Sari (clothing)

A Sari (also known as a Saree or a Shari) is a type of clothing for women. It is mostly used as a daily clothing in modern Republic of India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka as well as formal clothing in Pakistan. It is a very long strip of cloth. Women wrap it around their body. It is the National dress-code commonly worn by Bangladeshi and Indian women alike respectively. Also some Urdu or Mohajir-speaking communities of Pakistani women also wear this garment.

There are different kinds of saris for different occasions. The first mention of saris (alternately spelled sarees) is in the Rig Veda, a Hindu book of hymns dating to 3,000 B.C.; draped garments show up on Indian sculptures from the first through sixth centuries, too.^[1]

At more than 5,000 years of existence, the Indian saree is considered to be among the oldest form of garment in the world still in existence. The Vedas – among the oldest literature composed by mankind – mentions it, and records from the Indus Valley Civilization (3300–1300 B.C.E.) also indicate its usage at the time. ^[2]

It is said that the Persians were the first one to introduce the art of stitching in India. During this period, the culture of wearing tight fitting blouses called 'Cholis' were introduced for the first time along with the then existing sarees.^[3]

There are more than 30 types of sarees available in India they are Banarasi Silk Sarees, Kasheeda saree,Khun Saree, Kasuti Sarees, Chanderi Sarees, Tant Sarees,Kanjeevaram Sarees, Assam Silk Sarees, Batik Print Sarees, Tussar silk Sarees,assam muga silk sarees, Dhakai Jamdani Sarees,Panchampalli Sarees,Mysore Silk, etc.^[4] The other available know sarees are namely Dharmavaram, Gadwal of Andhra Pradesh, Kalamkari of Andhra Pradesh, Mangalgiri of Andhra Pradesh, Lambani of Karnataka, Garad of West Bengal, Kantha of West Bengal, Bishnupuri Katan of West Bengal, Pattachitra painted of Odisha, Pashmina of Jammu & Kashmir, Moirang Phee of Manipur, Ajrakh print of Gujarat, Chanderi of Madhya Pradesh, Khaddi Georgette of Uttar Pradesh, Chikankari of Uttar Pradesh, etc. ^[5]

Along with Sari or Saree there are other outfits which go with it like Blouse and Petticoat