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.
