Lungi

What is Lungi?

A lungi is a tube of cloth worn round the hips and knotted at the waist. It is Bengali in name (লুঙ্গি) and sits in the sarong family of the Indian subcontinent. Men wear it far more often than women. Cotton is the usual fibre, though silk pieces are kept for weddings. Plain shades and plaids are the commonest patterns, partly because a power loom turns both out easily. Blue is a favourite. The cloth is soft, loose and airy, which suits hot, damp places; it works as everyday dress, as night wear, and in some regions as ceremonial dress.

Where does Lungi come from?

The lungi belongs to the Indian subcontinent, and in Bangladesh its story is traced to the Bengal Sultanate, when men wore cotton sarongs at the waist along with turbans, dhutis and leather shoes. The word is thought to have come into Bengali from the Burmese longyi. Some also treat the lungi as a form of the dhoti, a word said to derive from a Bengali term meaning wash. Silk and tartan cotton lungis became a standard wedding gift for a groom. In 2013 a housing society in Dhaka stopped allowing lungi wearers in, which brought protests, criticism online and a march on 13 April.

How is Lungi made?

Most lungis are woven from cotton; silk is kept for the ceremonial kind. Two forms exist. The sewn tube is the norm in Bangladesh, while the cheaper open lungi is sold as a flat sheet of the same size that is never stitched into a cylinder. An adult piece opens to roughly 200 cm long and 115 cm deep, and children's are about two thirds of that. Weaving is largely done on power looms, since a plain shade or a plaid is the simplest and least costly pattern to produce that way. Top and bottom edges carry a black and white stripe with reinforced weaving so the cloth does not fray.

Colours, motifs and borders

Cotton lungis are usually either one solid colour or a plaid. Both are common because a power loom can produce them quickly and cheaply. Blue is widely liked, as it fades into gentler tones rather than turning harsh. Whatever the design, the top and bottom edges tend to be lined with a black and white stripe, more densely woven to keep the cloth from fraying. Patterned tartan cotton and silk versions carry richer work and are meant for ceremonies. In Odisha, Sambalpuri-patterned lungis and mule-based ones from Khordha sit alongside ordinary cotton.

How Lungi is worn

A lungi is tied, never buttoned or belted, and the fastening changes with local custom. The everyday knot is a double twist: two points on the upper edge are brought together, twisted twice, and the ends pushed in at the waist. A double pretzel knot, taken from two points on the top border, holds more securely. The hem can be raised by tucking the cloth in, which shortens it to knee length. That style is common among labourers who spend long hours working under a hot sun. It can be worn over or without a kaupinam or a langot.

When Lungi is worn

Day to day the lungi is domestic clothing. Many men wear it indoors and outdoors and sleep in it, and in Bangladesh it is the ordinary dress of men but is kept away from formal occasions. Silk and patterned cotton lungis are handed to the groom at a Bangladeshi wedding. In Kerala, a white mundu with gold kasavu at the border is worn to weddings and festivals, and labourers wear the colourful kaili at work. In Punjab, lungis and laachas form part of the dress of Bhangra dance groups. In several states the lungi is mainly a home or night garment.

Styles of Lungi

Customs differ from state to state in India. Kerala calls the garment kaili and both men and women wear it; the plainer white mundu with gold kasavu at the edge is its dressier relative, and a saffron one is known as kaavi mundu. In Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu it is men's wear, called saram or charam in south Tamil Nadu, and checked patterns are popular there. Nawayath men of Bhatkal on the Konkan coast wear it daily, usually as a sewn cylinder. Punjab has the male tehmat and the female laacha, generally unstitched and colourful, though the practice has declined. Beyond India it appears as longyi, paso, htamein, mundu, pa kao mah, pa toong and lung.

What Lungi means

In Bangladesh the lungi is close to ordinary national dress for men, and the industry that makes it is concentrated in Sirajganj, Kushtia, Pabna and Khulna. When a Dhaka housing society barred it in April 2013, the reaction was sharp: people objected on social media and a march followed on 13 April. In Bhatkal, on Karnataka's Konkan coast, wearing it marks Nawayath tradition. For tribal communities in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh it is everyday wear, a step on from the small waist cloth worn earlier.

Questions people ask about Lungi

Good reading and sources

• Encyclopaedia BritannicaArticle
• Delhiwale: The lungi aestheteHindustan Times, Article

• Lungi on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• More photos on Wikimedia CommonsPhotos and video
• Wikidata recordOpen data