Dhoti - Styles and Varieties

Styles and Varieties

The garment is known as the vaetti in Tamil Nadu and Mundu in Kerala. It is called pancha in Andhra Pradesh and panche in Karnataka, dhotar in Maharashtra and dhuti in Bengal. The word is related to the Sanskrit pancha meaning five. This may be a reference to the fact that a 5-yard-long strip of cloth is used. It is also related to the Sanskrit word dhuvati. In one elaborate south Indian style of draping the garment, five knots are used to wrap the garment, and this also is sometimes held to have originated the word.

It is usually white or cream in colour, although colourful hues are used for specific religious occasions or sometimes to create more vivid ensembles. Off-white dhuti are generally worn by the groom in Bengali weddings. White or turmeric-yellow is the prescribed hues to be worn by men at their weddings and upanayanams. Silk panchas, called Magatam or Pattu Pancha in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh respectively, are often used on these special occasions. Vermilion-red dhotis, called sowlay, are often used by priests at temples, especially in Maharashtra. Kings and poets used rich colors and elaborate gold-thread embroideries. Cotton dhotis suit the climatic conditions for daily usage. Silk panchas are suited for special occasions and are expensive.

There are several different ways of draping the panchas. The two most popular ones in south India are the plain wrap and the Pancha katcham (five knots or five folds). The first style is mostly seen mainly in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, southern parts of other two south Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. It is a simple wrap around the waist and resembles a long skirt and is usually 4 yards long. It will be folded in half up to knees while working. The second style consists of folding around the waist in the middle of the garment and tying the top ends in the front like a belt and tucking the falling left and right ends in the back. It is usually 8 yards long cloth. This style is popular across south Indian men while working in the fields.

The style in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and in North India, also worn in the West by devotees of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, consists of folding the cloth in half, taking the left side, pleating it vertically, passing it between the legs and tucking it in the waist at the back. The right side is pleated horizontally and tucked in the waist at the front.

Along with dhoti, the angavastram or thundu (an extra piece of cloth) will be draped depending on its use. Farmers carry it on one shoulder and treat it as a sweat towel. Bridegrooms use it as entire upper garment. It will be folded decoratively around the waist while dancing. South Indian Hindu priests wrap about the waist as the extra layer. North Indian priests (especially those of ISKCON) may drape it across the body with two corners tied at the shoulder, or they may wear a kurta instead.

The dhoti is also worn in the Horn of Africa, mainly by Somalis and Afars, where it is known as the macawis.