Sari - History and Legend:

The history:

Saris origins are obscure, in part because there are so few historical records in India. Yet, we know that Indians were wearing unsewn lengths of cloth draped around their bodies long before tailored cloths arrived.

This elaborate body-hugging style represented in the terracotta may have evolved among India's temple dancers in ancient times to allow their limbs freedom of movement while at the same time maintaining their standards of modesty.

There are many sculptures of Graeco-Indian Gandharan civilization which show a variety of different Sari draping styles. Tailored clothes arrived in India with the arrival of Muslims. Hindus beleived that any cloth pierced by needles was impure. It is commonly beleived in India that today's petticoat or "Ghagra" and the blouse or "Choli" which are worn under the Sari are later additions which started with the coming of British in India. Increasing number of upper class women in the early 20th century did adopt items of European style clothing as the fitted blouse and slim petticoat. This was also adopted due to the fashion of transparent chiffon Saris during that particular period. Some of the wives of Indian Kings draped themselves in Saris that were made by Parisian designers.

The concept of beauty in ancient India was that of small waist and large bust and hips, as is evident in the sculptures of those times. And Sari seemed to be the perfect dress to flaunt those proportions as it exposes the waist of a woman and emphasises the waist and bust with the pleated fabric. Sometimes women wore accesories like girdle (a belt) with elaborate design around their waist to emphasize the hip area.

The legend:

Legend has it that when the beauteous Draupadi - wife of the Pandavas - was lost to the enemy clan in a gambling duel, the Lord Krishna promised to protect her virtue. The lecherous victors, intent on "bagging" their prize, caught one end of the diaphanous material that draped her so demurely, yet seductively. They continued to pull and unravel, but could reach no end. Virtue triumphed yet again in this 5,000 year old Indian epic, the Mahabharat. Legend, fantasy, history or fact, it is the first recorded reference to the enduringly attractive SARI - the longest, most popular style in the history of women's fashion.

A charming folktale explains...
The Sari, it is said, was born on the loom of a fanciful weaver. He dreamt of woman. The shimmer of her tears. The drape of her tumbling hair. The colors of her many moods. The softness of her touch. All these he wove together. He couldn't stop. He wove for many yards. And when he was done, the story goes, he sat back and smiled and smiled and smiled.