Clothing in India

Clothing in India varies with the different ethnicities, geography, climate, and cultural traditions of the people of each region of India. Historically, clothing has evolved from simple garments like kaupina, langota, achkan, lungi, sari, to rituals and dance performances. In urban areas, western clothing is common and uniformly worn by people of all social levels. India also has a great diversity in terms of weaves, fibers, colors, and the material of clothing. Sometimes, color codes are followed in clothing based on the religion and ritual concerned. The clothing in India also encompasses a wide variety of Indian embroidery, prints, handwork, embellishments, and styles of wearing clothes. A wide mix of Indian traditional clothing and western styles can be seen in India. History of clothing in India and Sari File:Mohenjo-daro Priesterkönig.jpeg|Statue of "Priest King" wearing a robe, [[Indus Valley civilisation]]. File:Didarganj Yakshi statue in the Bihar Museum.jpg|The [[Didarganj Yakshi]] depicting the ''dhoti wrap'', c. 300 BC. File:Gandhara Buddha (tnm).jpeg|[[The Buddha]] wearing [[Kasaya (clothing)|kāṣāya]] robes, c. 200 BC. File:In Welcome of Buddha - ACCN 34-2542 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 5941.JPG|Relief depicting men in [[antriya]] and [[uttariya]], first century AD. India's recorded history of clothing goes back to the fifth millennium BC in the Indus Valley Civilisation where cotton was spun, woven and dyed. Bone needles and wooden spindles have been unearthed in excavations at the site. The cotton industry in ancient India was well developed, and several of the methods survive until today. Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian described Indian cotton as "a wool exceeding in beauty and goodness that of sheep". Indian cotton clothing was well adapted to the dry, hot summers of the subcontinent. The grand epic Mahabharata, composed in about 400 BC, tells of the god Krishna staving off Draupadi's disrobing by bestowing an unending cheera upon her.