Mundum neriyathum

What is Mundum neriyathum?

This is a traditional dress of women in Kerala, in southwestern India. It comes in two separate cotton pieces. The mundu is the lower cloth, fastened at the waist below the navel and wrapped round the hips in the manner of the men's mundu of Kerala. The neriyathu is the upper cloth. The pair is usually white or cream, with a coloured border strip called the kara. On festive days the border may be a golden kasavu, either pure gold, copper coated, or an artificial version. The cloth is handwoven. Nayar women wore it traditionally, and it later became the Kerala sari. Malayali women treat it as their cultural dress.

Where does Mundum neriyathum come from?

The article traces the mundum neriyathum to an ancient sari called sattika, named in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain texts. Its lower piece continues the antariya, an old lower garment. Its upper piece grew from the uttariya, a thin scarf described in Buddhist and Jain writings. Those two cloths became the present set. Medieval Kerala murals show three ways women dressed: a one-piece mundu, a one-piece sari with overlapping pleats like the nivi drape used by Mohiniyattam dancers, and the two-piece mundum neriyathum. Nayar women, including Travancore Nayars, wore it; a groom gave his bride a mantra koti, a divine cloth, at marriage. Modern Kerala adopted the style as the Kerala sari, and the article calls it the most celebrated form there.

How is Mundum neriyathum made?

The fabric is cotton, and the article says it is always woven by hand. The set has two pieces. The lower mundu and upper neriyathu both carry a border strip, the kara. For ordinary wear this border is a simple coloured band. Festive pieces have a kasavu border, a golden band that may be pure gold, copper coated, or an artificial version. Simple line patterns sit at the bottom of the cloth. Small peacock or temple designs sometimes decorate the pallu. Before draping, the cloth is starched. A matching blouse is chosen: its colour follows the kara, and on festive days it can follow the wearer's age and marital status.

Colours, motifs and borders

White and cream are the usual ground colours. The kara, a strip at the edge, supplies contrast. Festive versions turn that edge into a golden kasavu, broad and zari-like. The lower edge may have plain line work. The pallu can carry small peacock or temple motifs. Blouse colours are part of the look: girls who are young and unmarried choose green, while women who are married and in middle age choose red. The article describes the golden border against plain white as the image that represents Malayali women.

How Mundum neriyathum is worn

The mundu sits at the waist, under the navel, and wraps the hips, much like the mundu men wear in Kerala. The neriyathu is the upper cloth. One end is tucked into the pavada, or petticoat. The longer end is carried across the front of the torso and over the left shoulder, and a loose end hangs down. The midriff is partly bare. A blouse is worn underneath, cut above the breast bone. The set is starched before it is put on, and the blouse usually matches the border colour. The loose end is compared to the nivi sari.

When Mundum neriyathum is worn

It serves as everyday dress and as festive dress. On Onam, women of all ages wear it and join kaikottikalli, a women's folk dance. Festive versions have ornamental kara or a golden kasavu border. The blouse colour marks age and marital status: green for girls who are young and unmarried, red for women who are married and in middle age. In Travancore Nayar practice, the groom gives the bride a mantra koti at the wedding. The article also calls it the cultural dress of Malayali women.

Styles of Mundum neriyathum

The Kerala sari is a one-piece garment. Apart from that, the article says it closely resembles the mundum neriyathum, and Malayali women often wear it as a quasi version of the set. The names set mundu, kasavu mundu, mundu-sari, set-sari and set veshti also appear. A veshti is another version: a small upper garment like a blouse, worn without a pallu, with a mundu below. The article gives traditional and modern styles, the latter with the neriyathu over the left shoulder.

What Mundum neriyathum means

The article calls it the cultural dress of Malayali women. The plain white cloth with a golden border has become a sign of that identity. Raja Ravi Varma painted both the traditional and modern styles. His paintings of Shakuntala from the Mahabharata helped shape a drape now called the nivi sari or national drape. In one painting he showed the Indian subcontinent as a mother in a flowing nivi sari. The set also carries a wedding meaning for Travancore Nayars, where the groom gives the bride the mantra koti.

Days Mundum neriyathum is worn for

Questions people ask about Mundum neriyathum

Good reading and sources

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