Different Types of Traditional Dress in India

Last Updated on 13/01/2021

Traditional dress is the identity among of Indian people. There are different types of traditional dress for different states. There is no similarity of traditional dress between two states. Indian tradional dress is dependent upon the different ethnicity, geography, climate, and cultural traditions of the people of each region of India. In this article I will present traditional dress of different states in India.

Traditional Dress of Punjab:

Punjab is one of the beautiful state in India. The unique clothing of Punjab shows the vibrant and dazzling lifestyle and culture of this region. The clothing of Punjab plays a important role to show beauty of Punjab. In most of the Punjab phulkari is used which is nothing but type of flower work or can also be called as a special kind of embroidery sewn commonly in shawls and Ghagra Choli. Phulkari is generally a costume of women living in rural areas, genre is one of the popular dress code used in day to day clothing. Basically this phulkari is plain but in some traditional festivals phukari with a unique embroidery is used.
Traditional dress of Punjab
Fig: Traditional dress of Punjab

The most popular and commonly used clothing of women in Punjab is churidar Kurta. Womens of Punjab always gives first preference for traditional clothing. Churidar kurta is used in most of the state in india with colorful Dupattas. Generally in salwar and kameez , Kameez (a type of girl’s shirt) is the top piece and Salwar (a type of pant) is the bottom piece. Dupatta is required to be matched with salwar kameez. The unique and favorite costume for men in Punjab is Kurta Pyjama. Most of the punjabi people wearing this clothing. The Kurta is nothing but a type of shirt which is straight-cut and long. The Pyjama is loose which need to be tied on the waist with the help of lace. With kurta and pajama a colorful pagadi is used by most of the Punjabi people.

Traditional Dress of Maharashtra:

Men in Maharashtra generally wear a white colour dhoti with a shirt called as pheta. They also wear a folded cap like headdress which is made by cotton, silk and wool. It is called as pheta. Like pheta pagadi is also a head dress but it used in rare case. Pagadi, the prepared form of turban was also used to wear, but it is rarely used this days. Bandi,is a type of jackets wear over the shirt.

Traditional clothing of Maharashtra
Fig: Traditional dress of Maharashtra

Dhoti is made of cotton cloth because it mainly contain natural comfort and more properties, which is nearly in between two to three meters long, dhoti has border design at selevedge side these may be small or big size design according to the requirements. And some dhotis are also available without designs. Dhoties are available with two selvedge one is Closed selvedge and another is tuck in selvedge. Close selvedge Dhotis are produced on power loom and another tuck in selvedge has five tucks, three into the waistband at the two sides and in front, while the loose end is tucked in front which is produce on auto loon and behind is very popular amongst the Maratha Brahmans. Nagpur-made are most popular for durable hand-made dhoties. durable hand-made dhotis, which were popular up to three decades back. But Now a days the younger generations are maximum focusing on latest fashion wears of any kind.

Traditional Dress of Tamil Nadu:

Clothing of Tamil Nadu also playing important role to show the traditional culture of Tamil nadu. Men of Tamil nadu wear lungi, dhoti and shirts.Most of the Females beautify themselves in Sari and blouse. The females decorate themselves in traditional sarees. The Tamil poetry Cilappatikaram (Silappadhikaram) explain females in sari.Zari work of Tamil Nadu reflect the traditions of Tamil Nadu. Because of unique style of kanchipuram sarees it is famous in all over the world. Kanchipuram Saree is a formal dress for women which they wear in offices, temples, and even parties and marriages. Sarees form a specific place in the apparel of Tamil Nadu. It is a popular and unique traditional outfit for Indian women. Sarees are made with wide range of materials such as georgette, cotton, micro silk, chiffon, Pottola silk, crepe silk, silk and organza.

Traditional Dress of Tamil Nadu
Fig: Traditional dress of Tamil Nadu

South Indian girls mostly worn Pavada or the half-sari. Apart from that full length skirt,davani,and blouses are also use. Now a days, the dress is substituted by salwar kurtas, trousers and jeans. Kanchipuram silk saris are very popular and women generally wear them on special occasion like religious ceremonies and wedding. The length of kanchipuram sari is rage from 4-5 metre. These are commonly wear by Brahmin females after getting married. Like women men of the Tamil Nadu also have passion to show their style and look handsome. For that purpose they wear a lungi with an Angavastra or shirt. The lungi is unique dress used by tamil nadu people. Generally the lungi is a long cloth usually manufactured from pure cotton and worn around the men’s waist. The Angavastra is similar to shirt.

Traditional Dress of West Bengal:

Like women of Tamil Nadu, Bengali women also commonly wear the shari (sari), but having slightly different designed according to local cultural customs. In urban areas, many women and men follow Western-style costumes. Bengali men also wear traditional costumes such as the Punjabi with dhoti. In olden days men’s wear lungi which is replaced by dhoti.

Traditional clothing of West Bengal
Fig: Traditional dress of West Bengal

Traditional Clothing of Gujarat:

The most popular and major festival of the Gujarat is Navratris. In this this festival, Gujarat state is well-decorated and designed by the people. Many temples are decorated with colorful flowers and attractive lights. On this occasion, most of the peoples buy new clothing and accessories. Navratri is a unique festival and celebrate 9 daysand in these entire 9 nights dandiya is held in several places. During this traditional dance, males put on a small coat like shirt namely Keviya. This coat which is tight sleeved is mainly designed with frilled pleats. It is embroidered beutifully. There is a Churidar pajama with a turban worn by gujrati mens, Along with that they use waist band and white keviya. These dresses are attractive as well as expensive. Women use ghagra choli and lehenga choli while performing this dance. Women of this state along with ghagra choli use dupatta and odhni.

Traditional dress of Gujarat
Fig: Traditional dress of Gujarat

Traditional Dress of Kutch:

The outfits which is use in Kutch are very attractive. Most of the women’s of kuch worn abhas. Abhas is a well decorated and stylish dress which is decorated with no of glass pieces. The abhas with golden and silver threads are very popular.

Traditional clothing of Kutch
Fig: Traditional dress of Kutch

It is a beautiful garment commonly worn by royal families or higher classes, which is made of cotton. In medieval times, the clothing was worn all around the waist but now it can be seen less among youngsters. However Brahmins also use to wear Patka with traditional dupattas.

About Authors:
Mr. Irfan Shafik Mujawar1 &
Mr. Aqif Yunus Kavathekar
D.K.T.E Textile & Engineering Institute, Ichalkaranji, India.
Email: irfanshams270@gmail.com1

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