Saree

A sari or saree is a strip of unstitched cloth, worn by females, ranging from four to nine yards in length that is draped over the body in various styles It is popular in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Burma, Malaysia, and Singapore. 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.

The sari is usually worn over a petticoat (लहंगा lahaṅgā or lehenga) in the north, langa, pavada, or pavadai in the south, chaniyo, parkar, ghaghra, or ghagaro in the west, and shaya in eastern India), with a blouse known as a choli or ravika forming the upper garment. The blouse has short sleeves and a low neck and is usually cropped at the midriff, 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 plenty 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 short-sleeved shirt tucked in at the waist. The sari developed as a garment of its own in both South and North India at around the same time, and is in popular culture an epitome of Indian culture.The sari signified the grace of Indian women adequately displaying the curves at the right places.

Origins and history

The word sari is derived from Sanskrit शाटी śāṭī^[6] which means 'strip of cloth'^[7] and शाडी śāḍī or साडी sāḍī in Prakrit, and which was corrupted to sāṛī in Hindi.^[8]

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.^[1][2][3] The earliest known depiction of the sari in the Indian subcontinent is the statue of an Indus Valley priest wearing a drape.^[1][2][3]

Ancient Tamil poetry, such as the Silappadhikaram and the Sanskrit work, Kadambari by Banabhatta, describes women in exquisite drapery or sari.^[9] 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.^[10][11]

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.^[1]

It is generally accepted that wrapped sari-like garments, shawls, and veils have been worn by Indian women for a long time, and that they have been worn in their current form for hundreds of years.