There is something glowing about this movie still.

It is from the movie Achhut Kanya (untouchable girl) from 1936. This was the first movie to challenge the cast system.

There is a delightful real life story surrounding this movie:

The movie stars Ashok Kumar (cast after the original hero had eloped with the producer’s wife and leading lady) and Devika Rani (the producer’s wife who decided to come back) in the lead roles.

And you think the current scandals are unbelievable…

“On her arrival in Bombay, Jnanadanandini discarded the cumbersome oriental dress for the neat way Parsi women had of wearing the saree. Though she made minor alterations, she basically adhered to this mode of dressing…. Jnanadanandini returned wearing the saree in a new way, all the womenfolk of the family adopted it. This attracted other Brahmikas too”

I discovered this photograph at British Library online. I don’t think I could smile with that kind of load on my head but these women not only they could strike a pose (almost) but the fact that they are smiling for the photographer  is really intriguing.

“Women porters, Madras,” a photo from the 1920′s

Beautiful chickankari work.

Here is some contemporary chickan work

Exactly the same!

The art is said to be introduced by Noorjahan the beautiful queen of Emperor Jahangir. She is said to be an expert in embroidery and inspired by the Turkish embroidery.

Another story is that the chikan originated in East Bengal. There is a mention of chikan, the florals on fine muslins in 3rd century BC. The craftsmen believe that the origin goes back to the time of Prophet. It is believed that while he was passing through a village in Uttar Pradesh, he requested a villager for water. On being offered that, he gave the art of Chikankari to the poor villager as an art that will never let him go hungry.

As old as time itself. And that is what I love about sarees – it is a bridge between You and your heritage, all rolled up in six yards.

I love this picture for two reasons; it shows sarees from 1945 and it shows Calcutta from 1945.

As some of you know, I am an avid antique map collector and have one of the better private collections of antique Indian maps. Hopefully I’ll share that with you at some point.

The origin of these pictures is as follows:

The South Asia Section of the Van Pelt Library, University of Pennsylvania recently acquired from a bookdealer a photograph album consisting of 60 photographs of Calcutta taken most likely between 1945-1946. The photographer, Mr. Claude Waddell, also provided the interesting glosses accompanying each photograph.

Indian women, dressed in the native Saree, return from prayer at Jain Temple. Little girls wear European
dress usually until the marriage age, although some mothers like to dress the little girls in Sarees.

Check out more of them at UPenn site.

Indian Military Uniform Saree from the Life magazine June 1945.

Love the collar on the saree blouse!

One of her greatest contributions is her research and meticulous documentation of over a hundred different variations of saree drapes. Most of these saree drapes would have eventually become forgotten if it had not been for her work on recording and preserving this unique art.

Chantal’s work has helped to preserve a precious part of Indian culture. Her book Saris: An Illustrated Guide to the Indian Art of Draping is a priceless contribution to the world of sarees. Her books classifies families of sarees and provides detailed diagrams of how to properly drape each saree. Below is an example of one of Chantal’s depictions showing how to drape a saree in Mul style.

Thank you Chantal for your passion and hard work to preserve this precious art and vital component of Indian culture.

Indira Gandhi is one of my favorite women leaders. She occupied the office of Prime Minster with certain grace, certain knowledge and she had a sense of confidence (some might say cockiness) but may be that’s why I liked her.

I hated Lata Mangeshkar. She is responsible for the blandness of the Indian female playback singer scene that lasted for at least two decades.

All you need to do is to look at the list of female playback singers and the list of male playback singers during sixties and seventies. There is a HUGE difference! She actively supressed new female artists.

Yes, she sings well; yes, she is a good business woman, but she also deprived me of access to new artists and vibrant sounds.

Back to sarees! I love this picture of three sarees, probably from late forties. As they say, style changes, style stays the same!

Not sure where this picture is from but it is a delightful picture of two women in a saree propped up with a large pillow. I am also intrigued by the blouse design, especially the design of the back of the blouse. It could be a multipiece blouse. I like the arrangement of the picture for sure.

This dashing young Air Force officer (those days Royal Air Force) and his gorgeous wife were fabulous dancers and won many a prizes!

This is such a delightful picture, it is easily one of my most favorite picture on this site.

Picture Circa 1940′s.

Mona at her Father-in-law’s place in 1937 – dressed in a saree.

Came across a delightful Retroblog of Najm Tyabji. It is a retroblog of Mark Devereux’s grand father, who lived in India and was married to a Scottish woman, Mona.

It is a fine silk saree and looks like the blouse is more of a european style.

I am still looking for saree pictures from 1880′s- 1930′s; please send me a copy or a pointer if you find any.

an unstitched length of textile was the wearvof Indian women since as early as the Mauryan period (300-185vB.C.), if not before. Worn on body’s lower half, below the waist, the wear was known as antariya.

Men and women continued to wear three unstitched garments, as in Vedic times. The main garment was the antariya of white cotton, linen or flowered muslin, sometimes embroidered in gold and precious stones. For men, it was an unstitched length of cloth draped around the hips and between the legs in the kachcha style, extending from the waist to the calf or ankles or worn even shorter by peasants and commoners. The antariya was secured at the waist by a sash or kayabandh, often tied in a looped knot at the center front of the waist. The kayabandh could be simple sash, vethaka; one with drum-headed knot at the ends, muraja; a very elaborate band of embroidery, flat and ribbon-shaped, pattika; or a many-stringed one, kalabuka. The third item of clothing called uttariya was another length of material, usually fine cotton, very rarely silk, which was utilized as a long scarf to drape the top half of the body.

She meticulously took pictures and organized information about the saees. This is a picture of a saree from a sculpture from 7th century.

OF ALL the arts that have emerged out of India, one of the least known and studied is that of draping. Chantal Boulanger-Maloney devoted much of her time between 1980 and 1996 to travelling throughout south, central and eastern India researching and documenting 100 different styles of draping saris. She was particularly concerned that many of these styles would be forgotten if they were not documented. Her pioneering research was consolidated and published in her book Saris: an illustrated guide to the Indian art of draping (1997), which included many of her own drawings.

From 1959 Life Magazine.

This is a gem. A picture circa 1908; a saree clad woman tapping a rubber tree.

Seems like a single piece garment as one would expect.

Marissa (from NY) in her Spinalmoth blog has a posting titled “Sari Sadness”:

In an earlier post I expressed my sadness for not having an excuse to wear a sari. At church today one of the brothers (the first bishop in India!) gave a talk about preparing for the temple. In it he explained how for Indian women in the church, although wearing a sari is something most women want to be able to do, especially once they are endowed, Indian LDS women cannot if they are to dress modestly.

For some reason it hadn’t occurred to me that sari’s were immodest. The choli (the top) is often short sleeved and not super low cut and the pallu (the loose draped fabric) often covers up the front of the midriff so I didn’t think much about it. For those who don’t know, traditionally, sari’s leave part of the midriff exposed. How much midriff exposure varies but there is almost always SOME.

I am not going to reflect on the Later Day Saints (LDS or Mormons), but to suggest that a saree is “immodest” is not fair to the perishners. Saree is the most versatile garment there is. If a muslim woman following Hijab can wear a saree, there is no reason a member of the LDS can not wear a saree.

You just need to use the right blouse and have an appropriate length of the blouse so it covers your body and you can use your pallu to cover yourself and remain “modest”.

But there is no logic to religious practices; you got to follow your faith and avoid wearing a saree at the church.

But I do share her sari sadness!

PS: This is only true for LDS (Mormon) church; other churches and denominations do not have such restriction. In fact, the most recent bible approved by the church for India, includes pictures of women in saree. There is a picture of Virgin Mary in saree somewhere.