High quality handmade Indian sarees online supplier: Sari might be a fashionable garment now, but it started from being a humble drape used by women thousands of years ago. The origin of the drape or a garment similar to the sari can be traced back to the Indus Valley Civilization, which came into being during 2800–1800 BC in north west India. The journey of sari began with cotton, which was first cultivated in the Indian subcontinent around the 5th millennium BC. The cultivation was followed by weaving of cotton which became big during the era, as weavers started using prevalent dyes like indigo, lac, red madder and turmeric to produce the drape used by women to hide their modesty. See extra info at Shop Bengal Cotton Sarees Online.
The style was popularised in the 1870s by a Bengali lady – Jnanadanandini Devi … She adopted the front pleat style of wearing the sari from the Parsee women she had seen in Bombay, and wore it with a blouse and petticoat, as they did, which was different from the traditional Bengali style of wearing the sari, says Chishti, who started a Sari School in 2009 in Delhi, and conducts workshops on the sari and the different methods of tying them. The blouse is also an adaptation by the Parsees, from the Western puffed sleeve blouse they wore over the long skirt. Though they had come from Persia 700 years earlier, they adopted the sari as they sought asylum in India on the condition that they would wear the local dress, adopt the local food habits and the local language of the western state of Gujarat. The sari shows the rich diversity of Indian dyeing, printing and silk weaving.
Some women, particularly in rural areas, still wrap and fold themselves into lengths of cotton, linen, or other fabrics for everyday work. “You’re more likely to see saris on older women, the aunties and grandmas in some regions. They might wear one all the time,” says Cristin McKnight Sethi, a South Asian textile expert and professor of art history at George Washington University’s Corcoran School of the Arts and Design. Younger women and city dwellers, she says, might opt for Western clothing or a salwar (tunic and pants suit) most days but a vibrant sari for a wedding or other party. The textile is a symbolic rite of passage for young Hindu girls, who wear a sari or half-length sari for a Ritu Kala Samskara coming-of-age ceremony. The garment has even been wielded as a political prop.
The stitched fabric was deemed unclean in ancient times. The one-piece saree was considered auspicious and was (and still is) worn for significant Hindu occasions such as religious ceremonies, marriages, festivals, childbirth rites, and so on. The saree draping style evolved from the concept that the navel and belly should be left uncovered since they were regarded as the life source (as they connect to the umbilical cord). This is documented in the Natya Shastra, a 200-year-old South Indian scripture. With the mention of Rani of Jhansi wearing a sari and fighting the atrocities of the colonizers, one can only wonder about the feeling of empowerment while wearing a sari that has been bestowed with such a heroic legacy.
Most of our products are handcrafted and the weavers have been chosen with care in order to ensure the best quality of handwork is brought to our customers. In fact , some of our empaneled weavers have won awards at the highest national level and have been associated with this work for generations. Our products and weaves are authentic, artisanal and sourced sustainably , curated by Karigars from different parts of India like West Bengal, Varanasi, Rajasthan, Gujarat etc. Read more details at https://silkpetalss.com/.
My fondest childhood memories were going sari shopping with my mother and grandmother. I was fascinated by the endless shelves piled with neatly folded, colourful saris, entertained by the salespeople, who were always men, unfolding and draping the whole sari on themselves, and educated by the haggling over the prices while countless cups of coffee were consumed. When Matthan received a gift of 47 Kanjeevaram silks from her ailing grandmother, she was inspired to start the 100sareepact, a social media movement, along with 52-year-old Anju Maudgal Kadam, which encourages women to wear saris and share their stories online.