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Traditional Clothing of India

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India has no single national costume, because dress varies by region, community, religion and occasion. The sari, the salwar kameez and the kurta are among the most widely worn garments, alongside many local styles and handwoven textiles.

Partly rolled 18th-century silk sari in dark purple-brown with gold patterned borders, small repeating motifs and a central medallion
Image: Unknown artist (India), The Metropolitan Museum of Art · Public domain (CC0)

Women’s traditional clothing

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The sari is the best-known traditional garment for women in India. It consists of an unstitched length of cloth, typically five to nine yards (4.5 to 8 metres) long, draped around the waist and over the shoulder. It is worn over a fitted blouse (choli) and a petticoat into which the pleats are tucked. The most widespread drape today is the nivi style, with pleats tucked in at the front and the decorated end (pallu) over the left shoulder. Well-known regional varieties include Banarasi silk with gold zari brocade from Varanasi, heavy Kanchipuram silk with contrast borders from Tamil Nadu, and the nine-yard nauvari sari draped between the legs in Maharashtra. Read more on our sari page.

Indian women also wear other traditional outfits:

  • Salwar kameez: a two-piece outfit from northern India and the Punjab, consisting of a knee-length tunic (kameez) with trousers (salwar) and a scarf (dupatta).
  • Lehenga choli: a floor-length flared skirt (lehenga) worn with a fitted blouse (choli) and a dupatta, popular for weddings and celebrations in northern and western India.
  • Chaniya choli: a mirror-embroidered skirt and blouse worn by women in Gujarat and Rajasthan, especially during Garba at Navratri.
  • Mekhela chador: a two-piece silk outfit worn by Assamese women, with a wrapped skirt (mekhela) and a draped upper cloth (chador).

Men’s traditional clothing

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Men’s traditional clothing includes both unstitched garments and tailored tunics:

  • Dhoti: a long, unstitched cloth of cotton or silk wrapped around the waist and legs, knotted at the waist. It is worn across north and east India for religious ceremonies, weddings and formal occasions.
  • Veshti and Mundu: in southern India, men wear unstitched waist wraps called the veshti in Tamil Nadu and the mundu in Kerala, often of white cotton with gold-thread borders (kasavu).
  • Kurta: a collarless or mandarin-collared knee-length tunic with side slits, worn by men throughout the subcontinent. It is paired with loose cotton trousers (pyjama), tight gathered leggings (churidar), or a dhoti.
  • Sherwani: a structured long coat buttoned down the front, worn over a kurta and churidar. It is the standard formal wear for grooms and wedding guests in northern India, often paired with a stole and a turban (safa or pagri).
  • Kediyu: a flared, pleated short top worn by men in Gujarat with tight chorno trousers and turbans at folk festivals.

Regional variety

Handloom weaving gives many regions their own textiles. Well-known examples include:

  • Banarasi saris from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, woven in silk with brocade patterns in gold or silver thread (zari).
  • Kanchipuram silk saris from Tamil Nadu, known for heavy silk and wide borders in contrasting colours.
  • Patola from Gujarat, made with the double ikat technique, in which both warp and weft threads are dyed before weaving.
  • Kasavu, the off-white cotton cloth with a gold border worn in Kerala, as a sari or as the two-piece mundum neriyathum.
  • Mekhela chador from Assam, a two-piece outfit of a wrapped skirt (mekhela) and a draped upper cloth (chador), often woven from local silk.

Dress also differs between religious and Adivasi (Indigenous) communities within the same region, so local custom matters more than any national rule.

Wedding attire

Wedding clothing varies widely by region, community and family. In many parts of northern India, brides wear a red or other deep-coloured lehenga or sari, often heavily embroidered, and red is widely associated with marriage and good fortune. Grooms there often wear a sherwani with a turban.

In South India many brides wear a Kanchipuram or other silk sari, and in Kerala many Hindu brides wear a cream-and-gold kasavu sari. Southern grooms may wear a veshti or mundu. Many Christian brides in India wear a white sari or a white gown, and Muslim brides in some regions wear a lehenga or the wide-legged sharara or gharara. Before many weddings, the bride’s hands and feet are decorated with henna (mehndi).

Festivals and celebrations

New or special clothes are part of many celebrations:

  • Diwali: many families buy and wear new clothes, such as saris, kurtas or lehengas.
  • Navratri: in Gujarat, women dancing the garba often wear the chaniya choli, an embroidered skirt and blouse that may be decorated with small mirrors. Men may wear the kediyu, a short, flared top.
  • Durga Puja: in West Bengal, many women wear a white sari with a red border, especially on the last day of the festival.
  • Onam: in Kerala, the kasavu sari and mundu are widely worn.
  • Eid: families often dress in new clothes, such as kurtas, salwar kameez or sherwanis.

Traditional clothing today

In cities, many people wear Western clothes to work or school, but the sari and the salwar kameez are still everyday wear for many women, and kurtas are popular with men and women alike. India marks National Handloom Day on 7 August to promote handwoven textiles, and many designers reinterpret regional weaves and silhouettes for modern wear.

Garments from India

  • Decorated end of a crimson-magenta silk sari from about 1875, with a row of large gold paisley motifs, a pale gold band and striped borders

    Sari

    An unstitched length of cloth, often 5–9 yards long, draped over a blouse and petticoat.

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