Osariya

What is Osariya?

The Osariya is a wrapped dress worn by Sinhalese women, and Sri Lanka regards it as the national dress. It belongs to the Kandyan Sinhalese, and in the Kandyan period it was the wear of upper class women. In shape it is a sari, but a sari with additions: a full blouse that hides the midriff, puffed sleeves, a front tuck, and a frill where the cloth meets the waist. The sources describe it as cotton. Its look is not fixed. The same dress is put together differently depending on whether the wearer is going to work or to a wedding.

Where does Osariya come from?

The Osariya grew out of the Kandyan kingdom of Sri Lanka, among the Kandyan Sinhalese, and was worn by upper class women of the Kandyan period. What shaped it is argued over. One view holds that the Nayake dynasty of Kandy left its mark and gave the dress the form it finally took. Another view looks outward, saying that dress traditions from mainland Southeast Asia and from South India met the Kandyan dress of the day and that the Osariya came from that meeting. The infobox dates the dress as introduced in the early twentieth century. The article names no single founder and gives no firm date for its first wearing.

How is Osariya made?

The sources do not describe a loom, a weave or a dye process for the Osariya. The one material they name is cotton. The making they do describe is in the cut and the assembling of the dress: a full blouse, sleeves that are puffed, and a frill set at the waist. Because the dress is put together for different occasions, the finished garments vary from one another rather than following one fixed pattern.

Colours, motifs and borders

Two features stand out. The first is the frill at the waist, where the wrapped cloth is gathered. The second is the blouse, which is full and puffed at the sleeves and covers the midriff right across, leaving no bare skin at the stomach. The front of the cloth is partly tucked in. Beyond this the sources say little about pattern, colour or ornament. They do say the dress changes greatly with the occasion, so a working Osariya and a wedding Osariya are not the same garment.

How Osariya is worn

The Osariya is put on as a sari is, as one long cloth wrapped and tucked, but it is paired with a blouse that covers the breast, stomach and back entirely and has puffed sleeves. The cloth is partially tucked in at the front and finished with a frill at the waist. The sources do not give a step-by-step method, only the outline: a wrapped cloth with a full blouse above it.

When Osariya is worn

Wearers take the Osariya to work and to weddings. The article says it is worn on different occasions and that the dress differs greatly depending on which one. Its standing as the national dress of Sri Lanka ties it to formal and public life as well as to family celebrations. The sources do not name particular festivals or rites for it.

Styles of Osariya

The article treats the Kandyan form as the authentic one. It notes that the dress can differ greatly with the occasion, which allows many versions of the same outfit. No named regional styles, imitations or handloom-versus-powerloom distinctions appear in the sources, so nothing more can be said about how one Osariya differs from another in the cloth itself.

What Osariya means

The Osariya is more than a garment in the sources: it is the national dress of Sri Lanka, which makes it a marker of Sinhalese identity. The article shows how that status was argued for. Anagarika Dharmapala declared that the ideal woman should have a proper blouse covering breast, stomach and back and should wear ten riyans, or cubits, of cloth as an Osariya or saree, a position the article links to Victorian morality. He also rejected Western dress for men, including the hat, collar, tie and coat.

Questions people ask about Osariya

Good reading and sources

• Osariya on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data