In India the Sari is not just a costume, it is a tradition, a way of life that signifies gracefulness among Indian women. Of all kinds of stitched and unstitched garments worn by the Indian woman, the sari is considered to be the most elegant. A typical sari is approximately 5.5 metres long and 1.3 metres wide, worn by folding, pleating and wrapping in such a way that it covers the entire body from head to toe. In Maharashtra and Karnataka, women wear saris that are nine yards long
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The term sari originates from the Sanskrit words shati and shatika, which appears for the first time in the Panchatantra.
Numerous literary, epigraphic, numismatic and sculptural references to the sari testify to the continuity of this garment, perhaps the oldest indigenous attire. Women in the Vedic period wore an antariya (lower garment), an uttariya (upper garment) and a kayaband (waistband). Gradually, from the Sunga and Kushan periods, we have deescriptions of a garment that is like a sari.
From early references, it appears that initially the sari was the only garment worn by women. With time, however, a choli (upper garment) was added to this ensemble, making it the three-piece attire that it is today.
As is clear in literary references and aesthetic representations of the past, the sari has been worn in many different styles. The most frequent wearing styles are the kachcha style; the nivi style;and a combinations of the kachcha and ghagra styles. These different wearing styles lend variation to the outfit. Even today, women in Maharashtra wear the sari differently from those in Bengal, Gujarat, or North India, Interestingly, women of Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh wear the sari in more than ten different styles.
A Cotton Sari with simple design is generally used as everyday wear, while bright-colored Silk Saris are normally worn on special occasions like festivals or weddings.
At present, the handloom industry of India is busy in the production of saris. Weavers create magic by producing saris from various kinds of material such as muslin, cotton and silk. These saris are woven with designs ranging from human beings to animal figurines, birds and floral motifs. They are either embellisehd on the loom itself (jamdani, baluchari, zari, or ikat) or woven plain and later embellished through block printing, bandhani, or embroidery.
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