🇮🇳 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
🇮🇳 IndiaBanarasi sari
Fine silk sari from Varanasi, patterned with zari and woven on foot-powered loomsSilk · Brocade · Zari work
🇮🇳 IndiaLambada embroidery
Mirror-and-cowrie hand embroidery by Banjara women of Karnataka and TelanganaAppliqué · Embroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaKachchh shawl
A dense wool wrap from Kutch, woven in two panels and joined with a fish stitchWool · Tie-dye · Embroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaGota patti
An appliqué embroidery from Rajasthan that stitches shiny ribbon into patterns on clothAppliqué · Embroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaKasuti
Hand-counted embroidery from Karnataka, worked without knots on sarees and blousesEmbroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaShaphee Lanphee
A black Manipuri shawl with red borders, embroidered by hand with animals, sun and starsCotton · Embroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaIlkal sari
A Karnataka sari with a cotton body and a loop-joined silk palluCotton · Embroidery · Zari work
🇮🇳 IndiaLanga voniలంగా వోణి
A South Indian half sari: a string-tied skirt and a short diagonal upper clothSilk · Embroidery · Mirror work
🇮🇳 IndiaBanarasi sari
A heavy silk brocade saree woven with gold and silver zari in VaranasiSilk · Brocade · Zari work
🇮🇳 IndiaChikankariچِکن کاری (Urdu) / चिकनकारी (Hindi)
A hand embroidery from Lucknow, usually white thread on light fabric.Cotton · Embroidery · Block print
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreMundu
A cotton garment wrapped around the waist in Kerala and the MaldivesCotton · Embroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaSujini embroidery
A Bihar quilt craft where women stitch stories with a simple running stitchCotton · Embroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaPipili appliqué workଚାନ୍ଦୁଆ
A stitched-cloth craft from Pipili, Odisha, born to dress the chariots of JagannathCotton · Appliqué · Embroidery
🇮🇳 India and 2 moreMadras
A light handwoven cotton cloth of bright checks, named after the city of ChennaiCotton · Checks and stripes · Embroidery
🇧🇩 Bangladesh and 1 moreNakshi kanthaনকশি কাঁথা
An embroidered quilt from Bengal, stitched from old sarees with a simple running stitch.Cotton · Kantha · Embroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaKhara Dupattaکھڑا دوپٹہ
A six-yard embroidered net veil draped over a wedding ensemble in HyderabadNet · Embroidery · Zari work
🇮🇳 IndiaSurat zari
Metal threads from Surat district for patterns in silk fabricsSilk · Zari work · Embroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaSari-inspired dress
A sewn Western dress that borrows the sari's drape, colour and ornamentSilk · Embroidery
🇧🇩 Bangladesh and 5 moreLungiলুঙ্গি
A tube of cotton tied at the waist, worn by men across South Asia and beyondCotton · Checks and stripes · Batik
🇮🇳 IndiaToda embroidery
Red and black counted embroidery on white cotton, worked by Toda women of the NilgirisCotton · Embroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaKutch embroidery
Mirror-set hand embroidery from Kutch district, Gujarat, worked mainly by womenCotton · Embroidery · Mirror work
🇮🇷 Iran and 4 moreZardoziزردوزی
Heavy gold and silver metal embroidery on silk, satin or velvet, from Iran to IndiaSilk · Embroidery · Zari work
🇮🇳 IndiaPhool Patti ka Kaam
An appliqué and embroidery craft of Uttar Pradesh, once used for women's sarisCotton · Appliqué · Embroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaPhanekꯐꯅꯦꯛ
A wrapped skirt worn by Meitei women in Manipur, woven with patterned stripesMuga · Checks and stripes · Embroidery
🇮🇳 India and 1 moreTant sari
A light, see-through cotton saree from Bengal with a heavy borderCotton · Jamdani · Embroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaChattayum mundumചട്ടയും മുണ്ടും
A two-piece white cotton dress of Kerala's Syrian Christian womenCotton · Embroidery
🇮🇳 IndiaChanderi sari
A fine silk or cotton sari woven in Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, with zari motifsSilk · Brocade · Zari work
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
- Kachchh shawl: Ekabhishek, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Tant sari: Billjones94, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Madras: Shweta Venkateswaran, CC0, source
- Nakshi kantha: A junaid alam khan ( talk ), Public domain, source
- Chikankari: Joey Berzowska, CC BY 2.0, source
- Gota patti: User:आशीष भटनागर, Public domain, source
- Mundu: Raja Ravi Varma, Public domain, source
- Khara Dupatta: Kinshuk Sunil, CC BY 2.0, source
- Phanek: অজয় দাস, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lungi: Laportechicago at English Wikipedia (Paul La Porte)., CC BY 2.5, source
- Banarasi sari: Ekabhishek, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Kutch embroidery: Jainamishra, CC BY 3.0, source
- Sari-inspired dress: Triangle films, Public domain, source
- Kasuti: Kannadiga, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Lambada embroidery: Daderot, CC0, source
- Ilkal sari: T B Dinesh, CC0, source
- Surat zari: Hiart, CC0, source
- Chattayum mundum: Alexander J. Mapleton, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Langa voni: Kannadiga, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Zardozi: Zarood, CC BY-SA 3.0, source