History of Indian Saree

The Indian Saree or Sari is one of the worlds oldest and may be the only surviving unstitched garment from the previous generations.  Over decades it has become one of the most sensuous and glamorous outfit for the Indian woman. It has become an all time wear for many of the Indian woman. It is one of the most preferred ethnic wear for weddings and parties.

Saree is now becoming famous around the globe, thanks to the increasing popularity of Bollywood. Saree is also now a medium for the weavers and designers to create artistic weaves and designs.

The Saree has a long history.  In the history of Indian clothing, Saree is traced back to the Indus valley civilization which flourished during 2800-1800 BC.  The earliest depiction of the saree in the history is the statue of an Indus valley priest wearing a drape- Sari like drape covering the entire body, dating back to 100 BC.

The word Sari is a corrupted version of the Sanskrit word ‘sati’ which means ‘strip of cloth’.  

Sari is also mentioned in the world’s longest epic ‘Mahabharata’. When the pandavas lost their wife Draupathi  to the enemies Kauravas in a gambling duel, the victors caught one end of her sari and continued to pull and unravel, but could not reach the end as Lord Krishna came to the rescue of Draupati .

Initially they used to wear the Sari alone. The blouse or Choli came into existence during the Chola Dynasty in the 9th to 13th century AD.

Now there are thousands of weavers across india engaged in the handloom production of saree. There are hundreds of weaving centres across india distributed across various villages including Kancheepuram in Tamilnadu, Kuthampully in Kerala, Pochampully in Andhra Pradesh and Chanderi in Madya Pradesh.


Some of the Famous handloom sarees of India are Kancheepuram Sarees,  Kerala Kasavu Saree, ,  Pochampully Saree, Chanderi Sarees etc

To learn how to wear a saree please check http://fashionmanthraa.blogspot.in/2014/01/how-to-wear-sari.html