Thursday, May 3, 2012

Saris

One of the most vivid visual pieces of ancient Indian, as well as present day culture, are the beautiful and intricately designed saris. Saris have been prevalent in Indian history for at least 2000 years, perhaps even longer,as the practice of growing, and then weaving cotton into fabric has been around for over 5000 years. While the origins of the sari are a bit obscure due to lack of written records, but the first visual record of a sari is Northern Indian terra cotta from 100 b.c. of an Indian woman. While now the sari is an entirely female garment, originally it was worn by both men and women, although the method of winding them around the body differed for the genders. The colors and motifs used in the saris all had deliberate significance, the designs woven into the saris stood for specific religious aspects, and could vary from village to village. More universal in meaning were the colors the saris were dyed. The colors white and black were avoided, as they were associated with Ill omens and death. White saris were only worn by widows mourning the passing of their husbands. Red was the color of the warrior class, and was associated with valor. But due to it's symbolizing luck and fertility members of all the castes wear red saris on their wedding days. The merchant class wore saris of green, although today the color is popular along the Muslim population of Indii. The color blue was worn by artisans, farmers, weavers, and manual labourers. Both blue and green were avoided by the higher caste members as they were beneath their station, as well as the process of preparing the indigo dye was seen as impure. The Color yellow was the Color of religion and asceticism, yellow saris were traditionally worn by expectant mothers for seven days prior to the birth of the child. In today's culture the sari is perhaps the most well known aspect of Indian art and culture, as well as being a timeless piece of practical artwork.