Buy Sari

“The Indian sari is a masterpiece of everlasting beauty.” These words of Shri Mataji Niramala Devi were directed at describing the auspicious traditional costume of Indian females, the Sari. With a popularity reigning over 5000 years, the sari is believed to have originated in the Indus Valley civilization around 2800-1800 B.C. The ancient Tamil texts of Banabhatta also refers to the sari, an apparel, which enhances the beauty of a woman and intrigues the men, at the sight of the glamorous and lustrous floor length attire with the tantalizing display of the midriff at the back. The sari is a long woven piece of cloth ranging from 6 to 9 yards that follows the shape of the body and can be draped in over a hundred ways.

The sari bears a natural grace and perennial charm and can conceal the imperfections of the shape of a body, making a healthy or a skinny figure look equally gorgeous, soft and strong at the same time. The sari is usually worn with a blouse and a petticoat. The blouse is the apparel covering the upper half of the body ending just above the waist. It is normally body sticking and tight and makes the shoulders round and delicate. The petticoat is a long piece of cloth round the waist ending near the foot and is used for draping the sari. One end of the sari is tucked into the waistband of the petticoat and then wrapped around the body once.

Pleats are made with hands and tucked in below the navel to create the artistic finish in the shape of petals of a flower. The remaining end is draped diagnostically in front of the torso. This lose end is known as the pallav or the pallu .The pallu may be left hanging or may be used to cover the head. One can buy saris in a wide range of hues and styles. The Indian subcontinent in itself has specialized in over five styles, each style being widely popular in their respective regions. The chicken sari, a long lustrous hand woven and embroidered piece cloth is the specialty of Lucknow and has captured about 2 percent of the sari market and is a must buy.

The tant, jandami and tantoi saris originate from the land of temples, Benaras and the Kuchipuram and Madurai and specialties of South India. While Western Indian saris reflect spark and shine with jari (work of golden threads) and bright colors, Eastern India offers a subtle range of cotton saris mostly in floral hues that includes baluchari, kantha, ikat and tant. Silk saris from East India are a perfect buy to wear for the special occasions and include bombakai, behrampuri and rajasthani silk saris. However, capturing the maximum segment of sari market are bandhani and kota saris from Rajasthan. They are available in bright double colors and are ornamented with mirrors, bells and glitters. There are many shops where one can buy saris. They can also be ordered via the Internet.