Evolution of the Saree

To people from the West, the most familiar and paradoxical images of Indian women come from the extremes of a very broad and compli­cated spectrum. One is the image of In­dira Gandhi, clad in a starched white sari, serving as the powerful leader of a largely patriarchal society. The other is that of an anonymous, thin, overburdened woman in a dirty sari, holding one undernour­ished child on her hip, while others gather round her legs. The women in these two images tread very divergent paths. Yet on closer examination, they share a powerful cultural symbol: the sari.

Throughout the world, women of most nationalities have adopted Western clothing for daily wear. But a majority of Indian women continue to wear the sari or its variants daily as well as on special occasions. More striking is the fact that it is only the women for whom traditional clothing is still a daily wear. Indian men adopted Western garments a long time ago.

Little research has gone into the tradition of the sari, and the factors that have helped to keep it in fashion for centuries. Historians trace the beginning of the sari to approximately 1500 BC and later. The manner of wearing a sari in those days varied among classes and occupations, and from region to region. Women of the higher classes wore two garments, one for the upper body, and an­other for the lower. Some would wear a bodice, breast-band, or shawl to cover the upper body. When worn separately, the lower garment was either wrapped as a full skirt and held at the waist with a girdle, or wrapped with pleats at the back. Women of the lower class and courtesans appear to have been bare-­breasted.

Under Muslim rule (1200-1850 CE), North Indian Hindu women learned to wear clothes more akin to Persian costumes, with loose pants and a long top (known today as the salwar kameez). Onto this foreign costume, a sari-derived scarf, the dupatta, was added to serve as head covering.

The advent of British rule (1858 CE) also resulted in significant changes in the manner of wearing a sari. In the past, the finer and more diaphanous the sari, the more valuable it was. The British disap­proved of this sari style: for them, the sheerness was too titillating and thus im­moral. The petticoat worn under the sari carne into place to deflect the intense criticism made by "British missionaries about the “immodesty” of Indian woman's clothing. During the same time, and apparently for the same reasons, the blouse or bodice—which had not been standardized or used throughout India— became a fixed upper garment for most Indian women.

Perhaps the single most important his­torical impact on the sari during British Rule in India was the British policy of non-assimi­lation. Indian men, who were members of the imperial bureaucracy, earned to wear Western clothes. But with no opportunity to move in Western society, there was little likelihood of the women developing a taste for foreign clothes. Therefore, custom retained its hold, and even today, despite outside influences, the sari remains a primary force.

Most women begin wearing a sari regularly when they are 16 to 18 years old. A younger girl is allowed to wear Western-style dresses, or in some parts of the country, an Indian-style long skirt tied at the waist. When she reaches puberty, this may become part of a more modest cos­tume—a combination of a blouse, a long skirt, and a "half-sari" or a piece of cloth three yards long, tucked in the front and draped over the shoulder. In some parts of India, this continues to be the costume of most rural women throughout their adult life.

In North India, women gener­ally wear the salwar kameez or chudidar kurtawhich consists of loose or tight pants, worn under a knee-length tunic, with a scarf half the length of the sari flung casually across the shoulders, or draped round the head and upper body. In most other parts of India, once a woman reaches marriageable age (18-24), the sari is her usual attire.

One aspect of wearing a sari has remained constant through time: the tucked in pleats. Sanskrit literature from the Vedic period insists that the pleats are absolutely necessary for a woman to be truly a woman. These pleats must be tucked in at the waist, front or back, so that the presiding deity, Vayu, the wind god, can whisk away any evil influence that may strike the woman in two important regions, the stomach and the re­productive organs.

The brilliant colors of the sari are also partly ruled by custom: colors are held to represent moods. Yellow, green, and red are festive and auspicious colors, which stand for fertility. Red, which also evokes passion, is a bri­dal color in some parts of the country and a part of rituals associ­ated with pregnancy. Pale cream is soothing in the summer and also symbolizes bridal purity. A married Hindu woman will not wear a completely white sari, as it is only for widows: Life without a husband is a life without color. Black alone is thought to bring misfortune and must be mixed with another color. Blue evokes the thirst-quenching, life-giving force of the monsoon and visions of the beautiful boy-God, Krishna.

Indian women have always recycled their saris. Old saris are cut up and sown into pil­lowcases or quilts, redyed, exchanged for stainless steel pots and pans, or given to loyal servants. Sometimes gold borders are re­moved and used on children's dresses. How­ever, traditionally, the clothes of a dead woman are usually not part of her children's inheritance; they are either burned or given to servants. Custom places a premium on new clothing as a symbol of renewal; old clothes are not valued as heirlooms.

More recently, fashion and a changing cultural climate have affected the sari and front pleats have become the norm. The sari size has decreased from seven to nine yards to five and a half to six yards. Women today also prefer blouses which match the sari; pre­viously, blouses with contrasting patterns and colors were preferred.

Not surprisingly, economics has affected the evolution of the sari. Lengths of Japanese nylon made to the same width as the sari have been in vogue for nearly three decades. This trend began with increased travel between countries and gradual depletion in the ranks of dhobis, who traditionally washed clothes for the community. Nylon saris are easier to keep clean and need no starch or ironing. But for religious, social, and festive occasions, cotton and silk saris retain their position of impor­tance.

Popular culture also influences sari fash­ions. Often an actress in a particular film may wear a distinctive blouse, sari, or a color com­bination which soon becomes a popular fashion. In the film Sagara Sangamam, the actress Jaya Prada wore a fuchsia pink and royal blue Kanchipuram sari that became instantly fash­ionable.

Custom and fashion may have shaped the sari, but cultural perceptions pro­mote its continued use. When a woman wears a sari, she acquires honor. An episode from the Hindu epic, the Mahab­harata (400 BC to 400 AD) illustrates this idea.

After losing his own freedom in a rigged dice game to his Kaurava enemies, Yud­hishthir, the eldest among Draupadi's five Pandava husbands, also loses her. When the Kauravas attempt to disrobe Draupadi, she calls upon Lord Krishna for protection. Each time one fold of Draupadi's sari unravels, Krishna graces her with another. By giving Draupadi a sari of unending length, Krishna saves her honor.

The symbolism is obvious. Rather than whisking Draupadi away or striking down her tor­mentor, Krishna pro­vides her with a limitless sari both as a symbol of his grace and of his in­tent to protect feminine modesty.

By wearing a sari, women fulfill another cultural ideal by ac­quiring the related feminine characteristics of beauty and sensuality. Various poems, scenes, and images from the large store of ancient Indian literature celebrate the beauty of the sari-clad woman. "Who is she? Carefully veiled to barely reveal her body's beauty sur­rounded by the ascetics like a bud among withered leaves?" wonders King Dushyant at his first glimpse of Shakuntala, in Kalidasa's renowned play of the same name (circa 400 BC)

The imagery is frequently repeated in another form in popular romantic films of today, where the seductive heroine appears in a diaphanous sari and the excitement of the chase is enhanced both for the hero and the audience! The hero begins the chase by tug­ging at the end of her sari. The audience knows that the sari is the ideal garment for the pursuit of sensual love—it can be so easily unraveled—and waits for the cut to the closed door which is the visual code that suggests the woman's surrender. In the Hindu cultural context, Western clothing is never used to suggest seduction.

The sari also compensates for any physi­cal shortcomings. It gives fullness to the thin figure and is equally good at camouflaging extra fat when required—something West­ern clothes cannot aspire to.

The cultural ideal of decorum and dig­nity is also satisfied by the sari. In the pres­ence of God, husband, in-laws, or strangers, the married woman is often required to cover her head. The sari readily fulfills this func­tion.

Another important reason behind the continued usage of the sari is the recently established cultural ideal of nationalism. During India's struggle for independence from Britain, Mahatma Gandhi carried out a campaign of civil disobedience, particularly to inflict economic pain on the colonizer. Textiles, an industry integrally related to the history of the sari, be­came an important sym­bol of this fight for inde­pendence. Since the 19th cen­tury, the British had taken up the practice of exporting inexpensive Indian cotton to Eng­land, turning it into cloth, and reselling it for enormous profit in In­dia. Gandhi decided to combat this practice by boycotting English cloth and starting the "Home­Spun" movement. Yarn would be made by each individual for personal use. At mid-century, the patriotic symbolism attached to indigenous cloth and clothing still continued. A woman or a man who wore traditional clothing was more "Indian" than one who adopted Western attire.

For Indian women, to be Indian is to wear a sari. Indira Gandhi, with her Western education, frequently wore Western clothes in her youth. She gave them up for the sari the moment she took on a political persona. The sari has also made her Italian daughter­-in-law, Sonia Gandhi, politically more ac­ceptable to Indians. Both these women, who were constantly in the public eye, succeeded in diminishing the significance of foreign in­fluence from their background primarily by adhering to the traditional sari dress code.

The sari is the most visible example of Indian cultural ideals surrounding women. The sari-clad woman is both dignified and alluring, honorable and sensual. The sari forges a strong link between the lives of women across the country, be they leaders, activists, and professionals, or homemakers, mothers, students, and laborers.

Importance of Saree

Saree is one of the most well planned and graceful costume of unstitched length of fabric draped round the body of Indian women. For this graceful decoration of female form, Indian Women, very often, consider a good looking saree more precious than even a piece of jewellery. A good looking and appropriate dress means a right kind of fabric with proper outfit where saree of various colours and quantity drapes round the body as per style and shape of the body. Length of a saree varies from 5 to 8 m, while width varies from 1 to 1.5 m.

Tradition of wearing saree goes back thousands of years in our country. The word “Saree” is anglicized from “Sadi”, which existed in Prakrit language as “Sadia” and originated from Sanskrit “Sati”, meaning a strip of cloth. Quality of fabric and style of wearing Saree vary with our social position, occasion and thereby changes from time to time, place to place and region to region. In an usual wearing style. One end is passed twice round the waist, the upper border tied in a strong knot and allowed to fall in graceful folds to ankle, thus, forming a sort of petticoat or skirt. “Pallav” the hanging part of the saree after draping the lower limbs and torso, as a customery, draw over the head as required. In some regions in Northern India, covering torso and the head is done with a second piece of cloth, commonly known as “Odhani”. Overall, an Indian woman's marital status, area of origin and specific circumstances, if any, could be easily understood by the traditional community in which she lives from the saree she wore.

In major parts of the country, Saree is only an alternative as a decorative Bridal wear even for the poor. With a great cultural diversity corresponding to the region, even many of the Indian Christian brides dress modestly in a white saree with a long sleeve white blouse instead of their traditional Christian Wedding Gown. The covering of the head is done either by the end of the saree or a scarf, generally of the same saree material. South Indian Christian bride generally wears coloured, usually red or green or yellow. Popular silk wedding sarees are from Benaras, and Bangalore (Mysore Silk). Similarly, popular cotton Handloom Sarees are from Calcutta (Valkalam) and South (crepe). Swiss cotton/ spun sarees are another area well accepted in the market. Notable Art Silk Sarees, from Surat in particular, as wedding Sarees are called Poonam, Micro Madhushree, Chiffon and Georgette.

Sarees reflect our various regional cultures influenced by Aryans, Dravidians , Moghuls and Britishers and saree is therefore the most popular dress in different manner, different festivals too. Because of various Cultural festivals, the peak seasons for saree are during Diwali, Pongal, Onam, Ugadi (in Karnataka), Durga Puja and marriage season from January to May. Style, design and colours of saree again are greatly influenced by various customs and dress habits. For a region like Tamil Nadu, even a half saree i.e. Odhanis are worn. As per their custom, maidens wear Odhanis and only after marriage, full sarees are worn. A tribal woman of Tripura wears a cloth around her waist called “Pachra” and another narrow width piece of cloth wrapped around her bust called “Risa” or even “Riha”. Similarly, weaving design in the hills is almost of an angular geometrical type with a zigzag pattern. India has a rich heritage and is well known for the work of great artisans and human skills. Dhaka Muslin saree of undivided Bengal could be considered the finest fabric in the world. Over the years, saree has gone for various changes in colour, design, material with the changing fashion and modern textile technology i.e. from fibre to finish through improved line of production. Today, fine and expensive sarees of either cotton or silk is hand woven. It may be with Block Print, Hand Printed, Batik, Tie and dye, Embroidery, Patchwork, combination work, etc. Less expensive sarees are normally machine-made i.e. on power loom and subsequently hand printed in large process houses, mostly in cotton and synthetic filament yarn and are cut from long pieces. There are other sarees which are produced from mill or power loom and subsequently hand printed or dyed with a specific effect of design and colour. In the changing fashion scenario, traditional style of wearing saree of the region becomes a fashion for other region in the country, mainly because women's fashion is to bring about a change in the way they demand, the prevailing style or mode in dress. Penetration of Western life- style in our modern society too, has moved us from traditional and changed lifestyle and mode of dressing. Even then, for Indian women, saree is the only dress which has never gone out of fashion or needs, even with the fast changing taste and social development and there is a constant presence of sarees in the life of Indian women. A piece of Kameez liked for today, goes out of fashion even in the next season, whereas one single beautiful saree for a middle class lady can be subsequently worn by her sisters or even can be passed on to her daughter or to friends as well. Therefore, many of them are discarding Salwar Kameez by now or have kept only a few for special occasions only. Indian women, almost in all segments, are habituated to carry off a saree well than any other dress. One of the major reasons for choosing saree as the main dress for Indian women would be because of their simplicity in life style. It is purely a draped costume suitable to warm and humid climate like ours. Saree covers-up many flaws of the body and can very well match with traditional or modern jewellery for an ethnic or a modern look. As a result one can easily feel more confident and good whilst wearing a saree. In other words, the concept of changing into something more comfortable and beautiful in a simple way has made Indian women more and more aligned to wearing a saree. Another interesting point of recent times is that a traditional design chosen from popular Indian “Paithani Saree” is painted on the tails of British Airways Aircraft which fly to over 175 destinations of 85 countries in the world. Therefore, to inspire novel fashion changes to this unstitched dress, designers need to very well consider all this. Even the growing influence of modern 'jean look' or Salwar Kameez, could not deviate a saree from its path of elegant, delicate and sophisticated look based on various cultures, customs and habits of Indian Society. When, saree is the essence of our life style and sentiment for the Indian Women, inside the saree industry, in specific, for decentratised Handloom and Power loom sector is full of shadows and sorrows. On the other hand, craftsmen/ weavers with their indigenous and traditional Art and skill, just struggle for their existence or starved by lack of interest and proper patronage. But, even with this unwanted situation, this sector moves on with its existence unceasingly as long as saree continues its position in our life style, even with changing fashion and mode of life.

THE ORIGIN OF THE SAREE

The saree is one of the world’s oldest and perhaps the only surviving unstitched garment from the past. Over the millennia, it has not only become a sensuous, glamorous all-time-wear for women, but also the ‘canvas’ for weavers and printers to create artistic weaves, prints and jewelled or gold-silver embellishments!

They say cotton and the art of weaving it into fabric came to India from the Mesopotamian civilisation. The men and women of the contemporary Indus Valley Civilisation were therefore familiar with cotton fabrics and wore long pieces of material which could best be described as loin cloths. These lengths of fabric were worn in the kachcha style, meaning that after draping it around the waist, the wearer passed one end of the cloth or the centre pleat between the legs and tucked it up behind to facilitate freer movement of the lower body and the legs. Early history records that this style of clothing was not only limited to Mesopotamia or the Indus Valley but was common to Egypt, Sumer, and Assyria. The relics of all these civilisations, now available in seals and figurines, prove this fact. Women of most of these civilisations, it seems from available evidence, wore only such loin cloths, leaving the upper part of the body bare, except in winter when animal skins or woollen shawl-like garments were used for protection from harsh weather. 

When the Aryans came into the plains of the mighty north Indian rivers, they brought with them the word vastra for the first time. Though a Sanskrit word originally meaning a garment or cloth, for them it was a piece of treated leather made into wearable clothing. Their wardrobes also included woollen clothing as they lived in colder climates. As they moved southwards, they adopted the practice of wearing cotton weaves, in the manner of the Indus Valley inhabitants. In time, this style of wearing a length of cloth around the waist, especially for women, and the cloth itself came to be known as neevi. Therefore, it is quite likely that the simple loin cloth worn by the women of the Indus Valley civilisation was the early precursor of the many-splendoured saree of India.

In the epics of India, which were written much after the Indus Valley period, several assorted items of dress were described. The kanchuki, mentioned in many of the legends which form the narrative of the epics, was a piece of cloth worn across the breasts by women. It was probably the earliest form of the choli. Many women, featuring in the classical literature generated by the epics, were described as beautiful in clothes made from silks encrusted with gold and gems.

Yellow silk neevis called Pitambar and purple silk shawls called Patola were considered auspicious. Though there were some elementary stitched garments, the neevi and the kanchuki remained the major mode of apparel for women. The art of dyeing these fabrics with vegetable dyes originated with the need of wealthier people in society to wear fancier clothes. By the time the epic era came to a close, women were wearing extraordinarily beautiful clothes with ornate embroidery. They wore exquisite jewellery too. The word Patta for silk seems to have originated during this time and todate, carries the same meaning in Telegu, Tamil, Kannada as well as in several south Indian dialects. 

As if to better use these arts of dyeing and embroidery, the normal outfit of a woman progressively became a three part ensemble. The lower garment wrapped around the waist was the neevi. The kanchuki covered the breasts and a shawl-like garment, called the Uttariya, completed the outfit. Many a time, these shawl-like Uttariyas were worn to cover the kanchuki. Since they were the most immediately visible part of the attire, they were ornamented, dyed or embroidered according to the status of the women. 

By and large, in the epic age or even until much later in the Puranic age, women did not cover their heads as a traditional or religious requirement. If they wore veils, it was only to enhance the beauty of their elaborate hairstyles or to show off the bejewelled ornamentation on the veils themselves. The Barhut and Sanchi relief sculptures show women of all classes wearing the neevi or the length of cloth around the waist just below their navels, and for the first time, with the pleats hanging in the vikachcha style in front and touching their toes in a graceful fall. The vikachcha style of wearing the neevi did away with the passing of the cloth between the legs and the tucking of the central pleats behind. Instead, a short decorative piece of cloth was draped around the hips and knotted in front. This piece was called the Asana.

But soon, the next stage in the development of the saree was to come. With the influence of the Greeks and the Persians, the clothes of all classes of Indians were in for a major change. The Greeks had already discovered the belt or a cummerbund-like cloth to clinch their long flowing robes at the waist. The Persians were already wearing their length of cloth gathered and held together at the shoulder and belted at the waist. These new features of wearing the same garment immediately caught the fancy of India's women, particularly of the affluent classes, who used the gathered and waisted look, adapting it to suit their lighter, more ornamental fabrics. 

The Persians were also the first to introduce the art of stitching into India. Additionally, from Central Asia, the migrating tribal hordes brought the style of wearing loose jackets and coats of various shapes to the deserts of Rajputana and the plains of the Punjab and the Ganga. Taking a cue from these, women in India began to wear a stitched short jacket to cover their upper torsos. Such jackets are shown in many sculptures of this period in Mathura and in the caves of Ajanta. In time, this jacket became more compact and snugly fitted the bosom in the case of women who wore the saree and longer, more flowing in the case of women who wore the kurta. The shorter, tight fitting blouse acquired the name choli. Sant Dnyaneshwar (1275-96 AD) has written the words ‘chandanachi choli’ in his composition proving that the choli was known in the early years of this millennium. The Persians also introduced to India the art of encrusting fabrics with pearls and precious stones. While women of all classes wore simple cholis, those of the upper classes used this art for special embellishment of their silken ones. Others followed, using less precious materials like glass and wooden beads and embroidery to decorate their cholis. Many royal women commissioned weavers and craftsmen to produce exquisite examples of their art to make their jackets. Costume historians have recorded that such gem-encrusted clothes, which combined the art of weaving and embroidery, were called Stavaraka in those days.

In spite of these advancements, the saree and choli evolved very slowly through the ages. Its final form, as is seen today, came about only in the Moghul period when women's garments went through one more major revolution. The Moghuls had perfected the art of stitching and with their royal riches and absolute power, the cities they established flourished, with people emulating their way of life and their way of dressing. They wore long coats made of silk and brocade with narrow trousers. Their turbans were objects of great beauty and were studded with invaluable jewels. Despite the fact that the majority of men of those ages changed their lifestyle and began to wear a trouser and a coat instead of the loincloth, the unstitched, magical saree still came out the winner as far as the women were concerned. Miniature paintings of several schools and hand-illustrated manuscripts of the medieval period of Indian history showed the diaphanous garments of women developing into the gracefully draped saree of today for the first time. 

The paintings of this era, when compared with the sculptures or frescos of the earlier centuries, suggest that the saree in its modern form finally came into existence in the post-Moghul period and could have been a natural mixture of the three-piece unstiched garment of the earlier times and the stitched clothing which the Moghuls brought into India. The pallu or daman as the upper end of the saree was called, may have been invented and used from then on to cover the head or as a veil, for this was required by the Muslim society in an empire ruled over by Muslim dynasties. The modern way of draping a saree with a distinct pallu and border, with or without an all over design, with one end pulled across the front to fall over the shoulder to either hang at the back or to go over the head to the other shoulder, appeared first in the paintings of the post-Moghul period. Thus, it may well be said that the saree, the garment most identified with India today, is a quaint mingling of influences from Greece, Persia and several other Central Asian countries.

It is said that with all these rich influences, the wealthy, royal families of medieval India created a repertoire of clothing which was as classic as it was comfortable. They wore nothing but the finest of fabrics. The queens and princesses who lived in marble palaces surrounded by sylvan gardens and lily-filled pools, commissioned the master weavers of the court to create such fine muslins and silks that a length of several metres could pass through a dainty, jewelled ring on the finger of a royal woman. This has been recorded in the chronicles of several visitors to the Moghul courts. Often, such fabrics were embellished with gold and silver wires and gems to create designs reminiscent of the splendour in which the women lived. Together, the princely women and their master weavers slowly became the progenitors of the world famous textile arts of India so frequently portrayed in art and praised in the annals of trade around the world. 

All through Indian literature, women were described as resplendently beautiful when wearing fabrics of extraordinary beauty woven out of silk, cotton and other natural fibres. Soon, each weave and garment began to acquire specific names. Fabrics were specially woven for auspicious and religious ceremonies and these too acquired generic names such as Pitambar. Many of the plays and poems written by the court writers of this age described how shimmering and fine the garments worn by the higher classes were. 

In fact, historic records say that these silks and muslins were so highly prized all over the world that they were sold in faraway countries including those around the Mediterranean Sea. Several names were given to these fabrics depending upon their origin or texture. For example, Kausheya was a silk made from the finest cocoons. Chinnavastra was a fabric akin to Chinese silk. Tasara or today's Tassar silk, was made by using a particular kind of shuttle. The Moghuls wore brocades of such exquisite quality that throughout the world this fabric came to be described as Kinkhwab or 'Golden Dream'. The Europeans who imported this fabric turned this name into Kinkob. To this day, brocade is known by this name in many European languages.

As far back as the Biblical age, India's dyeing processes and the results they could produce were considered dazzling by connoisseurs even in Rome and Greece. The luminescent hued silks worn by high class women in India were the envy of the world and many a traveller wrote glowing accounts of what he saw during his visits to the flourishing empires. In the golden age of Indian textiles, all the dyes were made from vegetables or other natural sources. It is reported that in the earliest age of dyeing during the Moghul era, there were over five hundred kinds of natural dyes.

These traditional dyes were made from turmeric, the indigo plant, barks of several trees, gums, nuts, flowers, fruits and berries. The silk cotton tree, for example, was reputed to yield a gentle yellow-orange colour called kesari, which was favoured not only by royal families for their raiments, but also for the robes made for the idols in many famous temples. The colours navy blue, khaki, mustard yellow, rust, rani pink and pista green seem to have originated during these years and have stayed on as names for identifying colours even now.

Fabrics were dyed in various ways. They were wholly dipped in tubs of dyes or separately dyed in different colours for a magical, shaded effect, or yarns were dyed and then used in the weave to create specific patterns. In the age of the Moghuls, both hand block printing and tie-and-dye techniques reached their zenith and added new dimensions to the Indian textile industry's flourishing trade. The Bandhanis and Leheriyas made with the tie-and-dye process were used for the most colourful turbans and the festive sarees and odhanis later.

With the advent of synthetic dyes, the number of natural dyes used by the industry began to dwindle considerably so that today there are hardly sixty varieties of natural dyes in use. Though these methods of traditional dyeing continue to create ethnic fabrics for sarees and headgear, the chemical dyes imported from other countries together with newer techniques of dyeing and printing have given Indian women sarees of a vast variety in an unimaginable spectrum of shades.

Many new designs and techniques of weaving, dyeing and printing came to India with the repeated invasions of various clans. For instance, the tie-and-dye method of fabric dyeing was brought into Gujarat and Rajasthan by the nomadic Central Asians. By the tenth century, Patolas, famous even today, Bandhanis and Leheriyas from this areas were exported by the caravans of the Arabs to Egypt, Java, Sumatra, China and other middle and far eastern countries. The coming of the Muslims to India in the twelfth century brought several new textile crafts. Phulkari, which is the heritage of the Punjab, came from Central Asian Bedouins and its geometric designs, done in earthy colours like rust, magenta and green, often embellished the fine muslins used for sarees and odhanis, the latter garment originating with the Muslim women's traditional outfit of a salwar and kurta. By their cultural heritage, Muslims often avoided wearing pure silks. Since they were the ruling class, their needs originated several varieties of textiles which used mixtures of silk with other fibres. These textiles were called Mushroo, Himroo and Jamawar. 

In the mountains of Kashmir, the cooler climate encouraged the weaving of Pashmina, a woollen fabric used for shawls. However, the silks woven for the Sardars and the Rajas who were vassals of the Delhi Durbar encouraged a whole spectrum of textures, colours, weaves and designs. These were so resplendent that they were often compared to a peacock's feathers; silvery moon beams; gurgling, prismatic streams; the glistening feathers of blackbirds; the rain-washed young leaves of trees; the fusion of colours in the rainbow; the gentle blossoming of flowers; the icy-cool glimmer of dew; the coolness of the moist western breeze or even the foam on the crest of lapping waves. So finely was cotton and silk woven that these fabrics were reputed to be fit for kings and queens all over the world. This is probably why many words in European languages, describing textiles, originate from Indian languages.

The all round development of textiles in India had a definite impact on the design of sarees. Paisleys used on shawls, figures from Jamawar weaves, floral patterns and bird and animal motifs used in brocades – all these slowly acquired the status of traditional saree motifs. Colours to suit the Indian woman's complexion were accurately identified. Peacock coloured shot silks, shiny-spun muslins in the purples of the aubergines, sunshine yellow jacquards, moon glow silk chiffons and the dusky rose coloured raw silks – these became the favourites of the weavers of the saree. To enrich the saree even further, during the reign of the Moghuls, hand block printing was discovered and quickly took the place of hand painting on textiles. Sarees were printed with vegetable dyes, using wooden blocks carved expertly with fashionable motifs brought into India with the advent of the French, the Portuguese and the British. The various prints used by designers showed the influence of European motifs which were more gentle and subdued compared to the ornate, rich Indian motifs. This was the first time; too, that fabric by the yard could be duplicated by the printers. On the other hand, combining the use of various blocks into myriads of permutations, they could also economically produce an unimaginable variety of prints in innumerable colour schemes. However, by the time the industrial revolution brought power looms into the weaving industry together with mechanised printing, the traditional weavers and dyeing experts were on their way out.

These descriptions prove that the weavers and designers of India were the masters of their craft for many centuries. Nimble fingered and ever alert to new concepts, they created a treasurehouse of ideas which continue to support and inspire millions of weavers in India even today. Indisputably, the greatest heritage these weavers gave to the Indian woman was the saree, five and half metres in length and about one and one-eighth metres in width. They created such a vast variety of sarees that if a woman wore a different saree each day, the weaves, prints and designs would tally up to more than the days of her entire life span. Very often, the sarees she would wear, could be exclusive, one-of-a-kind creations made from the most humble, rough woven cotton to the finest hand crafted silk tissue spiked with soft gold threads. This relatively small length of fabric has since then become the canvas upon which every imaginable kind of creative experiment has been made by the way of weaving, printing, embroidery, appliqué and gold, silver and precious stone work.

Though centuries have passed since the saree was conceived as the Indian woman's hereditary costume, the charm of this beautiful and extraordinary feminine garment, suited to the youngest of girls or the most elderly among woman, has not waned. In fact, even with each new decade of technological progress, it has been well accepted by even the most modern women of the subcontinent. Today, its chequered history has become hazy and lost in the distant past. In spite of the limited scope for any change in the garment, it seems to have a limitless future because of the endless experimentation used to recreate its beauty for every new generation of women.

Thus, in the modern world, it continues to be an economical and easy-to-wear garment, suitable for work, leisure or luxury. Over a period of time, several cities in India have become renowned saree manufacturing centres. Each centre is known for creating traditional sarees which have acquired their names not only from the cities of their origin, but also from the weaving or printing techniques used or the motifs, colours or designs utilised in their manufacture. Throughout the history of textile development in India, the saree continues to be produced on handlooms, powerlooms and in gigantic mills with the most modern machinery in all these famous cities.

Even in the modern age, women continue to buy sarees with great enthusiasm, especially during festivals and wedding seasons.

Sari or Saree

A sari, saree, sadi, or shari is a South Asian female garment that consists of a drape varying from five to nine yards (4.57 metresto 8.23 metres) in length and two to four feet (60 cm to 1.20 m) in breadth that is typically wrapped around the waist, with one end draped over the shoulder, baring the midriff.
The sari is usually worn over a petticoat (called 'parkar' (परकर) in Marathi lahaṅgā or lehenga in the north; pavadai in Tamil, pavada (or occasionally langa) in Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu, chaniyo, parkar, ghaghra, or ghagaro in the west; and shaya in eastern India), with a fitted upper garment commonly called a blouse (ravika in the south and choli elsewhere). The blouse has short sleeves and is usually cropped at the midriff. The sari is associated with grace and is widely regarded as a symbol of Indian, Nepalese, Bangladesh, and Sri Lankan cultures.

In the history of Indian clothing the sari is traced back to the Indus Valley Civilisation, which flourished during 2800–1800 BC around the western part of the Indian subcontinent. Sari draping leaves back,cleavage,and side view of belly bare.The origin of such exposing attire can be attributed to humid climate of the land.The earliest known depiction of the sari in the Indian subcontinent is the statue of an Indus Valley priest wearing a drape.

Ancient Tamil poetry, such as the Silappadhikaram and the Sanskrit work, Kadambari by Banabhatta, describes women in exquisite drapery or sari.^[12] The ancient stone inscription from Gangaikonda Cholapuram in old Tamil scripts has a reference to hand weaving.^[11] In ancient Indian tradition and the Natya Shastra (an ancient Indian treatise describing ancient dance and costumes), the navel of the Supreme Being is considered to be the source of life and creativity, hence the midriff is to be left bare by the sari.

Sculptures from the Gandhara, Mathura and Gupta schools (1st–6th century AD) show goddesses and dancers wearing what appears to be a dhoti wrap, in the "fishtail" version which covers the legs loosely and then flows into a long, decorative drape in front of the legs. No bodices are shown.^[4]

Other sources say that everyday costume consisted of a dhoti or lungi (sarong), combined with a breast band called 'Kurpasika' or 'Stanapatta' and occasionally a wrap called 'Uttariya' that could at times be used to cover the upper body or head.The two-piece Kerala mundum neryathum (mundu, a dhoti or sarong, neryath, a shawl, in Malayalam) is a survival of ancient Indian clothing styles. The one-piece sari is a modern innovation, created by combining the two pieces of the mundum neryathum.

It is generally accepted that wrapped sari-like garments for lower body and sometimes shawls or scarf like garment called 'uttariya' for upper body, have been worn by Indian women for a long time, and that they have been worn in their current form for hundreds of years. In ancient couture the lower garment was called 'nivi' or 'nivi bandha', while the upper body was mostly left bare. The works of Kalidasa mentions 'Kurpasika' a form of tight fitting breast band that simply covered the breasts.^[10] It was also sometimes referred to as 'Uttarasanga' or 'Stanapatta'.^[10]

The tightly fitted, short blouse worn under a sari is a choli. Choli evolved as a form of clothing in the 10th century AD, and the first cholis were only front covering; the back was always bare but covered with end of saris pallu. Bodices of this type are still common in the state of Rajasthan.

In South India and especially in Kerala, women from most Hindu communities wore only the sari and exposed the upper part of the body till the middle of the 20th century.Poetic references from works like Silappadikaram indicate that during the Sangam period in ancient Tamil Nadu, a single piece of clothing served as both lower garment and head covering, leaving the midriff completely uncovered.^[12] Similar styles of the sari are recorded paintings by Raja Ravi Varma in Kerala. By the mid 19th century, though, bare breasted styles of the sari faced social revaluation and led to the Upper cloth controversy in the princely state of Travancore (now part of the state of Kerala) and the styles declined rapidly within the next half a century.

In ancient India, although women wore saris that bared the midriff, the Dharmasastra writers stated that women should be dressed such that the navel would never become visible. By which for some time the navel exposure became a taboo and the navel was concealed.

Red wedding saris are the traditional garment choice for brides in Indian culture. Sari fabric is also traditionally silk. Over time, colour options and fabric choices for Indian brides have expanded. Today fabrics like crepe, Georgette, charmeuse, and satin are used, and colours have been expanded to include gold, pink, orange, maroon, brown, and yellow as well. Indian brides in Western countries often wear the sari at the wedding ceremony and change into traditional Indian wear afterwards (lehnga, choli, etc.).