Naari-Magazine aug edition

SERIES
Halebidu
Ellora
East or west, north or south, all scriptures
show that women wore waist garment with
lot of ornaments on the upper part. From
Brahadeeswara and Hampi temple sculptures,
we can see that the saree style that we have now
has started from 9th century itself.
With this history established, we will try to
learn more about the saree wearing style from
time immemorial. An unstitched garment made
of variety of fabrics starting from cotton, loin to
silk is worn in the kachcha style, meaning that
after draping it around the waist, the wearer
passed one end of the cloth or the center pleat
Sanchi Stupa
between the legs and tucked it up behind to
facilitate freer movement of the lower body and
the legs. The cloth itself came to be known as
neevi. A piece of cloth worn across the breasts
by women was called kanchuki (earliest form of
Choli). Then came the shawl-like Uttariyas that
were worn to cover the kanchuki.
The saree fabric and designs evolved so well
that we have now so many varieties of fabric and
designs. Similarly the colors were made from
vegetable dyes and many natural ingredients for
many centuries in India. We can see them from
the temple wall paintings.
In India, every state has its own special mark
in the saree. To apprehend and boast, a list of
saree types are tablulated.
Saree discussion cannot end in just one simple
article. So we will dive deeper in the coming
issues.
16 | NAARI - THE WOMAN