Clothing in India is determined by the ethnicity, geography, climate, and cultural traditions of the people of each area. Male and female apparel has historically evolved from basic clothes such as kaupina, langota, achkan, lungi, sari, gamcha, and loincloths to extravagant costumes worn not only in daily wear but also on special occasions, ceremonies, and dance performances. Western dress is ubiquitous and universally worn by people of all socioeconomic classes in metropolitan regions. India also boasts a wide range of weaves, fabrics, colours, and garment materials. Colour codes in clothes are sometimes followed depending on religion and tradition. Clothes in India also include a vast range of Indian embroidery, prints, handwork, ornamentation, and clothing styles. In India, there is a diverse combination of Indian traditional dress and western designs. Check out the traditional dresses of Indian states below.
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Traditional Dresses of Indian States
During the 1960s and 1970s, as Western fashion was actively adopting components of Indian attire, Indian fashion began aggressively absorbing elements of Western dress. Western designers eagerly integrated traditional Indian crafts, fabrics, and techniques into their work throughout the 1980s and 1990s, while Indian designers enabled the West to influence their work. By the turn of the twenty-first century, Western and Indian clothes had merged, resulting in a distinct type of dress for the typical urban Indian populace.
Women began to wear more comfortable attire, and exposure to worldwide fashion resulted in a blend of western and Indian dress patterns. While women can wear either Western or traditional attire to work, most Indian multinational corporations require male employees to adopt Western attire. In today’s India, women’s attire includes both formal and informal clothes such as gowns, slacks, shirts, and tops. Kurtis, a traditional Indian garment, has been mixed with jeans to form part of casual wear. Indian fashion designers have combined numerous elements of traditional Indian patterns with standard western attire to produce a distinct style of contemporary Indian fashion. We have provided a list of the traditional dresses of Indian states below.
But every state in India still has its traditional attire that we are proud of. Let us have a look at the traditional dresses of Indian states.
Andhra Pradesh
Like other south Indian states, Andhra Pradesh has traditional clothing that may be considered a district staple, albeit with variations. Andhra ladies wear one-of-a-kind handloom sarees, most of which are made of silk and have a rich surface and shading. Andhra Pradesh, with its renowned weaving and kicking the bucket business, creates a variety of textures with a rich legacy to sew. The younger females, for the most part, wear a two-piece traditional sari known as the Langa Voni. Andhra Pradesh is also well-known for its Kalamkari sarees, which include delineations of historical figures and epic storylines. The lady of the hour wears red silk sarees with gold plating for wedding services, while the groom wears a kurta and full-length dhoti.
Arunachal Pradesh
Females wear full-sleeved woven coats over sleeveless chemises. Green lungis are linked with red, yellow, and white stripes and paired with a sleeveless silk shirt, the borders of which are glued to the shoulder area. The knee-length traditional costume is grandly supplemented by a skull cap strewn with yak hair known as the Gurdam, which is as important to the tradition as the garment.
Assam
The Assamese ladies lavish lavishly spend in their gorgeous mekhela sador apparel, which makes them appear ethereally magnificent. Produced with gleaming silk variants paat or muga and eri, this two-piece ensemble adds a certain effortlessness that is highly innovative and enticing in its appearance. Similarly, Assamese men keep their style understated with a simple yet rich merging of dhoti and kurta, finished with a traditional hand-woven scarf known as the gamusa.
Bihar
The Bihari people’s traditional attire comprises the dhoti-mirjai or kurta for men and the saree for women. Western culture has also had an impact on the lives of the people of Bihar, where ladies choose to wear sarees or Kameez-Salwar. The saree is usually worn in the “Seedha Aanchal” style. Western shirts and pants are also growing increasingly popular among both rural and urban males.
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Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh is a state in central India. It has a rich culture, a long history, and a wide range of ethnic groups. The tribes of Chhattisgarh dress in vivid and colourful clothes. They enjoy wearing jewellery around their necks. A Kuchhora type saree is the traditional women’s dress of Chhattisgarh. Their sari is knee-length. Tribal men use dhotis and cotton turbans as headwear. Fabrics such as linen, silk, and cotton are commonly utilised, and they are frequently decorated with molten wax. Batik is the name given to the tie-and-dye method used in fabrics.
Goa
In terms of traditional attire, the beachy province of Goa isn’t all that different from the other Indian states. While the ladies wear elaborate, stone-studded nine-yard Nav Vari sarees, the males keep things casual with half trousers and seashore shirts, along with headgear.
Gujarat
Gujarati women wear the traditional Chaniya Choli, a three-piece outfit consisting of a ghagra, choli, and a head covering. Chaniyo is the lowest part of the garment and is a slip-like ghagra implanted with glass pieces that complement the trimmings that improve their upper body. The choli or pullover is worn with the ghagra, and the appearance is completed with the polka odhni. Gujarati men wear dhotis or churidar night robes and kurtas or bandis, known as Chorno and Kediyu, which are paired with richly coloured headwear known as turbans.
Haryana
The traditional outfit for women is a ghagra choli, which consists of a long lower thigh length skirt known as the daaman, a kurti, and a chunder known as the odhni. Men in Haryana often wear an all-white Dhoti-kurta ensemble, which is supplemented with the traditional headdress known as Pagri and similarly traditional footwear known as jutis. The whiteness of the garment is directed by custom as a grown-up play for males, while ladies produce various wrinkles in their ghagra as their own show of luxury.
Himachal Pradesh
The males wear coarse kurtas with dhotis or churidar nightwear and the typical Himachali top known as the pagri. Himachali women wear kurtas, rahide, and Ghagra Lehenga Choli, as well as scarves and shawls. Rahides are headscarves embellished with sparkling fringe that protect against the virus. Pashmina shawls from the region are a type of woollen clothing that is well-known around the world for the shine and quality it provides.
Jammu and Kashmir
Pheran is the traditional dress of the state, worn by both Hindus and Muslims in various variations. Only a token of the diverse togetherness that India so beautifully embodies. While Hindu women wear pherans with restricted sleeves and a hood called Taranga, Muslim women in the state wear garments with flared and wide sleeves. The crown Abaya, which is worn by wrapping it around the head and then adhering it, is usually used with the wide-sleeved pherans. Pherans are reinforced with turbans (Hindus) or skull caps (Muslims) and pathani outfits for males. Ladies by and large wear salwar or churidar alongside their pheran dress, which is embellished by mind-boggling Zari weaving and conventional gems.
Jharkhand
While non-ancestral males dress in basic apparel such as kurtas and shirts paired with nightwear and salwars, innate men dress in a unique piece of clothing. The Bhagwan, a one-piece wonder, is the traditional garment of Jharkhand’s native men. Similarly, the ancestral women’s traditional dress consists of the top portion Parthan and the lower part Panchi. Non-adherent females dress up in a shirt and saree, particularly the exceedingly fine Tussar silk saree.
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Karnataka
Karnataka, like the southern province of Kerala, features silk sarees as the common customary attire for the state’s women. In any event, the style of hanging the saree varies, as do the variations in different parts of the state. Davani is also one of the state’s ethnic costumes. Kannada men wear a kind of dhoti called Panche, which is worn under the belly underneath a shirt and is finished off with the traditional cap Mysore Para.
Kerala
Keralian ladies wear the traditional grey sari with a sparkling rim known as the Mundum neriyathum. The Mundum neriyathum is a two-piece marvel that consists of the lower section of the article of clothing called mundu that is worn stomach downwards and its top component called neriyathu that is either tucked into the pullover or worn over the left shoulder. In any case, the mundu is an article of apparel for men in Kerala that might be interpreted as the state’s version of a Lungi. Female Mundus are frequently more detailed, with ornamentation and weavings done on them. Ladies in the state also wear benarasi or Kanchipuram silk sarees that are embellished.
Madhya Pradesh
In terms of dress restrictions, the people of Madhya Pradesh have a usually simple traditional costume. The males wear dhoti and kurta or shirts with a unique coat called the Bandi or Mirzai and an equally unusual headdress called the Safa. Its Bandhani fabric or Bandhej sarees, but the ladies of the state like to wear lehengas with cholis and an unusual type of orhni known as the Lugra.
Maharashtra
The sarees, known as Nauwari Saadi or Lugda, are worn up to knee-length with cholis and are notable for their distinctive appearance. These brilliantly coloured lengths of wonder feature a fringe and pallu in the same colours, but one that is frequently the opposite of the saree’s tone. Similarly, the wearing manner of the saree that looks like tying a dhoti and hence does not require an underskirt to be worn below is unusual. Maharashtrian men typically wear dhotis known as Dhotar, which they pair with a tight-fitting short-sleeved shirt known as Pheta and headwear known as Pagadi.
Manipur
Manipur, like other states, has its own traditional attire. The females of the state wear the Phanek, which is a sarong wrapped over the breast like a skirt. To complete the traditional female attire, an equally woven shawl or dupatta known as the Innaphi is wrapped across the chest. The males of Manipur’s society wear a dhoti and coat as their traditional clothing.
Meghalaya
Khasi females dress up in the Jainsen or Dhara, an unstitched garment that wraps around the body, giving it a round and hollow form. Jymphong is the name given to male Khasi clothes. While the Garo females’ traditional dress consists of a pullover and an unstitched material affixed around the abdomen known as ‘Ganna,’ it is worn in two distinct styles known as ‘Dakmanda’ and ‘Daksari.’ Ladies of the Jaintia tribe wear a velvet pullover over a sarong called ‘Thoh Khyrwang,’ which is wrapped over the abdomen.
Mizoram
Mizoram’s traditional garments, like those of the other northeastern states of India, are flawless. Mizo males wear 7 feet by 5 feet material over their bodies, while Mizo women wear a stunning high contrast concealing apparel known as the ‘Puan.’ The Puan is one of the most beautiful ethnic clothing kinds among all the Indian states, especially when paired with ‘Puanchei’ or a shirt called the Kawrechi.
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Nagaland
The Naga females’ traditional attire is the Angami, which consists of a sleeveless top vatchi worn over a slip neikhro and a white skirt pfemhou. The women’ skirts are often a piece of material wrapped over the belly and reaching out to cover the legs. The Naga men’s angami outfit consists of a kilt and a wrapper, which are supplemented with a traditional shawl known as the Ratapfe. The kilt circles down to the men’s knee and is often blue in tone, whilst the shawl is a lovely shade of crimson braided with a few lines.
Odisha
Sarees with exquisite fringe, known as Dhardia standards, are the traditional clothing for females in Odisha, where Katak and Sambalpuri sarees are primarily worn by ladies. The sarees are worn with the pallu covering the chest and the free end going over the opposite shoulder. Salwar suits are also worn as the traditional outfit of the state. The Oriya males, for the most part, wear dhoti or dhooti, kurta, and gamucha as their traditional attire. The wrinkles in the front are known as Konchas, whereas those in the rear are known as Malkonchas.
Punjab
Punjab is one of the most vibrant states in the country, and Punjabis are known for their vibrancy and carefree spirit. The Punjabis’ traditional attire reflects their zeal and free-spirited personality. Patiala salwars and churidars are common clothing types of the state and are now essential outfits skillet India. Punjabi males, for the most part, wear kurtas and muktsari nightgowns, which have mostly replaced the more traditional tehmats. Nonetheless, aside from clothing, Punjab is also recognised for its men’s headwear, known as Pagri. Another claim to fame style embellishment from the state is the sparkling and sleek jutis that is a fierceness across the state.
Rajasthan
The state’s males dress in dhotis or churidar pyjamas, kurtas, angarkhas, patkas or kamarbands, and a white paggar or safa, which is a type of turban. In any event, the length and style of the dhoti vary by state, as does the length of the ladies’ attire. Rajasthani females dress up in long skirts called ghagra, pullovers called kanchli or Kurtis, and odhnis draped over their heads.
Sikkim
Sikkim features traditional apparel that is fashionable and appealing to both men and women. The males wear a Bakhu or Kho outfit with a pair of loosely fitted pants, a cowhide belt, and woven calfskin boots. Ladieswear the outfit over a full-sleeved silk pullover known as honju and fastened with a silk or cotton belt. The Dumvum, a lower leg length outfit worn like a sari, and another apparel called Nyamrek are also included as part of the state’s traditional dress forms.
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is well-known for its Kanchipuram or Kanjivaram sarees, which are the traditional attire of the state’s ladies. Furthermore, the traditional half sarees include Tamil Nadu cultural apparel. These rich cultural sarees known as Pavada, which include a full-length short shirt called Ravaikai and a shawl, are typically worn by younger young females. The mature young females dress in a saree style known as the Dhavani. While males in Tamil Nadu dress up in Lungis, shirts, and Angavastra. The traditional Lungi of the Tamils is known as the Veshti and may be cared for in a variety of ways.
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Telangana
Telangana has a strong cotton-producing history, and its creative plant dye extraction history is second only to diamond mining. In most regions of the state, traditional women wear saris. Unmarried ladies choose Langa Voni, Shalwar kameez, and Churidaar. Pochampally Saree and Gadwal Sari are two well-known Telangana sarees. The traditional Dhoti, also known as Pancha, is a kind of male clothing.
Tripura
The outfit for women’s bottom half of the body is called Rigwnai in Tripuri, while the cloth for the upper half of the body is divided into two sections, Risa and Rikutu. The rikutu covers the entire top half of the body, whereas the risa covers the chest. Risa is no longer worn by most Tripuri women; instead, a blouse is used for convenience. The male counterpart wore ‘rikutu’ for the loin and ‘kamchwlwi borok’ for the upper body. However, except in rural Tripura and among the working class, relatively few individuals wear these garments in the present day.
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh has a form of traditional attire that is notably in sync with the great bulk of Indian land. In Uttar Pradesh, women wear ghagra cholis, salwar kameez, or sarees. The males, for the most part, wear lungis or night robes and kurtas, accompanied by headwear such as Topis or Pagris. Sherwanis are worn on special occasions.
Uttarakhand
Ladies in Uttarakhand wear long skirts called ghagri coupled with choli and odhani. While the men wear a dhoti, churidar, or lungi with a shirt or kurta with a gol topi or Jawahar topi. Bhotu and Dhoti are the state’s unisex traditional dress styles.
West Bengal
West Bengal is another Indian state noted for its rich culture and boisterous revelry. Sarees are the traditional women’s attire of the state. The sarees are mostly Sanatpuri style and are white or grey in colour with brilliant crimson fringes. Bengali guys traditionally dress in dhoti or Punjabi and kurta.
Conclusion
This was a complete list of the Traditional Dresses of Indian States. It includes the attires of all 29 Indian states. Hope this article has given you an insight into the Traditional Dresses of Indian States. If you have learnt something or this has struck your interest, let us know in the comment section. If you like this article, visit our page for more education. Also, share this article with friends and family so they can also know the Traditional Dresses of Indian States.