Clothing in India

Clothing in India varies with the different ethnicities, geography, climate, and cultural traditions of the people of each region of India. Historically, clothing has evolved from simple garments like kaupina, langota, achkan, lungi, sari, to perform rituals and dances. In urban areas, western clothing is common and uniformly worn by people of all social levels. India also has a great diversity in terms of weaves, fibres, colours, and the material of clothing. Sometimes, colour codes are followed in clothing based on the religion and ritual concerned. The clothing in India also encompasses a wide variety of Indian embroidery, prints, handicrafts, embellishments, and styles of wearing clothes. A wide mix of Indian traditional clothing and Western styles can be seen in India.

History

File:Mohenjo-daro Priesterkönig.jpeg|Statue of "Priest King" wearing a robe, Indus Valley civilisation.

File:Didarganj Yakshi statue in the Bihar Museum.jpg|The Didarganj Yakshi depicting the dhoti wrap, c. 300 BC.

File:Gandhara Buddha (tnm).jpeg|The Buddha wearing kāṣāya robes, c. 200 BC.

File:In Welcome of Buddha - ACCN 34-2542 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 5941.JPG|Relief depicting men in antriya and uttariya, first century AD.

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India's recorded history of clothing goes back to the fifth millennium BC in the Indus Valley Civilisation, where cotton was spun, woven and dyed. Bone needles and wooden spindles have been unearthed in excavations at the site. The cotton industry in ancient India was well developed, and several of the methods survive until today. Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian described Indian cotton as "a wool exceeding in beauty and goodness that of sheep". Indian cotton clothing was well adapted to the dry, hot summers of the subcontinent. The grand epic Mahabharata, composed in about 400 BC, tells of the god Krishna staving off Draupadi's disrobing by bestowing an unending cheera upon her. Most of the present knowledge of ancient Indian clothing comes from rock sculptures and paintings in cave monuments such as Ellora. These images show dancers and goddesses wearing what appears to be a dhoti wrap, a predecessor to the modern sari. The upper castes dressed in fine muslin and wore gold ornaments The Indus civilisation also knew the process of silk production. An analysis of Harappan silk fibres in beads has shown that silk was made by the process of reeling, a process allegedly known only to China until the early centuries AD. Kimkhwab is an Indian brocade woven of silk and gold or silver thread. The word kimkhwāb, derived from the Persian, means "a little dream", Kimkhwāb, known in India from ancient times, was called hiraṇya, or cloth of gold, in Vedic literature (c. 1500 BC). In the Gupta period (4th–6th century AD), it was known as puṣpapaṭa a, or cloth with woven flowers. During the Mughal period (1556–1707), when kimkhwāb was extremely popular with the rich, the great centres of brocade weaving were Benares (Vārānasi), Ahmādābād, Surat, and Aurangābād. Benares is now the most important centre of kimkhwāb production. When Alexander invaded Gandhara in 327 BC, block-printed textiles from India were noticed.

According to the Greek historian Arrian:

<blockquote>"The Indians use linen clothing, as says Nearchus, made from the flax taken from the trees, about which I have already spoken. And this flax is either whiter in colour than any other flax, or the people being black make the flax appear whiter. They have a linen frock reaching down halfway between the knee and the ankle, and a garment which is partly thrown round the shoulders and partly rolled round the head. The Indians who are very well-off wear earrings of ivory; for they do not all wear them. Nearchus says that the Indians dye their beards various colours; some that they may appear white as the whitest, others dark blue; others have them red, others purple, and others green. Those who are of any rank have umbrellas held over them in the summer. They wear shoes of white leather, elaborately worked, and the soles of their shoes are many-coloured and raised high, so that they may appear taller."</blockquote>

Evidence from the first century AD shows the Buddhas were portrayed as wearing saṃghāti that forms a part of the Kasaya of Buddhist monks. During the Maurya and Gupta period, the people wore both stitched and non-stitched clothing. The main items of clothing were the Antariya made of white cotton or muslin, tied to the waist by a sash called Kayabandh, and a scarf called the Uttariya used to drape the top half of the body.

File:Male head, northern India, Kushan or Gupta period, 5th-6th century CE, terracotta, HAA.JPG|Terracotta head, wearing possibly an early form of pagri from the Gupta period.

File:Raja Ravi Varma - Mahabharata - Shakuntala.jpg|Shakuntala, wife of Dushyanta and the mother of Emperor Bharata, from Kalidasa's play Abhijñānaśākuntala, wearing a sari, painting by Raja Ravi Varma.

File:Iacuci11d0b62ppy.D.0.Ajanta-Cave-painting-Painting-Dance.jpg|Dancing girl in choli; Gupta Empire.

File:Krishnacart.jpg|Gupta-period depiction of women in Ghagra choli, 320–550 AD, Uttar Pradesh, India.

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New trade routes, both overland and overseas, created a cultural exchange with Central Asia and Europe. Romans bought indigo for dyeing and cotton cloth as articles of clothing. Trade with China via the Silk Road introduced silk textiles using domesticated silkworms. Chanakya's treatise on public administration, the Arthashastra written around the third century BC, briefly describes the norms followed in silk weaving.

A variety of weaving techniques were employed in ancient India, many of which survive to the present day. Silk and cotton were woven into various designs and motifs, each region developing its distinct style and technique. Famous among these weaving styles were the Jamdani, Kasika vastra of Varanasi, butidar, and the Ilkal saree. Brocades of silk were woven with gold and silver threads. The Mughals played a vital role in the enhancement of the art, and the paisley and Latifa Buti are examples of Mughal influence.

Dyeing of clothes in ancient India was practised as an art form. Five primary colours (Suddha-varnas) were identified, and complex colours (Misra – varnas) were categorised by their many hues. Sensitivity was shown to the most subtle of shades; the ancient treatise, Vishnudharmottara states five tones of white, namely Ivory, Jasmine, August moon, August clouds after the rain and the conch shell. The commonly used dyes were indigo(Nila), madder red and safflower.