Traditional Dress of Kerala

Traditional Dress of Kerala

The basic dress of Kreala is the 'Mundum neriyathum' or 'mundu and neriathu'. It is worn by both, men and women of Kerala. The mundum neryathum consists of two pieces of cloth- mundu which is the cloth draped on the lower part of the body and neriyathu which is worn over a blouse. Mundu is a hand woven cotton cloth which is very comfortable in the summers. It is of white or cream color with a colored strip known as 'kara' meaning border. Traditionally, the Neriyathum is tucked inside the blouse. Sometimes, it is worn over the left shoulder just like the sarees of north India are worn.

Mundum neriyathum is worn by women from all communities of Kerala. However, the style of its wearing is different among the Christian women. They fold the mundu in multiple folds that resembles the shape of a fan. This portion is hung at the back. The mundum neryathum for festive occasion has golden colored borders or a broad zari border known as Kasavu, lending the costume another name- the "Kasavu Saree". Nowadays, thesefestival sarees of South India also come with borders of copper coated or artificial color (instead of golden color) with peacock or temple designs. The blouse worn by the women of Kerala differs according to the age and marital status. Young unmarried girls traditionally wear green blouse while married women wear red blouses. With time, the mundum neriyathum has been replaced by the 'Set-sari', which is a single strip of cloth and is famously known as the 'Kerala saree'.