Regional drapes
The Nivi drape
The most widely worn way to drape a saree: pleats at the navel, the free end over the left shoulder.
Nivi is the drape most people picture when they hear the word saree. The cloth is wrapped once round the waist, gathered into pleats at the front, and the free end is carried over the left shoulder. It is now worn in almost every part of India and by Indian women abroad, and many other drapes are described by how they differ from it.
Wrapped step by step
Each drawing shows the cloth so far, with the newest step outlined in gold. The figure is a front view; the wearer's left is on your right.
Step 1 Tuck the plain end of the saree into the petticoat at the right hip, with the lower edge just touching the floor. Step 2 Wrap the cloth once round the waist, from right to left, so it falls as a skirt to the ankle. Step 3 Gather the cloth in front into five to seven even pleats, each about a hand wide. Step 4 Tuck the pleats into the petticoat at the navel, with the folds opening to the left. Step 5 Carry the remaining cloth round the back and bring it forward across the chest, then over the left shoulder. Step 6 Pin the pallu at the shoulder so that it stays in place, and adjust its length. Step 7 Let the end hang loose down the back, about knee length. Finished The Nivi drape, seen from the front.
Where it comes from
The name is linked with the Deccan, the plateau region of the south, and the style is often traced to Andhra. Like most drapes it grew slowly and has no single inventor. It spread across the country mainly in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, helped by the blouse and the petticoat becoming ordinary wear, and by schools, offices and travel, which favoured a drape that was neat and easy to move in. Today it is treated as the standard against which regional styles are measured.
How it looks
One end is tucked into the petticoat at the waist. The cloth goes once round, and the rest is folded into a row of pleats, usually five to seven, each about the width of a hand. The pleats are tucked in at the navel and fall in front like a fan. The pallu, the decorated end, crosses the chest and rests on the left shoulder, hanging down the back. Many wearers pleat it and pin it so it stays in place.
Who wears it and when
Almost everyone who wears a saree knows this drape. It suits cotton for office and silk for weddings, and it works with a Kanchipuram, a Banarasi or a plain mill saree alike. Because the pallu is free, it can be spread, tucked at the waist or drawn over the head, which makes the drape adaptable to the place and the moment.
Good to know
- Keep the hem just clear of the floor so you can walk and climb steps.
Sarees worn this way
Banarasi sariBrocade silk from Varanasi, worn Nivi style across north and central India.
PaithaniMaharashtra silk, worn Nivi by some wearers though the nine yard style is traditional.Also part of it, and being written: Kanchipuram sari (Heavy silk, commonly worn Nivi style for weddings in the south.).
More on EveryPallu
Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryPallu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The drawings are simplified diagrams of the order of wrapping, not a lesson: how a drape is worn differs from family to family. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Mundum neriyathum: L. Anantha Krishna Iyer (Diwan Bahadur), Public domain, source
- Banarasi sari: Ekabhishek, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Paithani: Unknown author, Public domain, source
- Sari: Suyash.dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source