and women enjoy adorning themselves with ornaments. The women of the Jaintia tribe wear a velvet blouse along with a sarong called ‘Thoh Khyrwang’ which is wrapped around the waist.

18. Mizoram:

Mizoram

Mizoram

Mizo women love to wear Puran, which is the most favorite dress in Mizoram. The lively color and the exceptional designs and fittings made this outfit superb. Puanchei, the gorgeous dress of Mizo girls is a must during weddings and festivals such as ‘Chapchar Kut’ and ‘Pawl Kut ‘. The shades in the attire are black and white. The black portion of the textile is originated from some kind of synthetic fur. Kawrchei is a fabulous blouse for Mizo girls. That also is hand-woven and cotton material.

Mizo men drape themselves in an almost 7 feet long and 5 wide cloth-piece. In the cold season, some additional cloth is used, one on top of the other, along with a white coat, comes down from the throat enveloping till the thighs. White and red bands, stuffed with designs adorn the sleeves of these coats.

19. Nagaland:

Nagaland

Nagaland

Naga has Red as the most primary color in costumes. The traditional dress material and costume of the Angami men are kilt and wrapper, while the women use skirt, shawl, and apron. Most of the women, unlike men, wear traditional dresses. A kilt looping down to the knee is a man’s typical waist dress which is of light blue color.

A women’s skirt is a sheet of cloth that is used by rolling it along the waist and which loops down to cover legs. Neck ornaments are mainly strings of beads, shells, boar’s tusks, and horns.

20. Odisha:

Odisha costume

Source: thebetterindia.com

In Odisha western-style dress has gained greater acceptance in cities and towns among men, although the people prefer to wear traditional dresses like Dhoti, Kurtha, and Gamucha during festivals or other religious occasions. Women normally prefer to wear the Sari (Sambalpuri Sari) or the Shalwar kameez; western attire is becoming popular among younger women in cities and towns.

21. Punjab:

Punjabi attire

The traditional dress for women is the salwar suit which replaced the traditional Punjabi ghagra. The Punjabi suit is made up of a kurta or kameez and a straight cut salwar. The Patiala salwar is also very popular in India.

The traditional dress for Punjabi men is the kurta and tehmat, which is being replaced by the kurta and pajama, especially the popular muktsari style in India. It is called muktsari style because it originates from Muktsar in Punjab.

22. Rajasthan:

Rajasthan

Rajasthan

Traditionally men wear dhotis, kurta, angarkha, and paggar or safa (kind of turban headgear). Traditional Chudidar payjama (puckered trousers) frequently replaces dhoti in different regions. Women wear ghagra (long skirt) and kanchli (top). However, dress style changes with lengths and breaths of vast Rajasthan. Dhoti is worn in different ways in Marwar (Jodhpur area) or Shekhawati (Jaipur area) or Hadoti (Bundi area).

23. Sikkim:

Sikkim

image Source = https://indiathedestiny.com/india-society/costumes/sikkim-traditional-costumes

The traditional costume of Lepcha women is called Dumvum or Dumdyam. It is an ankle long costume worn like a sari. Another costume worn is Nyamrek which is beautifully attached to the blouse. another community Bhutia wear Bakhu or Kho costumes. It is a loose, cloak-style garment that is fastened at the neck on one side and near the waist with a silk or cotton belt.

Male members wear loose trousers under the Kho. The traditional outfit is complemented by embroidered leather boots by both men and women.

24. Tamil Nadu:

Tamil naidu

Source: Pinterest

In Tamil Nadu women wear sarees. The young girls wear full-length short blouse and shawl, this style of wearing is called Pavada, which also known as a half sari. Now, most of the women in cities are wearing Salwar Kameez, Jeans and Pants.

The Tamil Nadu men are usually seen dressed in Lungi along with a shirt and Angavastra. The traditional Lungi originated in the South and it is simply a short length of material worn around the thighs like a Sarong. A Dhoti is a longer Lungi but with an additional length of material pulled up between the legs.

25. Telangana:

Telangana

Telangana

Telangana is rich in cotton production and its innovative plant dye extraction history stands next to diamond mining. Traditional Women wear a sari in most parts of the state. Langa Voni, Shalwar kameez, and Churidaar are popular among the Unmarried Women.

Some of the famous sarees made in Telangana are Pochampally Saree, Gadwal sari. Male Clothing includes the traditional Dhoti also known as Pancha.

26. Tripura:

Tripura

Tripura

The dress for women for the lower half of the body is called Rigwnai in Tripuri and for the upper half of the body, the cloth has two parts Risa and Rikutu. Risa covers the chest part and the rikutu covers the whole of the upper half of the body. Nowadays risa is not worn, instead, a blouse is worn by most Tripuri women because of convenience.

The male counterpart used to wear ‘rikutu’ for the loin and ‘kamchwlwi borok’ for the upper part of the body. But in the modern age, very few people are wearing these dresses except in the rural Tripura and working class.

27. Uttar Pradesh:

Kathak

The costume of Uttar Pradesh is a very typical one where the women are clad in their saris adorned by the golden jewelry and Mangal Sutra (a chain with a pendulum gifted by the groom to his bride) worn by married women while the men look clad in dhoti kurta or kurta pajama. Toe rings are common all over the Uttar Pradesh among the married woman folks.

28. Uttarakhand:

People of Uttarakhand

People of Uttarakhand

Dress for females is Ghagara, Aagari, Dhoti Kurta, Bhotu. While for males churidar pajama, Kurta, gol topi or Jawahar topi, Bhotu, Dhoti, Mirje are worn.

Dhoti or Lungi is worn by men as a lower garment, with kurta as the upper garment. Men also like to wear headgear in Garhwal.

29. West Bengal:

sindoor

Bengali women traditionally wear the sari and shalwar kameez. The traditional dress for men like a dhoti, Panjabi, kurta, sherwani, pajama, and lungi are seen during weddings and major festivals.

But nowadays people don’t wear traditional dresses rather than they like to wear comfortable western dresses.

India's recorded history of clothing goes back to the 5th millennium BC in the Indus Valley civilization where cotton was spun, woven and dyed. Bone needles and wooden spindles have been unearthed in excavations at the site. The cotton industry in ancient India was well developed, and several of the methods survive until today. Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian described Indian cotton as "a wool exceeding in beauty and goodness that of sheep". Indian cotton clothing was well adapted to the dry, hot summers of the subcontinent. The grand epic Mahabharata, composed by about 400 BC, tells of the god Krishna staving off Draupadi's disrobing by bestowing an unending cheera upon her.[better source needed] Most of the present knowledge of ancient Indian clothing comes from rock sculptures and paintings in cave monuments such as Ellora. These images show dancers and goddesses wearing what appears to be a dhoti wrap, a predecessor to the modern sari. The upper castes dressed themselves in fine muslin and wore gold ornaments The Indus civilisation also knew the process of silk production. A recent analysis of Harappan silk fibres in beads have shown that silk was made by the process of reeling, a process allegedly is known only to China until the early centuries AD. Kimkhwāb is an Indian brocade woven of silk and gold or silver thread. word kimkhwāb, derived from the Persian, means "a little dream", Kimkhwāb, known in India from ancient times, was called hiraṇya, or cloth of gold, in Vedic literature (c. 1500 BC). In the Gupta period (4th–6th century AD) it was known as puṣpapaṭa a, or cloth with woven flowers. During the Mughal period (1556–1707), when kimkhwāb was extremely popular with the rich, the great centres of brocade weaving were Benares (Vārānasi), Ahmādābād, Surat, and Aurangābād. Benares is now the most important centre of kimkhwāb production.When Alexander invaded Gandhara in 327 BC, block-printed textiles from India were noticed.

According to the Greek historian Arrian:

"The Indians use linen clothing, as says Nearchus, made from the flax taken from the trees, about which I have already spoken. And this flax is either whiter in colour than any other flax, or the people being black make the flax appear whiter. They have a linen frock reaching down halfway between the knee and the ankle, and a garment which is partly thrown round the shoulders and partly rolled round the head. The Indians who are very well-off wear earrings of ivory; for they do not all wear them. Nearchus says that the Indians dye their beards various colours; some that they may appear white as the whitest, others dark blue; others have them red, others purple, and others green. Those who are of any rank have umbrellas held over them in the summer. They wear shoes of white leather, elaborately worked, and the soles of their shoes are many-coloured and raised high, in order that they may appear taller."

Evidence from the 1st century AD shows the Buddhas were portrayed as wearing saṃghāti that forms a part of the Kasaya of Buddhist monks.During the Maurya and Gupta period, the people wore both stitched and non-stitched clothing. The main items of clothing were the Antariya made of white cotton or muslin, tied to the waist by a sash called Kayabandh and a scarf called the Uttariya used to drape the top half of the body.[citation needed]New trade routes, both overland and overseas, created a cultural exchange with Central Asia and Europe. Romans bought indigo for dyeing and cotton cloth as articles of clothing. Trade with China via the Silk Road introduced silk textiles using domesticated silkworms. Chanakya's treatise on public administration, the Arthashastra written around 3rd century BC, briefly describes the norms followed in silk weaving.

A variety of weaving techniques were employed in ancient India, many of which survive to the present day. Silk and cotton were woven into various designs and motifs, each region developing its distinct style and technique. Famous among these weaving styles were the Jamdani, Kasika vastra of Varanasi, butidar, and the Ilkal saree.[citation needed] Brocades of silk were woven with gold and silver threads. The Mughals played a vital role in the enhancement of the art, and the paisley and Latifa Buti are fine examples of Mughal influence

Dyeing of clothes in ancient India was practised as an art form. Five primary colours (Suddha-varnas) were identified and complex colours (Misra – varnas) were categorised by their many hues. Sensitivity was shown to the most subtlest of shades; the ancient treatise, Vishnudharmottara states five tones of white, namely Ivory, Jasmine, August moon, August clouds after the rain and the conch shell. The commonly used dyes were indigo(Nila), madder red and safflower. The technique of mordant dyeing was prevalent in India since the second millennium BC. Resist dyeing and Kalamkari techniques were hugely popular and such textiles were the chief exports.

Integral to the history of Indian clothing is the Kashmiri shawl. Kashmiri shawl varieties include the Shahtoosh, popularly known as the 'ring shawl' and the pashmina wool shawls, historically called pashm. Textiles of wool find mention as long back as the Vedic times in association with Kashmir; the Rig Veda refers to the Valley of Sindh as being abundant in sheep,[citation needed]  and the god Pushan has been addressed as the 'weaver of garments',

 which evolved into the term pashm for the wool of the area. Woolen shawls have been mentioned in Afghan texts of the 3rd century BC, but reference to the Kashmir work is done in the 16th century AD. The sultan of Kashmir, Zain-ul-Abidin is generally credited with the founding of the industry. A story says that the Roman emperor Aurelian received a purple pallium from a Persian king, made of Asian wool of the finest quality.[citation needed] The shawls were dyed red or purple, red dye procured from cochineal insects and purple obtained by a mixture of red and blue from indigo.The most prized Kashmiri shawls were the Jamavar and the Kanika Jamavar, woven using weaving spools with coloured thread called kani and a single shawl taking more than a year for completion and requiring 100 to 1500 kanis depending on the degree of elaboration.

Indian textiles were traded from ancient times with China, Southeast Asia, and the Roman Empire. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea mentions mallow cloth, muslins and coarse cottons. Port towns like Masulipatnam and Barygaza won fame for its production of muslins and fine cloth. Trade with the Arabs who were middlemen in the spice trade between India and Europe brought Indian textiles into Europe, where it was favored by royalty in the 17th–18th century.The Dutch, French and British East India Companies competed for monopoly of the spice trade in the Indian Ocean but were posed with the problem of payment for spices, which was in gold or silver. To counter this problem, bullion was sent to India to trade for the textiles, a major portion of which were subsequently traded for spices in other trade posts, which then were traded along with the remaining textiles in London. Printed Indian calicos, chintz, muslins and patterned silk flooded the English market and in time the designs were copied onto imitation prints by English textile manufacturers, reducing the dependence on India.

The British rule in India and the subsequent oppression following the Bengal Partition sparked a nationwide Swadeshi movement. One of the integral aims of the movement was to attain self-sufficiency, and to promote Indian goods while boycotting British goods in the market.This was idealised in the production of Khadi. Khadi and its products were encouraged by the nationalist leaders over British goods, while also being seen as a means to empower the rural artisans.In India, women's clothing varies widely and is closely associated with the local culture, religion and climate.

Traditional Indian clothing for women in the north and east are saris worn with choli tops; a long skirt called a lehenga or pavada worn with choli and a dupatta scarf to create an ensemble called a gagra choli; or salwar kameez suits, while many south Indian women traditionally wear sari and children wear pattu langa.[citation needed] Saris made out of silk are considered the most elegant. Mumbai, formerly known as Bombay, is one of India's fashion capitals.[citation needed] In many rural parts of India, traditional clothing is worn. Women wear a sari, a long sheet of colourful cloth, draped over a simple or fancy blouse. Little girls wear a pavada. Both are often patterned. Bindi is a part of women's make-up.[citation needed] Indo-western clothing is the fusion of Western and Subcontinental fashion. Other clothing includes the churidar, gamucha, kurti and kurta, and sherwani.

The traditional style of clothing in India varies with male or female distinctions. This is still followed in rural areas, though is changing in the urban areas. Girls before puberty wear a long skirt (called langa/paawada in Andhra) and a short blouse, called a choli, above it.