Traditional dress and Jewelry of Kerala

Breathtaking Traditional Dress and Jewelry of Kerala

The traditional dressing sense of Kerala people is a vivid beauty description of their landscape and cuisine. The traditional woman Saree costumes adorned with lots of jewelry from her waistline to the neck. People of Kerala live serenity and peace, and hence their traditional wear is off-white or pure white. Each occasion like their traditional festivals and marriage comes with new attire that reflects the time of the day.

Women Traditional Dress and Costume

Women of Kerala and especially the Hindu women are known to wear traditional Kerala Saree that is off-white with golden Kasavu Border. The Saree is a unique set of separate clothes referred to as the Neriyathy and Mundu. The Mundu is used to cover the lower part of the woman body while the Neriyathy for the top part. The most expensive and exquisite ones are usually worn on special occasions. For the Christian women of Kerala, they wear the same design of mundu with a small extension in the back that looks like a fan and the blouse that accompanies Mundu is known as Chatta. The Muslim women are known to wear Purdah, a long gown that looks like a dress and covers the entire body. The older Muslim women of Kerala are known to wear Mundu with a colorful blouse known as Chatta and a head gear Neriathu to cover their heads.

The Kerala women wear the set mundu for their traditional dance Thiruvathira during Onam celebrations.

Men traditional costumes

The Men of Kerala are known to wear a bottom called Dhoti or Mundu accompanied by a unique designed Jubbah or shirt. Men also have a casual bottom wear known as Lungi, however, in the recent years, the people have adjusted to the taste and designs of western wear. The older generation men have maintained their traditions, and they do not wear any shirt instead they love to drape a cloth known as Mel-Mundu that covers their upper body.

Traditional wedding costumes

The traditional costumes for brides in Hindu marriages in Kerala are sarees which have different shades and bright colors adorned with heavy embroidery work. Most women during their wedding prefer the Kanchipuram silk sarees. The sarees embellished with stones, crystal work, and beads and they come in colors like maroon, green, red, orange, etc. The colors of each sarees are carefully chosen according to the auspicious day. Men prefer to wear silk dhoti or a Kasavu mundu and a shirt.

Kerala is also famous for the hand-woven sarees (Kai Thari) that are done in the villages to create a unique handloom sarees. For the young ones, they love the traditional half sarees and also the Pattu Pavada that are either plain or silk.

Kerala Jewelry

Any attire in Kerala is not complete without jewelry. They love wearing gold and not just one, but many gold ornaments are part of their traditional costumes and especially during festivals. During marriages, gold jewelry is an integral component. The old traditional jewelry worn includes the Palakka Mala, Kasu Mala, Addiyal, Nagapada Thali, Mullamottu Mala, Karimani Mala, Cheruthali, Kashali, Jhimki, Manga Mala, etc.

Other than the bridal and other festival jewelry, the people of Kerala also have jewelry individually adorned for their gods in the temples. This jewelry is known as Thiruvabharnam, and it is sacred.  The older generation of men used to pierce their ears and put on small gold stud known as Kadukkan. The Mulla Mottu Mala is a necklace that looks like jasmine buds, and it usually has gold or precious stones of different colors or beads. The ankles are either made of silver or gold.

Kerala has unique and stunning traditional costumes and Jewelry.

Kerala Sarees and Set Mundu

Set mundu is the traditional dress of Kerala Women. Set mundu is also known as mundum neriyathum. It is the oldest raw form of the saree which covers only the lower part of the body. In the set mundu, the basic traditional piece is the mundu, the lower garment worn around the waist. The set or neriyathu forms the upper cloth. Looking back to the Kerala culture, it is very evident that the neriyathu is added very recently, may be after 1960s to the mundu. The set mundu, in recent years, is worn in the modern style with the neriyathu placed over the blouse. Typically it is worn diagonally from along the right hip to the left shoulder covering the blouse and upper part of the body. The remaining loose end of the set (neriyathu) hangs freely from the left shoulder like the pallu of any Indian dress. Because the material is pure cotton, the set mundu or mundum neriyathum is starched and thoroughly ironed before wearing.The set mundu is originally cream in color has a colored strip at the border known as kara. This is usually known as kasavu kara because this border is always in golden color made of kasavu material. The kasavu kara is usually artificial material which looks like gold strings. Mostly this is fine copper strings with gold plating or similar coating. The pure gold kasavu kara is used in expensive Kanchipuram silk sarees and even in expensive set mundu. Until recent years the mundum neriyathum was only woven by handloom. Now these are made in power looms in various parts of Kerala. Still handloom woven set mundu are in high demand and they cost slightly higher when compared to their power loom counterparts.At different parts of Kerala the set mundu is known in different names and the style varies slightly based on the local culture and life style. Though mundum neriyathum is the most common name, set saree, kasavu mundu, mundu saree, Kerala saree are few other names for set mundu. On festive occasions like Onam and Vishu, set mundu is the preferred costume of all Malayalee women irrespective of where they live. Thiruvathirakali and Kaikottikali are two traditional dances, Malayalee women perform in groups during Onam. The costumes for these dances are always set mundu or Kerala saree. Another big advantage of the set mundu or Kerala saree is that it can accommodate any color for the blouse. The plain golden jewelry always goes with these costumes. Mohiniyattam, the classical dance originated from Kerala also has costumes similar to set mundu with more fan and pallu.
As mentioned, the set mundu is the traditional and cultural costume of Malayalee women and often referred as Mundum Neriyathum. The beauty, elegance, grace and appeal of the kasavu kara contrasting with the otherwise plain white set mundu has become symbol of malayalee women.