SariA sari or saree or shari is a female garment in the Indian subcontinent.[1] A sari is a strip of unstitched cloth, ranging from four to nine metres in length that is draped over the body in various styles. The most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, with one end then draped over the shoulder baring the midriff.[1] The sari is usually worn over a petticoat (pavada/pavadai in the south, and shaya in eastern India), with a blouse known as a choli or ravika forming the upper garment. The choli has short sleeves and a low neck and is usually cropped, and as such is particularly well-suited for wear in the sultry South Asian summers. Cholis may be "backless" or of a halter neck style. These are usually more dressy with a lot of embellishments such as mirrors or embroidery and may be worn on special occasions. Women in the armed forces, when wearing a sari uniform, don a half-sleeve shirt tucked in at the waist.
Origins and history
Illustration of a sari-clad woman, c. 1847
The word 'sari' evolved from the Prakrit word 'sattika' as mentioned in earliest Buddhist Jain literature.[2]
The history of Indian clothing trace the sari back to the Indus valley civilization, which flourished in 2800-1800 BCE in the Sindh and Punjab regions of what is now Pakistan.[1] The earliest known depiction of the saree in the Indiain subcontinent is the statue of an Indus valley priest wearing a drape.[1]
Ancient Tamil poetry, such as the Silappadhikaram and the Kadambari by Banabhatta, describes women in exquisite drapery or saree.[3] 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 saree.[4]
Some costume historians believe that the men's dhoti, which is the oldest Indian draped garment, is the forerunner of the sari. They say that until the 14th century, the dhoti was worn by both men and women.[5]
