Dhoti - Custom and Usage

Custom and Usage

The Pancha is considered formal wear all over the country. In addition to all government and traditional family functions, the Pancha is also considered acceptable at country clubs and at other establishments that enforce strict formal dress codes. The same is true across the Indian subcontinent, particularly in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. In many of these countries, the garment has become something of a mascot of cultural assertion, being greatly favoured by politicians and cultural figures. Thus, the pancha for many has taken on a more cultural nuance while the suit-and-tie or, in less formal occasions, the ubiquitous shirt and pants, are seen as standard formal and semi-formal wear.

In southern India, the garment is worn at all cultural occasions and traditional ceremonies. The bridegroom in a south Indian wedding and the host/main male participant of other rituals and ceremonies have necessarily to be dressed in the traditional pancha while performing the ceremonies.

Unspoken rules of etiquette govern the way the Pancha is worn. In south India, men will occasionally fold the garment in half and this reveals the legs from the knee downwards. However, it is considered disrespectful to speak to women or to one's social superiors with the Pancha folded up in this manner. When faced with such a social situation, the fold of the Pancha is loosened and allowed to cover the legs completely.

The pancha is worn by many orthodox Jain males when they visit the temple for prayer, as they are required to wear unstitched clothes in accordance to their belief in ahimsa. They wear a loose, unstitched cloth, shorter than the pancha on the top.

Pancha are worn by western adherents of the Hare Krishna sect, which is known for promoting a distinctive dress code among its practitioners, with followers wearing saffron or white coloured cloth, folded in the traditional style. Mahatma Gandhi invariably wore a pancha on public occasions, but he was well aware that it was considered "indecent" in other countries and was shocked when a friend wore one in London. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was known for wearing a white silk dhoti.

The genteel Bengali man is stereotyped in popular culture as wearing expensive perfumes, a light kurta and an elaborate dhuti with rich pleats, the front corner of the cloth being stiffed like a Japanese fan and holding it in his hand; while feverishly discussing politics and literature. It is considered the most elegant costume and is worn at Bengali weddings and cultural festivals.

Over the past century or more, western styles of clothing have been steadily gaining ground in the region, gradually rendering the pancha a garment for home-wear, not generally worn to work. It is less popular among the youth in major metropolitan areas and is viewed as rustic, unfashionable and not 'hip' enough for the younger age-set. However, use of the pancha as a garment of daily use and homewear continues largely unabated.