India is a land of exotic locations and home to approximately one billion people. Indians follow different religions and have completely different cultures and that is reflected in there dressing styles, prominently amongst the women. The traditional wear of the Indian ladies is the Saree pronounced Sa-ree or sari. Basically a saree is a strip of unstitched cloth, ranging from four to nine metres in length that is draped over the body in various styles. Though very popular in India saree is worn in Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Burma, and Malaysia. Though the way of wearing a saree may vary in different cultures, the most common style is for the sari to be wrapped around the waist, and the other end brought over the shoulder. In Indian culture the sari is usually worn over a petticoat or "lehenga" (in Hindi), it is topped up with a blouse known as choli which forms the upper covering. History is testimony to the fact that a saree or its predecessor were even worn during 1800 B.C. which is visible in the clay toys unearthed in the ruins where once Indus Valley Civilization flourished. In the present age saree has gone a step futher and has even gather attention of top notch designers, who all are responsible making saree not only a fashion statement but also a global wear. Apart from Indian and Malaysian celebrities many Westerns like Shakira, Liz Hurley, Madonna, Hillary Clinton have tried out this traditional wear and even liked it. Recently even Michelle Obama was observed exploring about saree during the Obamas visit to India. The word "sari" is derived from the Prakrit word "sattika", according to Buddhist literature. The word got shortened and was called sati, which further evolved into sari. Saree was worn in the Indian subcontinent since ancient times, Hindus believed that piercing clothes with needles is impure and a bad doing. Early paintings have often shown scantily clad women, draped in a piece of clothing with the upper torso being completely bare or few less covered. As modern age started kicking in the sari also evolved and blouse and petticoat came in existence. Saree is a perfect wear for tropical countries. Cotton sarees are preferred by women during the hot summer months. Now coming to the different types of sarees worn globally, it varies from culture to culture. In Bangladesh Katan sari and Tashar silk sari are very famous. Similarly in Sri Lanka sarees are worn in predominantly two styles Kandyan and Indian. In Nepal, a special style of draping is used in a sari called haku patasihh, which is different than the Indian style. Coming to the most predominant and versatile style the Indian style. There are approximately 40 different styles of wearing a saree in India. The most famous ones are: Sambalpuri silk sari from Orissa, Banarasi silk sari from Uttar Pradesh, Kanchipuram (locally called Kanjivaram) from Tamil Nadu and Tussar Silk sari from the state of Bihar.
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