Historical Background and Transitional Changes in Indian Costumes

Historical Background and Transitional Changes in Indian Costumes

Dr. Gauri Goel

India is a land of colour and diverse cultures, so evident in the varied dresses that adorn its people. Indian dressing styles are marked by many variations, both religious and regional with a wide choice of textures and styles. India is known for its hand-woven textiles, richly embroidered fabrics and authentic drapes in exclusive designs have been valued by western civilization for centuries. Indian men and women have always loved to dress up in their traditional costumes, attires and accessories during festivals and other occasions which are an integral part of Indian life. Recently, Indian costumes have been successful in attracting the attention of and capturing the global market.

Indian clothing has been influenced by diverse cultural influences since time immemorial. The sari itself, historians say dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization which flourished in 2800-1800 BC, in the north-western part of India. In fact studies show that the men’s dhoti is a prototype of the sari and both the sexes wore the former till the 14th century. The choli or the woman’s blouse is believed to have come into existence with the various European colonial powers that once occupied a major portion of the Indian subcontinent. The British did influence women’s clothing to a great extent. Indian high society ladies started wearing long-sleeved blouses with frills, very similar to the Victorian upper garment, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Historians say that the achkan, a long-sleeved coat worn mainly by Muslim men even today, originated in Central Asia, more specifically, it was the court costume for Persian and Turkish nobles. The achkan can reach down to the knees or even lower, and is buttoned in the front.

Historical background of Indian traditional saris:

Sari is the most famous traditional dress of Indian women. Different states and traditions of India illustrate different styles of wearing sari, distinct patterns, colours and fabrics.  It is an unstitched piece of cloth, which varies from five to nine yards in length and can be worn in different styles. A sari is worn over a petticoat and a short-sleeved midriff-baring blouse. The most popular style of wearing a sari is by tucking one end into the petticoat at the waist while a major portion of it is pleated neatly and tucked in the front. The rest of the sari, which is known as the pallu or pallav is taken over the left shoulder. The pallu is the most fascinating and striking feature of a sari, it is often heavily embellished with woven motifs or embroidery.

However, this authentic Indian garment has lost some of its popularity as daily wear in the recent past. The western outfits have made an inroad into the Indian woman’s wardrobe due to a shift towards rapid globalization and emerging corporate culture. Today, women prefer to wear clothes that offer ease of movement in addition to style. Also, with the boom in the retail industry Indians have a wider variety of options to pick and choose from and women are being increasingly seen in designer outfits western style outfits.

Some well-known regional styles of wearing a sari:

Bengali: In the traditional Bengali style, the sari is draped around the body without pleats and the pallu is left loose by hanging over the left shoulder often with a bunch of keys attached to it. The earlier generations of Bengali women preferred the style because of its sheer simplicity and utmost comfort.

Gujarati: The Gujarati woman sports a distinctive style, as she wears a sari with a neatly pleated pallu brought in front over the right shoulder with one end tucked around the waist to the left.

Maharashtrian: A nine-yard sari called the nawwadi is the traditional style very similar to the men’s dhoti. The pleats of the sari are placed between the legs and tucked in the centre back. Fisherwomen in the coastal regions of Maharashtra still wear a nawwadi and well, it is worn without a petticoat!

Madrasi: This style is very similar to the Maharashtrian nawwadi or the nine-yard sari. The pallu is quite long and wrapped around the waist and tucked in.

Some important varieties of Indian saris:

Banarasi: These saris are made of finely woven silk and have intricate designs done in golden thread (zari). Benarasi saris are relatively heavy and worn by Indian women on important occasions. The trousseau of any Indian bride is deemed incomplete without the customary red Benarasi sari. In fact in most states the Benarasi is the sari that the bride wears for the wedding ceremony

Baluchari: The Baluchari sari of Vishnupur in West Bengal is made of silk and woven on special looms. The borders and pallu of the sari are very striking because of its use of intricate thread work to depict stories from the Mahabharata and Ramayana.

Chanderi: Chanderi, a small town located in Madhya Pradesh has long been famous for its hand woven sarees. Silk or cotton is used to make a chanderi which is combined to create beautiful saris with artistic borders that are practically weightless. They generally have a rich gold border and the exclusive ones have gold checks with butis (round shaped motifs) all over.

Dhakai: The dhakai jamdani sari originated in the region now known as Bangladesh and is made with superior quality cotton. It was originally woven as the legendary dhakai muslin and woven with beautiful, eye-catching jamdani floral patterns.

Kantha: Literally speaking, kantha is a style of embroidery that uses the simple running stitch which is nothing but passing the needle in and out of the fabric to produce beautiful floral and human patterns. The small town of Bolpur in West Bengal is famous for producing saris with kantha embroidery.

Dhonekhali, and Begumpuri are other popular styles of saris made on handlooms in Bengal. Dhonekhali is known for its stripes and checks. Bengal being a coastal state, the fish is a much loved and commonplace motif. Consequently Dhonekhali sarees often depict rows of fish running across in horizontal stripes throughout the piece of textile.

Kanjeevaram: These are considered to be the most spectacular and exclusive silk saris of India. The little town of Kancheepuram near Chennai has been making these saris for over 400 years. Woven in brilliant colours and the designs Kanjeevarams are influenced by the paintings in the Pallava temples and palaces. The most striking characteristic of a Kanjeevaram is its zari (thread made of fine gold or silver) work done on pallus and borders of the sari.

Mysore Silk: Mysore silk saris of Karnataka are famous for their traditional designs and colours. The zari work on the pallus and borders add to the sophistication and elegance of these saris. Mysore silk saris are considered to be very durable and can be washed and worn as often as required.

Maheshwari: Hailing from Madhya Pradesh, this sari has a natural sophistication that is difficult to match. The speciality of these saris is its unique striped and chequered patterns on silk and cotton fabrics. The pallu of a Maheshwari sari bears five stripes, three coloured and two white.

Narayanpet: Narayanpet, a small town in Andhra Pradesh is a significant sari manufacturing centre. These saris come in both silk and cotton and are well known for their gorgeous zari borders with rudraksh (a special type of fruit) motifs. The pallu in these saris are very attractive with alternating coloured bands.

Pochampally: Located in Andhra Pradesh, Pochampally is famous for its rich saris in both cotton and silk incorporating traditional ikat weaves. Ikat is the name given to a weaving technique which makes use of the tie-dye process. Traditional coloures were red and black.

Paithani: In Maharashtra, a woman’s wardrobe is deemed incomplete without the inclusion of the Paithani of Paithan, a small town near Aurangabad. The hand-woven silk sari comes with an ornamented pallu with zari work and is considered to be a collector’s item. The style of the sari is characterized by the pallus with peacock designs and exclusive motifs such as flowers, fruits and birds.

Taant: The word literally means ‘made on the loom’, Taant is the traditional sari of Bengali women in India. Popularly known as Bengal cotton, taant is hand-woven in various districts of West Bengal. These saris come in a variety of colours with simple yet beautiful designs.

Venkatgiri: Venkatgiri is a small town in the Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh. Known for its fine cotton saris which go by the same name, it is a perfect wear for the Indian summer. The main characteristic of these saris are their beautiful jewel-like colours.

With the passage of time many changes occurred in these beautiful traditional saris.

·         In recent times, Kanjeevarams are being experimented with patterns from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and the Bhagwad Gita.

·         Traditionally saris were made on handlooms but now due to impact of technology spread almost all styles are weaving on power looms.

·         There is the modification in the traditional motifs of the saris and the reasons behind this includes rapidly changing fashion needs of modern society, slow processing of traditional saris (as worked on handlooms only), influence of western fashion and no protection of traditional weavers by Indian government.

·         Now the traditional pure gold and silk brocade are replaced with silver and gold coated metallic threads and even silk is not pure, it is mixed with synthetic fibres like rayon, acetate etc. due to this reason these saris lost their original gorgeous look.

·         In the wearing style of traditional saris, now due to the globalization of fashion women wear some common style generally the ulta palla sari. The working status of the women also influenced their style of wearing sari.

·         The closing stages of dacca mulmul saris are also well known. Alas! There is no as much fine and soft mulmul production in anywhere in the country as earlier. Imitation muslins are not of that fine quality.

·         Traditionally there were some specific colours and their combinations in the saris of each state but now these are woven in variety of shades and colour combinations. For example pochympally saris were traditionally in two colours red & black only but today a combination of colours are used. In the Indian tradition black colour was not used for saris but now we can see abundance of this colour.

·         The most heartbreaking change that took place is the disappearance of the traditional weavers of these saris.

·         The stylized patterns of the modern age declining the use of traditional floral and human and mythological patterns.

·         The hand embroidered kantha saris are very rare and the kantha motifs are now seen in the printed form also.

·         The value that was given earlier to the saris by the society is now decreasing continuously under the influence of western dresses.

·         The uniqueness and the prestige related with the sari is now less because mechanization of the weaving process produces a large number same design and quality but in old age there was class distinction and caste distinction due to specific saris.

·         The blouses worn with the saris has gone under many changes like the sleeves, necklines etc.

·         Dyeing process and dyes used in traditional patola, bandhni and ikat saris is also replaces by the modern machines and the synthetics dyes replaced the natural dyes.

·         Traditionally young girls in south India wear a half saree, but now they use it rarely.

Traditional Ghagra Choli:

The traditional dress for women in Rajasthan and Gujarat is the lehenga choli or ghagra choli. These cholis are brightly embroidered, waist-length bare-backed blouses. Ghagras or lehengas are gathered ankle-length skirts secured around the waist. The attire is completed by a veil-cloth called odhni or dupatta draped across the neck or over the head. The lehenga-choli or ghagra choli is extremely colourful, adding verve and colour to the surrounding landscapes. The kalidar knee length ghagra of Rajasthan, gotedar lahanga of gujrat are very famous all over the india.

Changes occurred with time:

·         Now high class women do not wear these ghagras and cholis in these areas, they wear them in ceremonial purpose only.

·         The vegetable dyes were mainly used in past now being replaced with synthetic dyes.

Traditional salwar kameez:

A popular, comfortable and convenient dress is the salwar kameez or churidar kurta. This was traditonally the dress worn in Punjab. The kameez or the kurta is a knee-length flowing tunic worn over a salwar or churidar. A salwar is a pyjama-like trouser which tapers slightly towards the ankles, while the churidar is a tight-fitting trouser which gathers at the ankles. These gathers at the ankles look like bangles (churis) and hence the name. A dupatta generally completes the ensemble. The bright coloured Salwar Kameez were the favorite dress of Panjab women with gotedar chunri.

It is the outfit commonly worn by Indian women and is second in line after the sari. The outfit is probably born out of Islamic influence especially that of Arabic and Persian cultures. Women all over the country prefer this dress mainly because of the comfort and ease of movement that it offers, besides near zero maintenance.

Transitional changes:

·         The most common change is- salwar kameez, is now the favorite costume of all ladies and girls all over the India, no matter that they belong to which caste and which state.

·         There is very fast movement in the fashion- styles of salwar kameez than any other garment. A wide variety of silhouette, colours, textures, designs are used today.

·         Salwar suits are made with using other traditional arts like bandhani, ikat, different types of embroideries, gold and silver work, brocades etc.

·         The dupatta draping styles are also different and more stylized today.

Some Interesting Regional Costumes:

Mekhla Chadar: The mekhla chadar is the traditional attire of the women of Assam, a state in the North-East India. It is a two-piece ensemble and resembles the sari – the lower part, called a mekhla is neatly pleated and tucked into the petticoat in the front. The upper piece, called a chadar is also tucked at the waist and taken over the left shoulder as a pallu. A typical mekhla chadar is made of white or golden Assamese silk with prominent thread work done in red along the lower border.

Changes occurred:

·         Now the mekhla chaddar is available in synthetic material also.

·         Now different colours are also used with the essential traditional golden yellow colour and red border.

·         The tradition of wearing mekhla chaddar is also reducing among women as they also prefer sari.

Traditional sari from Kerala: During the festival of Onam, women wear a two-piece garment very similar to a sari, with a blouse. It is worn in the same fashion as a sari but without pleats in the front. This drape usually comes in shades of white or sandalwood with a bright gold border.

Changes occurred:

·         Now women prefer one piece set sari instead of two piece sari.

·         The traditional unbleached cotton saris are also available today with different colours with same patterns.

Other changes that took place in Indian women’s costumes are:

·         Now females are adopting western attires all over the India. Jeans, tops, skirts, evening gowns, and tunics are some very common garments that they are adopting.

·         The dress distinction between male and female in not much prominent.

·         Young girls wear skirts and dresses, particularly to schools.

Some traditional costumes of Indian men are:

Dhoti & Kurta: This remains the most traditional garment of the Indian male. It is a 6 yard-long rectangular piece of unstitched white cloth, which is wrapped around the waist and between the legs. The dhoti is ideal for the torrid summer of India. Its usage can be traced back to ancient times. Though western outfits have replaced the dhoti over the years, yet it remains the chosen one for Indian festivals and weddings. It may be found in cream or off white shades, both in cotton and silk fabrics. But today one can find designer dhotis in different colours and designs.

A dhoti can be worn in a variety of ways and have different names according to the style. For example, it is called a dhuti in Bengali, veshti in Tamil and pancha in Telugu. A dhoti is usually complemented with a kurta on top but in southern parts of India, it is worn mostly with a shirt. An angavastram or an unstitched piece of cloth is placed over the left shoulder in this case. A South Indian dhoti is worn like a lungi and often has a broad zari border. A common sight in South India is that of men folding the dhoti up to the knees for the purpose of comfort, during work.

In Bengal, a dhuti is worn pleated, almost touching the ankles and tucked at the centre back. The style is such that the other end is well folded and can be held in the right hand. The garment is quite synonymous with the babus of Calcutta who worked as government servants during the British Raj. Those days the dhoti was worn with a long shirt. It also became the symbol of the Bengali gentleman and the elite who wore a plain dhoti kurta and discussed politics and literature over endless cups of tea at cafes and restaurants! Even today, Bengali men flaunt their exclusive designer dhutis with brilliant kantha stitched kurtas, during festivals and other occasions.

In some parts of Maharashtra, men still wear the traditional dhoti, which is worn shorter than the way Bengalis wear it. A white kurta and a Nehru cap completes the look of the typical Maharashtrian man.

Lungi: This is a piece of cloth sewn in a circle and worn around the waist like a sarong. Besides India, lungis are popular in several communities across Asia, such as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The most common patterns of lungis are plain, checks or stripes. It is considered to be a very comfortable garment among males in regions where conditions make it impossible and uncomfortable for the men to wear trousers all the time.

In Punjab, a lungi is also called a tehmat, which is made of extravagant silks in an endless variety of hues and shades. It is draped in a manner where the pleats fall in the front. Punjabi men wear this with a long kurta and an embroidered jacket and of course, a colourful pagdi (turban).

The Pathani suit is very similar to the salwar-kameez and is generally worn by men in north India. The Achkan is a long coat that also popular among north Indians. They wear it with churidar payjamas.

Turban and Caps:

In Hindi, an Indian Language, a turban is called a pagdi. The turban is a headdress, of Asian origin, consisting of a long scarf wound round the head or an inner hat. The turban comes in many shapes and sizes and color of turbans vary, with the cloth`s length being up to 45 meters. Early Persians wore a conical cap sometimes encircled by bands of cloth, which may be considered one of the origins of the modern turban.

In states like Rajasthan, Gujarat, Punjab and Maharashtra men wear a safa or turban on their heads. It is a long scarf which is wound round the head in different ways. Elsewhere too, various kinds of topis are worn like kullu cap.

Changes in men costumes:

·         Men are considerably less traditional when it comes to dressing. In urban areas, they have adapted to a western style of dressing.

·         The lungi originated in the south but is now worn all over india in villages.

·         In India, men’s everyday clothing is by and large restricted to western wear such as trousers, shirts and formal suits. But when it comes to festivities, it is the ethnic pajama kurta or dhoti kurta which hold sway.

·         At home men prefer shorts and payjamas instead of lungi and dhoti.

·         Now among the boys and men the western style of T-shirt is most common upper garment.

·         Kurtas with batik prints and Lucknawi embroidery are becoming popular too.

·         Now day’s men can wear embroidered churidar kurta sets in tissue, crochet sherwani with a dupatta or a jacket sherwani for the wedding.

·         Today different types of plain, coloured, printed, embroidered fabric are used for men clothing which were previously restricted to some plain fabrics with some specific colours like white.

Western dressing styles are increasingly gaining popularity among the urban youth of both sexes, but women largely restrict themselves to fashion trends within Indian dressing mores. After adolescence, and almost certainly after marriage, women are expected to wear traditional Indian clothing. This trend is changing with more women entering the urban work force, but this is confined to sections of society that are highly exposed to international lifestyles.

Make-up, jewellery and footwears:

In India, as elsewhere, accessories are an integral part of the ritual of dressing. The world over, Indian women are associated with the 'dot' in the middle of their forehead, called Kum Kum or bindi. Traditionally round, the bindi is now available in various colours, shapes and sizes. A bindi was traditionally a sign of marriage, or in some states, was worn as soon a s a girl reached young adulthood. Today it is for the most part an adornment. Vermilion or sindoor applied at the parting of the hair indicates a married woman.

A traditional Indian woman is rarely seen without jewellery. A mangal-sutra, a necklace made with black and gold beads is considered sacred, and in many areas is always worn by a married woman. Many women, particularly in the rural areas of Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat wear ornately crafted nose-rings. Gold, silver or colourful glass bangles are another favourite, dating from the tradition of never having your hands bare. Women in Rajasthan wear bangles that go all the way to their shoulders. Indian women generally have their ears pierced, and commonly sport ear-rings.

Changes occurred:

·         In the present era of fashion the society is not much restricted to the use of their traditional jewellery, today women are allowed to wear designer jewellery.

·         Traditional jewellary of gold and silver is now used with the other metallic, plastics, pearl and stone’s jwellery.

·         Punjabi chudas are increasingly being popular in today’s fashion.

·         Traditionally Indian do not wear footwear or   they wear wooden kharaun or jute footwear but now both men and women wear different styles of fashionable footwear.

·         Traditionally round kumkum of only red colour was essential for Indian married women but now being replaced by the bindis of different colours and designs.

·         Now working women prefer some very decent kind of jewellery at work place and generally do not use typical cultural jewellary.

·         Some traditional jwellery like big naths and head ornaments like mang- tikas etc are used only at some occasion, while were worn in day to day life earlier.

Conclusion:

India has its very rich cultural dresses specific to each state and caste. Those were very strictly followed in traditional time. But as the western culture influenced the Indian life style there are many changes took place with time. Technology spread carried revolutionary changes in Indian dressing style. But even today Indian people are proud of wearing their beautiful traditional dresses and they always prefer them for special occasions. To preserve the Indian rich heritage it is essential that government and people should collaborate and enforce to new generation for not to forget their traditional and valuable cultural practices.