By Hemant SharmaA lot of people in India are now realising how beautiful the state of Tamil Nadu is from all perspectives. Like, it has one of the most ancient temples in the country, most beautiful greenery landscapes, rich culture, deep history, and of course, the lively people. Though it could be that just like so many people out there, you’re really intrigued about the way people dress in Tamil Nadu, and that’s why you’re here. So, let’s just show you the traditional dresses of Tamil Nadu for men and women. Here we go.
Traditional Dress for Tamil Nadu Women
1. Sarees
Hands-down, the saree is the most widely worn traditional garment for women in Tamil Nadu, and we all know it by this point, right?
- First, there are Kanchipuram sarees, which are luxurious silk sarees adorned with glittering golden threads. You’d find women usually wearing them at weddings and other important celebrations.
- Next, there are Chettinad Cotton sarees that are light and comfortable to wear. It is just the weather that suits these sarees. By the way, these sarees are being woven by the Devanga Chettiyars.
- Apart from these, you have Madurai Cotton, Coimbatore Cotton, and Salem Silk All these, you know, they come from different cities with utterly different characteristics.
- Another interesting style is the Madisar worn by Tamil Brahmin women. It is way longer than your regular saree, wrapped in a special way for ceremonies, you see.
2. Pavadai Davani
Before tying the knot in Tamil Nadu (which means before marrying), girls celebrate with Pavadai Davani, something in between half-sarees. Quite a three-part thing: long pavadai, a short, cute blouse, and over-the-shoulder draping of fancy dupatta, or davani. It’s really traditional and is worn at big, important festivals.
New Twists on the Classics
Now, a bunch of women like to wear the salwar-kameez, which is a long tunic with baggy pants and super comfy and easy to wear. Some even mix their modern and traditional styles for a very cool new look.
Traditional Dress for Men in Tamil Nadu
The Main Traditional Dress
When men of Tamil Nadu dress, they wouldn’t attempt to imitate others, they just keep it chill and comfortable with the unique style that is famous in the state. Well, mostly, it comes to the veshtis. With many other names, including dhoti and lungi, veshti means nothing but a very long white cloth wrapped up closely around the waist. By the way, there are some veshtis which feature some fascinating golden borders. Then, above, they wear a shirt called a Sattai on them. For big occasions, they throw on an Angavastram, and that’s a white cotton cloth thrown over the shoulder, pretty cool stuff, if you ask us. This is a very basic dress but most probably looks quite elegant and very respectful in our opinion.
New Vibes
Well, to be honest, just like the rest of the Indian state, the modern wear has kinda taken over the younger youth of Tamil Nadu as well. Like, most of the time, you’ll see them in jeans, pants, and shirts or t-shirts. Though, it is not like they’re totally disconnected with the traditional dresses, nah, they usually wear them on big festivals, weddings, or family get-togethers.
Jewellery & Accessories
Women
Jewellery is very much important in Tamil Nadu, honestly. And what about Temple Jewellery? Well, it is really popular in this part. Mostly gold, embellished with figures of gods, to be honest, it really is an amazing stuff. You know stuff like, you know, Manga Malai, that beautiful necklace which remotely resembles mango shapes, Jadanagam, that hair braid ornament, Wadyanam, that piece which resembles a belt around the waist, you know, Oddiyanam, complex terms just like that. And looking pretty, the women deck themselves up in countless bangles, earrings, nose rings, and more, especially during some great occasion like festivals and marriages.
Men
But men? They don’t wear much jewellery: maybe the Angavastram and sometimes, they will have some Vibhuti, that’s holy ash, or some sandalwood paste smeared on their foreheads, you know, religious stuff like that. In our opinion, that’s just simple but really meaningful symbols of faith.
Traditional Wedding Dresses
Well, first of all, the weddings in Tamil Nadu have an overabundance of gorgeous outfits. Like? Oh, you can usually see brides in the fancy Kanchipurams, pearls dangling all over their bodies, whereas the male counterpart throws on a super brilliant and shiny veshti with a silk shirt and an angavastram, you know. Some very modern people even like wearing a suit nowadays. All very bright and very grand.