Kerala Sarees are symbolic of Kerala culture and tradition and is not seen anywhere else in India. The elegant Kerala Sarees, which are off -white in color with golden border is unique for their natural colour, texture and golden border.
Traditionally women in Kerala used to wear a two piece cloth named ‘settu mundu’, also known as ‘mundum neriyathum’ with natural body color and golden or numerous other shades in border, which when worn, exactly look like a saree.
The modified version is the Kerala Saree which comes in a large variety of designs, embellished with thread work, stones or sequins, fabric painting and golden with contrasting colors as borders.
The typical Kerala saree is hand woven and is 100 % unbleached cotton. It is known for its fineness of count in weaving. The traditional design of a Kerala saree had a 1 inch to 6-7 inch pallu while the body remained plain. But now the pallu goes up to one meter and the border and pallu is decorated with variety of designs including that of peacock, flowers, and many more.
The Kasavu or the golden border is either pure golden layer, copper coated or artificial.The price of an original Kerala saree is very much based on the quality of this “Kasavu” (Zari) Border.
Background
The Handloom fabrics of Kerala follow a tradition about 150 years old. Initially such fabrics were woven by specialized weavers exclusively for the members of Royal Family. Gradually, the tradition spread from them to the local weavers all across Kerala. Now, different locations in Kerala have mastered its own specialized technique of weaving and are famous for their uniqueness in quality and design; the fabrics are known by special names based on the location in which they are manufactured.
Nowadays many bollywood actresses are seen sporting this elegant look in Kerala Saree:
Undoubtedly, this traditional attire is getting lots of publicity all across India and other countries especially when our most wanted actresses have already made style-statements using this!
