Why The Story Of Indian Sari Is As Complex As Its Pleats.

Sari is a rectangular piece of unstitched cloth that has been draped in different styles over the millennium in parts of India, differently by communities, and it's social echelons, are due to its immense adaptations and suitability to it's climate and aesthetics.

According to sixteenth century Portuguese travelers Hindu women wore white garments of very thin cotton or silk bright color, five yards long, one part of which is girt round their below and the other part on their shoulder across their breasts in such a way that one arm and shoulder remains uncovered.

A glance into the sari’s uneven origins, colonial-era influences and confluent meanings encourages wearers to go beyond its projection as a timeless marker of Indian woman, and identify the historical forces that shaped the meanings associated with sari as we know it.

If you try to picture Rabindranath Tagore especially if you are a fan of the poet and his literary works you will  visualises his trademark silver beard and a kurta that almost touches the ground. However, fasion experts are of opinion that he was not just prolific with his words, but also in his style of dressing.

In an era, where women had just only begun to venture outdoors, the poet's family had already conceptualised androgynous clothing, which is a rage today. 

Tagore’s sister-in-law, Jnanadanandini Devi, brought the Parsi  community's way of draping the Sari from Mumbai to Bengal. .Although the Parsi style which included blouse and petticoat, was much less cumbersome than the conventional style prevailing.

When Parsi girls become women the day they wear a sari. The sari perawanu or sari-wearing ceremony is a rite of passage.  At the centre of the celebration are five married women who help the girl wear a gara or sari for the first time. They tie a small knot of rice, a symbol of fertility, into the corner of the pallu before sprinkling it with water. Surprising some communities among Hindus to have such a ritual, but to trace the origin is difficult.

However Jnanadanandini Devi managed to create the present way of draping sarees that would make the woman’s life much easier. 

But to a local newspaper's advertisement of her creation impressed women of Bengali society, and eventually the rest of India, began to dress in this fashion style. 

While Tagore’s contribution to the world of literature is widely lauded, it is the Tagore family’s endeavours in fashion that altered the cultural fabric of India and brought women out of homes and to the forefront.

The Sari further charged around 1900s under the ideological stipulations of the Swadeshi movement, which spurned European cloth and the imitation of their fashion. In this period, it got elevated from the diffuseness and regional variety of its historical origins to a distinct and precise sartorial national emblem. 

The identity of the Bhadramahila began to get equated with the perception of Indian woman, with sabhyata flavours the moral force deemed missing in the West  which continued into the post-colonial era.

There are chances of the saree becoming like the kimono, which Japanese women wear only on formal occasions having switched to Western dress for daily wear

While do you foresee the replacement of the saree by Western clothing, Or a gradual shift towards the salwar kameez for everyday wear because of its practicality? 

The saree will, in turn, be elevated into an emblem of India culture and tradition!

"There is hopeful symbolism in the fact that flags do not wave in a vacuum."

Blogs:

1.http://gavirangappa.blogspot.com/2022/07/the-history-and-evolution-of-sarees.html

2.http://gavirangappa.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-history-and-evolution-of-sarees.html

3.http://gavirangappa.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-march-of-workers-weavers.html

4.http://gavirangappa.blogspot.com/2021/05/textiles-technology-2050-circular.html

5.http://gavirangappa.blogspot.com/2022/04/khana-of-gulegudda-and-muslin-of-dhaka.html

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