🇮🇳 The sarees of India
127 sarees from India, best known first, across 80 centres and states.
The sari is an unstitched length of woven cloth draped over the body, worn across India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Pakistan. Its history runs back to ancient drapery in the northwest of the subcontinent, and it shares roots with earlier pieces like the stanapatta, uttariya and antariya.
- A sari measures 4.5 to 9 yards long and 24 to 47 inches wide.
- Over 80 drapes are recorded; historian Rta Kapur Chishti found 108 across 14 states.
- Cotton was cultivated and woven in the subcontinent around the 5th millennium BCE.
- Indigo, lac, red madder and turmeric were ancient dyes, still in use today.
- Red is the most favoured colour for a Hindu wedding sari.
Sarees in India
The sari is a single piece of unstitched cloth. It can run from about four and a half to nine yards long and roughly two to four feet wide. One end is tucked at the waist and the other rests on a shoulder like a stole, often leaving the midriff bare. The word comes from shatika, a Sanskrit term for a strip of cloth. Older texts describe a set of three pieces: a chest band, a shoulder veil and a wrap for the lower body. These grew into the modern choli, dupatta and skirt. The garment is everyday and formal wear across the region, and it sits beside related draped cloth in Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
Weaves and fabrics
Cotton was grown and woven in the subcontinent from around the fifth millennium BCE, and silk from about 2450 to 2000 BCE. Handloom saris are made in silk and cotton. Named traditions include brocade silks such as Banarasi, Kanchipuram, Gadwal, Paithani, Mysore, Chanderi and Maheshwari, and lighter cloths like jamdani, tant, Mangalagiri, Ilkal and tussar. Ikat and tie-dye appear too. Polyester, georgette and charmeuse are now common as well.
How it is worn
More than eighty drapes have been recorded, and one scholar, Rta Kapur Chishti, documented a hundred and eight across fourteen states. The nivi style is the most seen today: cloth wrapped at the waist, pleats in front, the loose end, or pallu, over one shoulder. Related family styles include kaccha or nauvari, where pleats pass between the legs, and sidha pallu, worn by women in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat and Rajasthan, with the end brought forward. Bengali wear folds in a single box pleat. In Nepal, a Newari drape ties the pallu at the waist.
Dyeing, printing and embroidery
Dyeing is old here. Indigo, lac, red madder and turmeric were used in ancient times and are still worked with. Tie-dye and block-print saris include bandhani, leheria, bagru, ajrakh, sungudi, dabu, bagh and kalamkari. Embroidery covers gota patti for formal wear, plus mochi, pakko, kharak, suf, kathi, phulkari and gamthi. In the south the choli is called ravike and ties at the front; kasuti embroidery decorates it.
Weaving centres
Many saris are known by the place or style they come from. Silk brocades include Banarasi, Kanchipuram, Gadwal, Paithani, Mysore, Uppada, Chanderi, Maheshwari and Narayanpet. Ikat and cotton saris include Patola, Pochampally, Bomkai, Khandua, Sambalpuri, Berhampuri, Bargarh, Jamdani, Tant, Mangalagiri, Guntur, Tussar, Ilkal, Kotpad and Manipuri. Kerala keeps a two-piece mundum neryathum. Kashmir took the choli from the Deccan by royal order.
Weddings, festivals and daily wear
Red is the favourite colour for a wedding sari, and it is the traditional bridal choice at Hindu weddings. Handloom silks, brocades, tie-dye and block prints serve festive and formal days. Ikat and cotton saris are worn for both festival and everyday use, while tie-dyed and printed cloth was favoured in the monsoon. A married woman may draw the loose end over her head as a ghoonghat, still seen in Hindi-speaking areas.
The saree today
The sari stays fashionable in the subcontinent and counts as formal dress in several countries of the region. Newer fabrics such as polyester, georgette and charmeuse are widely used. Since 2017 a non-profit project, the Sari Series, has gathered short films showing more than eighty regional drapes, keeping that variety visible.
The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Sari", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. EveryPallu rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.
Weaving centres and states of India
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreSariसाड़ी
An unstitched cloth draped over the body, worn across the Indian subcontinentCotton · Brocade · Ikat
🇮🇳 IndiaPatola sari
A double ikat silk saree from Patan, Gujarat, with patterns dyed into both threadsSilk · Ikat
🇮🇳 IndiaBhagalpur sari
A tussar silk sari from Bhagalpur, known for its dyeing and its handloomsSilk
🇮🇳 IndiaPat silkপাট ৰেচম
Assam's own mulberry silk, naturally white and glossy, spun by worms fed on mulberry leavesSilk
🇮🇳 IndiaBomkai sari
A handloom Odisha saree with fish and temple threadwork on border and palluCotton · Brocade
🇮🇳 IndiaMoirang Phee
A Manipur cloth with a stepped tooth motif woven in from both edgesCotton
🇮🇳 IndiaChikankariچِکن کاری (Urdu) / चिकनकारी (Hindi)
A hand embroidery from Lucknow, usually white thread on light fabric.Cotton · Embroidery · Block print
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreAgrun
A shuttle-woven Hajong shawl with big, symmetrical brocaded patternsSilk · Brocade · Zari work
🇮🇳 IndiaDharmavaram silk sari
A handwoven Andhra silk sari in mulberry silk and zari, made only on pit loomsSilk · Zari work · Tie-dye
🇮🇳 IndiaMekhela sador
A two-piece Assamese dress: a wrapped skirt and a drape, woven in muga, eri or pat silkSilk · Brocade
🇮🇳 IndiaAssam silk
Assam's three silks: golden muga, white pat and warm eri, woven in SualkuchiMuga
🇮🇳 IndiaKhandua
An Odia ikat sari, usually red or orange, worn at weddings and offered to JagannathSilk · Ikat
🇮🇳 IndiaKoorai silk sariகூரை பட்டு புடவை
A nine-yard silk and cotton bridal sari from Koranad, checked, for Tamil Hindu weddingsSilk · Checks and stripes
🇮🇳 IndiaLeheriya
A Rajasthani tie-dye of diagonal stripes, rolled and bound before the dye goes inCotton · Tie-dye
🇮🇳 IndiaPochampally sari
A Telangana handloom saree whose geometric motifs come from dyed-then-woven ikat yarnsSilk · Ikat
🇮🇳 IndiaKorial sariকোরিয়াল শাড়ি
A handwoven Bengal silk sari with a red border and fine designs on the anchalSilk · Brocade · Zari work
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreMashru
A heavy hand-woven satin with a silk face over cotton, woven in Punjab and SindhSilk
🇮🇳 IndiaMaheshwari saree
A handloom saree woven in Maheshwar, Madhya Pradesh, in cotton, silk and zariCotton · Zari work
🇮🇳 IndiaUttariya
Ancient Indian upper garment of loose cloth draped over shoulders and armsCotton
🇮🇳 IndiaDorea
A striped or checked cloth of the Indian subcontinent, first cotton then silkCotton · Checks and stripes
🇮🇳 India and 3 moreTussar silkkosa (Sanskrit)
A wild silk with a dull gold sheen, gathered in forests and woven into sareesSilk · Kantha
🇮🇳 IndiaSambalpuri sari
A handwoven Odisha sari patterned by tie-dyeing yarn before weavingSilk · Ikat · Tie-dye
🇮🇳 IndiaKasavu
A Kerala handloom cloth with fine gold or silver border lines on white cottonCotton · Zari work
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 5 moreBatikꦧꦛꦶꦏ꧀
A wax-resist dyeing technique from Java, used for patterned cloth.Silk · Batik · Hand painting
🇮🇳 IndiaDokhonaदख'ना
A wrap-around cloth worn by Boro women of Assam, usually yellow, with woven Agor designsCotton · Brocade
🇮🇳 IndiaKanchipuram sari
A silk sari from Kanchipuram with a separate contrast border locked onto the bodySilk · Zari work · Temple border
🇮🇳 IndiaGamosaগামুছা
A white cotton cloth with a red border from Assam, woven for Bihu, prayer and daily useCotton
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreKhadi
Hand-spun woven cloth from cotton and other fibres, promoted in India's independence movementCotton
🇧🇩 Bangladesh and 5 moreLungiলুঙ্গি
A tube of cotton tied at the waist, worn by men across South Asia and beyondCotton · Checks and stripes · Batik
🇮🇳 IndiaBhagalpuri silk
A wild tussar silk saree crafted from forest silkworms native to IndiaTussar
🇮🇷 Iran and 4 moreZardoziزردوزی
Heavy gold and silver metal embroidery on silk, satin or velvet, from Iran to IndiaSilk · Embroidery · Zari work
🇮🇳 IndiaHimroo
A silk and cotton brocade from Aurangabad, patterned with Persian designsSilk · Brocade
🇮🇳 IndiaChanderi sari
A fine silk or cotton sari woven in Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, with zari motifsSilk · Brocade · Zari work
🇮🇳 IndiaBanarasi sari
Fine silk sari from Varanasi, patterned with zari and woven on foot-powered loomsSilk · Brocade · Zari work
🇮🇳 IndiaOdisha Ikat
A tie-dyed Odisha silk weave known for curvilinear motifs and brocade bordersSilk · Ikat · Brocade
🇮🇳 IndiaKovai Cora cotton
A handwoven cotton-silk saree from the Coimbatore region of Tamil NaduCotton · Zari work
🇮🇳 IndiaMurshidabad silkমুর্শিদাবাদী রেশম
A fine, light mulberry silk from Murshidabad district, West Bengal, woven mainly into sarisSilk · Brocade · Zari work
🇮🇳 IndiaUppada Jamdani sari
A light handwoven silk sari from Uppada, Andhra Pradesh, with motifs on both facesSilk · Jamdani · Zari work
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreMatka
A coarse Bengal silk spun from cocoons the moth has already leftSilk
🇮🇳 IndiaJamawar
A brocaded Kashmiri shawl, sold by the yard and once worn as a noble's gownWool · Brocade
🇮🇳 IndiaKalamkari
A pen-drawn textile art from Andhra Pradesh, coloured with natural dyesCotton · Kalamkari · Block print
🇮🇳 IndiaShaphee Lanphee
A black Manipuri shawl with red borders, embroidered by hand with animals, sun and starsCotton · Embroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaSari-inspired dress
A sewn Western dress that borrows the sari's drape, colour and ornamentSilk · Embroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaKasta sariनऊवारी साड़ी
A nine-yard Maharashtra sari tucked at the back and worn like a dhotiCotton
🇮🇩 Indonesia and 5 moreIkat
A resist-dyeing method that patterns yarns before they are wovenCotton · Ikat
🇮🇳 IndiaBafta
A plain-woven cotton calico from Gujarat, woven at Bharuch and traded far and wideCotton
🇮🇳 IndiaAntariya
An ancient lower body garment from India made of a long cotton or silk stripCotton
🇮🇳 IndiaBagh print
Hand block printing with natural red and black dyes from a village on the Bagh riverCotton · Block print
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Chanderi sari: India Untravelled, CC BY 2.0, source
- Rajshahi silk: Bongan, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Patola sari: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Pat silk: Hiranmoy Boruah, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Bomkai sari: Nayansatya, CC BY 3.0, source
- Srikalahasti kalamkari: Anilbhardwajnoida, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Chikankari: Joey Berzowska, CC BY 2.0, source
- Dharmavaram silk sari: Ch Maheswara Raju, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mekhela sador: Deepraj, CC BY 2.5, source
- Koorai silk sari: En.saravanan, CC BY 4.0, source
- Leheriya: Daderot, CC0, source
- Pochampally sari: Hermann Linde, Public domain, source
- Mashru: Edwin Lord Weeks, Public domain, source
- Uttariya: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, source
- Tussar silk: Biswarup Ganguly, CC BY 3.0, source
- Sambalpuri sari: Rahul191313, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Batik: Fpangestuphotographer, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Dokhona: Bodoland Territorial Council, CC0, source
- Kanchipuram sari: McKay Savage, CC BY 2.0, source
- Gamosa: Priyankoo at en.wikipedia, Public domain, source
- Khadi: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Lungi: Laportechicago at English Wikipedia (Paul La Porte)., CC BY 2.5, source
- Banarasi sari: Ekabhishek, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Odisha Ikat: Atudu, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Sari-inspired dress: Triangle films, Public domain, source
- Ikat: Midori, CC BY 3.0, source
- Kasta sari: Dakutaa at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Antariya: Raja Ravi Varma, Public domain, source
- Bagh print: Mrqd9, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Zardozi: Zarood, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Himroo: RubyGoes, CC BY 2.0, source