Traditional Costumes-5

Below is about the traditional costumes of North India..

Punjab:

Punjab & Haryana are famous for the "phulkari" (flower-work) shawls which is worn with a tight-fitting choli & gaghra. Phulkari forms the traditional costume of rural woman of this region.

For ceremonial occasions, a special kind of phulkari known as a "bagh" (garden) was made, in which the whole of the ground was covered with embroidery. On the birth of a baby, the grandmother, after a ceremony of prayers & distribution of sweets to the baby's aunts, would start to embroider a bagh. It would take several years to complete & was embroidered with special care to be used later at the grandchild's wedding, after which it would be kept as a family treasure.

Punjabi girls & women wear salwar kameez's with bright colored duppattas. Kameez is the shirt or top piece & salwar is the pant or bottom piece.

Mens & boys generally wear loose pants or slacks with a collared shirt or t-shirt. Some will wear the kurta pajama.

Rajasthan:

Women's attire

Rajasthani women wear ankle-length long skirts with narrow waist that gain width like an umbrella at the base. It is called ghaghara. The width & the no. of pleats in the ghaghara symbolize ones prosperity. Kurti or choli acts as top/blouse. The odhani is a cotton cloth of about 3m long & about 2m wide that is tucked in the skirt while the other end is taken over the head & the right
shoulder.

Men's attire

They wear a turban of various colour, an angrakha or achakan as the upper garment & dhoti or pyjama as the lower garment.

Jammu & Kashmir:

For many years Kashmiri men & women have worn the same style of dress. The women wear the pheran, the Kashmiri gown, hemmed with a border & hanging in awkward folds. A muslim womans pheran is knee length, loose & embroidered in front & on the edges, a hindu womans pheran touches her feet. For the sake
of smartness & ease it is tied at the waist with folded material called Ihungi. Hindu costume has head-dress called taranga, which is tied to a hanging bonnet & tapers down to the heels from behind.

Dogras

Inhabiting the hilly tract bounding the mountains of the Kashmir valley & extending to the plains of Punjab, wear long, loose tunics, close fitting chudidhars and dupatta or cap to complete their charming ensemble.

Ladakhis

Its a part of Jammu. It is known as "land of the Lamas". Men wear long, grey, woolen gowns fringed with sheep-skin & tied at the waist with girdles of blue colour, multi coloured velvet caps, fringed with black fur earlaps. Women wear colourful clothes. Their special is the turquoise-studded headgear called Perak, is made of red cloth or goat skin.

Uttar Pradesh:

Mens wear kurta-pyjamas & dhoti-kurtas. Womens wear sari, salwar suit, lehangas, shararas & gararas.

Bihar:

Its known for its golden tussar silk weaving saris.