Sarees costumes of southern india

1. Sarees / Costumes of Southern India
Kanjeevaram Sarees ( Tamil Nadu )
Kanjeevaram silk sarees are perhaps the most well known of Indian silk sarees.
They are the famous sarees of Tamil Nadu. They are world famous for their
royal look and rich feel.
The Kanjeevaram sari gets its name from the town it originated in -
Kanchipuram, a little temple town in Tamil Nadu. The Kanjeevaram sari is not
only the choice for weddings in South India and elsewhere but also worn at all
other auspicious and religious occasions. The Kanjeevaram sari is a tradition
often passed on from mother to daughter over several generations as an
heirloom in much the same way they might pass on jewellery or diamonds. A
Kanjeevaram sari is made to last a lifetime.

3. Fabric in Kanjivaram Sari
The Kanjeevaram sari is made of a heavy silk called Kanjivaram silk, so durable
that it can be washed in water at home. It is one of the most finest and most
popular forms of silk in Tamilnadu.
Kanjee silk is thicker than almost all other silks, and is therefore more
expensive. The heavier the silk, the better the quality.
While there are light weight Kanjee sarees made from Korean and Chinese silk,
only mulberry silk produced in Karnataka and few parts of Tamil Nadu, is right
silk for the classic Kanjeevaram sari.

5. The Process
The creation of a Kanjeevaram sari is no easy task. The process begins with the
the silk thread being twisted, then dyed and dried in the sun after which it is
ready for the weaver's loom.
The weaver creates the border, body and pallu separately and then interlocks
them together in an impossible to detach joint. A weaver takes about 10-12 days
to weave a simple Kanjeevaram sari while decorative ones could take up to 20
days.
Kanjeevarams are favoured for their durability.

6. The kanjivaram silk saris is noted for its double warp and double weft. In
a genuine kanjivaram silk sari , the border, body and the pallu are woven
separately and then interlocked together. This joint is woven so strongly
that even if the sari tears, the pallu or border will not detatch.
The gold in the motifs in Kanjivaram silk saris is incorporated by dipping
the silk threads into liquid gold and silver. This enhances the ethnic
beauty and value of silk.
The Kanjivaram silk saris are woven from pure mulberry silk. They are
of enviable texture , luster, durability and finish. The saris come in an
array of dazzling colors and are available in every imaginable design
and variety.

7. Design & Motifs
Kanjeevaram silk sarees are always of bold and bright colour contrasts, favoured
by almost every Indian woman.
Some common designs woven on the saree are as follows:
Peacock and parrot are the most common motifs.
Major attractions are the also beautiful tribal designs.
Now focus is also on contemporary patterns.
These are sarees of vivid colour contrasts with traditional patterns derived from
the Pallava temples, palaces and paintings.
Scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata

8. Bhagwad Gita being incorporated into these works of art.
A decorative saree contains Zari interwoven with the silk; the 'zari' work in the
border and the Pallu are generally woven in gold-dipped silver threads. The
more the Zari the more expensive you can expect the sari to be.
The sarees can also be a plain silk saree.
There can also be little gold motifs scattered all over its body.
There are also sarees with gold squares or stripes.
Every sari is an artistic creation, a unique masterpiece and no two sarees are
alike.

9. The kanjivaram saris had a fine cotton ‘ground’ with silk and zari
border and pallu. Their patterns display a predominance of bird and
animal motifs and the rich gold-brocaded pallus and borders had
patterns of rows of deer, peacocks, galloping horses, bulls, elephants,
parrots, swans and such other birds in stylized abstraction.
The motifs used in an Indian Kanchipuram sari are heavily based on
the Pallava temples, palaces and paintings. However, these days one
can see scenes from great epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, along
with the Bhagwad Gita being used as motifs. Tribal designs as well as
contemporary patterns are also seen.

10. COLOURS
Bright blues, purples and greens, or vibrant reds, oranges or yellows
have formed the traditional colour palette.
Recently, colors have been combined to create a blue-green that varies
according to light, or a sari that is beige in daylight and golden under
artificial light.
Combinations have also changed traditional paisley motifs or tales of
mythology in the embroidery.

11. Venkatgiri Sarees ( Andhra Pradesh)
 The most attractive part of it is the lavish border or pallu which is
intricately decorated with real gold zari.
 Butas made with gold zari in various figures such as leaf, parrot, bel
and diamonds are scattered all over the surface of the sari and the
unobscured portion of the blouse, such as the back and the sleeves.
 The sleeves also contain the border similar to that of the saree so as
to give it a harmonious and mingling effect. In no other type of
regional saree there is seen such captivating effects of geometrical
figures as in a venkatgiri traditional saree.

12.  The saree surface is sometimes segmented into various regular
geometric patterns, mostly rectangles.
 The limiting boundary is exclusively woven with gold or colourful Zari,
so as to give it a very defining look. In between the two consecutive
figures, the gold and colourful motifs are strategically placed in order
to heighten the overall look of the saree.

14. The venkatgiri sarees are made from super fine cotton woven with fine threads
of gold that lend it a shimmering effect. The cotton used for making typical
venkatgiri saree is of a very fine variety and feels ultra soft against the skin.
The charm golden rays shimmering amidst the fine veil of cotton remains
largely unparalleled by any other form of saree in Andhra Pradesh or even India
as a whole.
The Venkatgiri saris with their bright colors resplendent with golden dots,
leaves, parrots and simple geometrical designs are specialty of Venkatgiri in

16. The Venkatagiri saris of Andhra Pradesh are woven in cotton and silk with pure
silver zari and brocade designs in the border. The graceful strains of gold can be
found all over the sari.
Venkatagiri sarees are known for being adorned with gold threads., these sarees
have borders with pure silver or gold 'zari' (threads) and brocade designs.
Finely spun cottons of 100s and 120s counts was used for the warp and weft. A
simple gold border was woven on the edge while the pallu was richly brocaded
with motives worked in gold, combined with thicker colored yarns worked in
Jamdani technique.

17. These saris have pleasant colours with golden dots, simple geometric designs ,
stylized parrots, asharfis (gold coins), and stylized leaf-forms.
The motifs are, woven half in gold and half in cotton threads. These saris are
mainly in off-white colour and decorated with dull golden motifs.
The limiting boundary is exclusively woven with gold or colourful Zari, so as
to give it a very defining look.
In between the two consecutive figures, the gold and colourful motifs are
strategically placed in order to heighten the overall look of not only the saree
but the wearer as well.
They come in different shades and hues. So getting the colour of your choice
or matching it with perfect blouse won't be a hindrance at all.

18. Colors used:
These sarees are mostly in off-white colour and decorated with dull
golden motifs. It is available in equally wide range of colours but the
most preferable happens to be white or off-white.
Motifs used:
Butas made with gold zari in various figures such as leaf, parrot, bel
and diamonds are scattered all over the surface of the sari and the
unobscured portion of the blouse The motifs are stylised
parrots,asharfis,and stylised leaf forms.

19. Ilkal Sari ( Karnataka)
Ilkal sari is named after a village in Dharwal district of Karnataka. It is
worn throughout southern and western Maharashtra and northern
Karnataka.
Its field is usually dark (blue, purple and green) and plain, although the
Maharashtran versions may contain fine check.
Both borders and end piece are bright red with supplementary-warp
bands (kambi) in white, commonly in herringbone, sawtooth and phool
designs.
The end piece contains two large white supplementary-weft woven in
the interlocked – weft technique.

23. Many Ilkal saris are embroidered with a form of running-stitch work
called Kasuti embroidery. The stitches create straight and zig-zag lines
as well as angular, often snowflake-like floral, geometric and
representational forms, including elephants and shrines.
The stitching has different names, such as negi for running stitch,
gavanti for a double running stitch creating an unbroken line and murgi
for a zig-zag line.

25. Fabric used : Ilkal sari had simple contrast colour border, plain sari
and striped pallu. It started from cotton but shifted to silk.
Threads used are cotton on cotton and silk on silk. Nowadays rayon is
also used.
Specialty : It was done with single thread. Thus gives a very fine thin
outline design. Whenever filling was to be done double yarns were
used.
Colour :
Red, Orange, Purple, Green, Yellow, Blue & White on a black
background.
Always bright and contrasting colours were used.
Kasuti is basically an outline and counted thread embroidery.

26. Motifs :
Temple architecture, the gopurams of South India, lotus flower, raths,
sculptures carvings of their temples. They worked on the motif in very
detailed and elaborate way. Gopuras (entrance of temples) chariots,
Shivalingas, Nandi, crown of Shiva, sun, Suryamukhi, Shell, Snakes
(asNagadevta) Elephant, Horses, Tulsi, Vrindavan, Hanuman etc.
Birds such as parrot, peacock, swan etc animals like sared bull,
elephant, deer, squirrels, from mythological epics, Rudrakshas.
Other designs for Kasuti embroidery are rattle, cradle, flower pot and
tulsi katte.
All these motifs could be used as both separate motif or border.
Border could range from half inch to half meter.

27. Gavanti stitch
Murgi stitch
Gavanti (double darning)
Murgi (Zig zag running stitch that gives appearance of ladder or
staircase.

28. Negi : ordinary running or darning stitch. It has the overall effect of a
woven design. The stitch is used for larger designs by varying the stitch
according to the surface to be covered with thread. Since the design
created resembles woven patterns the wrong and right sides are not
identical.
Menthi : is the ordinary cross stitch and large amount of thread is
required. It is mostly used to cover up the background areas of a design.
Negi Menthi

29. Kasuti is basically an outline embroidery. Now Kasuti is done on
clothes, saris, pillow covers, door curtains, table cloth etc. and also on
fabrics of any kind.
Dharwar, Hubli, Kalghatgi, Mundargi are some places where Kasuti is
still done. Women work in the co-operative society, Regional Institute of
Handicrafts, Bhagini Samaj, Janata Shikshana Samiti to help them earn
a living.
It is gaining popularity in foreign countries because of the exquisite
hand work, colour combinations and intricate designs which machines
have not yet been able to produce. Kasuti on garments are much
appreciated.

30. The peculiar characteristic of the saree is joining the body warp with the
pallav warp which is locally called as TOPE TENI. This technique is only
used exclusively at Ilkal.
Warp threads for body is prepared separately. Similarly pallav warp is
prepared separately either with art silk or pure silk depending upon the
quality required.
Thirdly border portion of warp is prepared as like the pallav warp either
art silk or pure silk and the colour used for pallav and on border will be
one and the same.
In general, the length of the pallav will range 16” to 27”. The pallav
threads and body threads are joined in loop technique, a typical method
which is locally called as TOPE TENI.

31. The distinctive feature of Ilkal sarees is the use of a form of embroidery
called as Kasuti. The designs used in Kasuti reflect traditional patters like
palanquins, elephants and lotuses which are embroidered onto Ilkal
sarees. These sarees are usually 9 yards in length and the pallu of the
Ilkal saree (the part worn over the shoulder) carries designs of temple
towers. This pallu is usually made of red silk with white patterns.
The end region of the pallu is made up of patterns of different shapes like
hanige (comb), koti kammli (fort ramparts), toputenne (jowar) and rampa
(mountain range). The border of the sari is very broad (4 to 6 inches) and
red or maroon in colour and is made of different designs with ochre
patterns. The saree is either made of cotton, or a mixture of cotton and
silk or in pure silk. The colors traditionally used are pomegranate red,
brilliant peacock green and parrot green. The sarees that are made for
bridal wear are made of a particular colour called Giri Kumukum which is
associated with the sindhoor worn by the wives of the priests in this
region.

32. Types of Borders
The design woven in the length wise borders are mainly three types :-
Gomi (more popularly known as Ilkal dadi)
Paraspet (Sub-divided into chikki paras and dodd paras)
Gaadi
Main Body design
Stripes
Rectangles
Squares

33. Ilkal traditional sarees are produced mainly on pit looms with the
combination of three types of different yarns namely Silk x Silk, Silk x
Cotton, Art silk x Cotton. Along with the above said yarn combination
totally four different traditional designs are produced - they are Chikki
Paras, Gomi, Jari and recently modified traditional design Gayathri.
These sarees are produced in different lengths 6.00 yards, 8.00 yards,
and 9.00 yards with solid as well as contrast borders.
The main distinction in these sarees is its attached temple type Pallav
(locally called as TOPE TENI) by inter locking body warp and pallav
warp using loop system and inserting weft by three shuttles using two
different colours yarn by Kondi technique.

34. Finer versions of Ilkal saris were also created in silk, often with zari
supplementary patterning instead of cotton and silk. The weavers
create saris with opaque but lightweight silk fields and heavier borders
woven with two-ply warp threads with contrasting colours. The end
piece contains the inter-locked weft, woven in zari, and borders with
small zari phool and sawtooth bands.

35. Mundum neriyathum ( Kerala )
The mundu (pronounced [muɳɖɨ]) is a garment worn around the waist
in Kerala and Maldives. This garment is closely related to the Dhoti,
Sarong, and Lungi. In South Canara, a district of Karnataka state, the
Tulu speaking folk and Beary community wear the mundu. It is normally
woven in cotton and coloured white or cream.
The colour is dependent on whether the cotton is bleached or
unbleached. A kaddar mundu is made using handlooms. When
unbleached, the mundu is called a neriyathu. In modern times, two
types of mundu are prevalent - the single and the double.
A single mundu is draped once around the waist, while the double is
folded in half before draping. A mundu is usually starched before use.

37. Mundum neriyathum is the traditional clothing of women in Kerala,
South India. It is the oldest remnant of the ancient form of the saree
which covered only the lower part of the body.
In the mundum neriyathum, the most basic traditional piece is the
mundu or lower garment which is the ancient form of the saree denoted
in malayalam as 'Thuni' (meaning cloth), while the neriyathu forms the
upper garment added very recently to the mundu. The mundum
neryathum consists of two pieces of cloth, and could be worn in either
the traditional style with the neriyathu tucked inside the blouse, or in the
modern style with the neriyathu worn over the left shoulder.

39. A mundu usually has a line of comparatively thicker cloth woven into it
near the border called the kara. The kara can be coloured and comes in
various sizes.
There are also double coloured and ornamental kara (a strip of colour at
the end of the mundu).
For more ceremonial occasions (like weddings), a mundu has a golden
embroidery known as kasavu. The wearer highlights the kara by carefully
folding the end of the mundu.

40. The kara generally appears on the right hand side of the person, though
styles with the kara on the left side are prevalent. Unspoken rules of
etiquette govern the way the mundu is worn.
Men will often fold the garment in half to resemble a short skirt when
working, cycling, etc., but it is considered disrespectful to speak to women
or one's social superiors with the mundu folded up this way, revealing the
legs from the knee down.
When faced with such a social situation, the fold of the mundu is loosened
with an imperceptible flick and it flutters down to cover the legs
completely.
Very rarely, some men might fold their mundu very short revealing the
shirt, although it's not always appropriate to do this.

41. Traditional dress of Kerala. A Malayali woman in a set-sari (tradition
being wearing a mundum neriyathum) and a Malayalee man wearing a
mundu with a shirt (tradition being not wearing a shirt).
A variant called a mundum-neriyathum is used more often by women.
The mundum-neriyathum is a set of two mundus, both having matching
kara. The set contains a lower garment similar to the those worn by men.
The upper mundu, worn with a blouse, is wrapped once around the waist
and upper body and left hanging from the left shoulder, resembling a
saree. This is often called a set-mundu. This is usually worn during
festivals or special occasions.
In Kerala a veshti is a small piece of cloth (generally put on the
shoulders) along with a mundu, for formal occasions.

42. In Kerala the Lungi, locally known as Kaili or Kalli Mundu, is worn by both
men and women. It is considered a casual dress or working dress of
physical labourers. Lungis are generally colourful, and with varying
designs. The plain white version is a dhoti is known as a mundu.
For more ceremonial occasions (like weddings), mundus often bear a
golden embroidery known as kasavu. Lungis are not used during
occasions such as weddings or other religious ceremonies. Saffron-
coloured mundus are also known as kaavi mundu.

43. Telia Rumal ( Andhra Pradesh )
Telia Rumal is a square shaped loincloth made in Andhra Pradesh using
the tie-and-dye technique. It was also known as Asia rumal in the past.
Pochampalli, Koyalagudeni and Puttupaka village specialize in this art.
The word ‘telia’ refers to the oily smell imparted by the use of alizarin
dyes and ‘rumal’ means square.
It is a double – ikat cotton rumal (cover or handkerchief) from Puttupaka
village, near Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

44. Alizarin, iron or indigo and numerous vegetable oils are involved in the
making of this cloth.
The fabric is oiled and then tied in certain areas to prevent the dye from
percolating. The tied fabric is dipped in the dye.
The end product is a soft luminous cloth featuring intricate designs.
The colors, which included red, pink and purple, vary in their intensities
depending on the oil mordant that is used.
This cloth can be worn as a headgear, stoles, lungis and even as saris.
Telia rumal (literally oily handkerchief) is made at Pochampalli which
involves dipping the yarn into an oily solution before weaving.

45. Telia Rumals of Chirala, Puttapaka and Ponchampalli. These double ikat
squares were created in a small area of Andra Pradesh using an unusual
combination of Alizarin, iron or indigo and numerous vegetable oils in the
process.
The colours were all a variation of red, pink or purple depending on the oil
mordants used. The name Telia means oil and Rumal means
handkerchief or square.
The finished cloth has a strong oil smell. These were used by fishermen
as turbans and loincloths as well as by nobility. The history of this
technique has not been recorded before 1955.

46. The designs, mainly divided up into grids, varied according to location.
Near Hyderabad mainly small geometric designs were used. However in
Chirala they included figurative work including modern images
airplanes, Victrolas (early record players) and clocks.
Modern designers are using the style and motifs of Telia Rumals and
adapting them for use today as yard goods, saris, and articles of home
furnishing. This is helping to expand the market and preserve the skill of
the resist dyeing, if not the actual dyeing process.

48. Chirala is a village near the coast of Andhra Pradesh, between the rail
junction of Vijayawada and the city of Madras. Here were produced the
square double-ikat clothes known as telia, or Asia, rumals.
These were produced for the Muslim market (to be used mainly as
head clothes by Muslim men), sold in what is now Pakistan and
Bangladesh and exported to the countries of the Middle East, East
Africa and to Burma.
In Chirala, telia rumals were dyed with traditional alizarin dyes, which
left an oily smell from which their name derives.

49. Designs were either geometrical or figurative, sometimes of clocks and
airplanes. Today, the few surviving weavers supply local customers such
as fishermen, who use the telia rumals as lungis, or as turbans.
After the partition of India in 1947, the market for telia rumals in Pakistan
and Bangladesh was lost, and in the second half of the twentieth century
demand for them from the Middle East vanished completely.
Whereas, ikat weaving (known as chitka in Andhra Pradesh), is
apparently in terminal decline in Chirala. It is flourishing in Pochampalli
and surrounding villages.

50. Pochampalli is a large village about fifty-five kilometers from Hyderabad,
the historic capital of Andhra Pradesh. According to the head of the
society of co-operative weavers at Pochampalli, weaving there was
originally dedicated to the production of plain dhotis and saris, with simple
patterned borders.
The weaving of telia rumals was then introduced, most probably from
Chirala, and the techniques of ikat, once learned, were then applied to
the weaving of saris, dupattas and yardage. Pochampalli uses only
modern synthetic dyes, unlike Chirala, which still uses alizarin dyes.
Pochampalli and its surrounding villages have very active co-operatives
and private master weavers. The main bulk of private sector production is
of saris, produce both saris and yardage. Probably because of the
comparative youth of the ikat industry, the Pochampalli weaving centres
are some of the most outward looking of all traditional textile producers in
India.