COSTUMES OF ANDHRA PRADESH

1. COSTUMES OF ANDHRA PRADESH

2. INTRODUCTION
• Costume of a place reflects upon the culture
traditions, the lifestyle, the tastes and
preferences of its people.
• It also presents the impact of present modernity
on the mindsets of its inhabitants.
• The myriad costumes of Andhra Pradesh attest
the place to be a collection of the ancient and the
modern.

3. COSTUMES OF ANDHRA PRADESH
• Saree and blouse for women
• Dhoti known as ‘Pancha’ and kurta
known as ‘jubba’ or ‘chokka’ for
men
• Muslim women wear both saree
and salwar kameez dupatta and
also wear burkha.
• Hindu and Christian men usually
wear Dhoti termed as ‘lungi’ and
Kurta.
• Muslim men generally wear kurta
and ‘pyjamas’ instead of dhoti
along with a Fez cap.
A man from the clan wearing a
pancha along with a chokka
Fez Cap

4. DHOTI /PANCHA, LUNGI
• The pancha in Telugu, called dhoti or
doti in Hindi is the traditional
garment of men's wear in A.P.
• It is a rectangular piece of unstitched
cloth, usually around 5 yards long,
wrapped about the waist and the
legs, and knotted at the waist.
• It is usually white or cream in colour,
although colourful hues are used for
specific religious occasions or
sometimes to create more vivid
ensembles.

5. • Pattu(silk) panchas are used
for special occasions.
• The lungi is a similar piece of
cloth worn in similar manner,
though only on informal
occasions.
• The lungi is not as long and is
basically a bigger version of a
towel worn to fight the
extremely hot weather in
India.
Pattu Panchas
Lungi

6. LAMBADIS OR BANJARA
• Agricultural sector of the social
strata of Andhra Pradesh.
• There costumes cater to their life
pattern, class, climate and day to day
work like harvesting, sowing etc.
• Women wear colorful costumes like
phetiya (ghagra) & kanchalli
(uttariya) with lot of mirrors and
beads studded on them.
• They dress in wide skirts in many gay
and loud shades of red, orange and
blue and have tattoos on their
hands.

7. • They use mirror chips and often
coins to decorate.
• Women put on thick bangles
on their arms (patli).
• Their ornaments are made up
of silver rings, coins, chain and
hair pleats are tied together at the
end by chotla.
•Men wear Dhoti and Kurta (short with many folds).
•These clothes were designed specially for the
protection from harsh climate in deserts and to
distinguish them from others.

8. SAREES
“The skill of draping the saree is in itself an
expression of a women’s creativity.”
• The traditional dress of Andhra Pradesh still is the
exotic handloom sarees with ethnicity and richness
of texture, that are made at different places and are
mostly famous by the names of the respective
places.

9. DHARMAVARAM SAREES
• Dharmavaram in Andhra Pradesh has world wide
repute for the production and distribution of
gorgeous silk sarees.
• These Dharmavaram sarees make for ornate
costumes, appropriate for bridal wear, ceremonies,
like wedding party, or festivals.
• The hallmark of these splendid sarees is that their
borders are generally brocaded with gold plating.

10. Dharmavaram saree known for its double color effect and gold border

11. • The colors, though bright, have a somewhat
more sublime hue.
• The pallu has rich zari brocade, with its color
contrasting with the color of the body of the
sari.
• The specialitiy of this silk sari is that it is
woven in two colors.

12. GADWAL SAREES
• Gadwal is a small Andhra town.
• The saris woven in the looms of Gadwal are
inspired by the Banarasi sarees of Varanasi.
• The Gadwal saris have the body made of cotton,
while the border and the pullav are made of tussar
or mulberry silk.
• The traditional interlocking-weft technique is used
in the weaving process. The embroidery on the
Gadwal sari is made of gold or copper threads.
• The motifs are traditional with parrots, geometrical
patterns, leaves being predominant.

13. Blue Colored Gadwal Saree

14. MANGALAGIRI SAREES
• Mangalagiri saris of Andhra are simple saris
with broad borders woven with gold or copper
thread.
• The cotton body has small checks or stripes
against a backdrop of bright color.
• The pallus don solid zari or small golden
stripes.

15. Mangalagiri saree of Andhra

16. VENKATGIRI SAREES
• The Venkatgiri saris with their bright colors
resplendent with golden dots, leaves, parrots and
simple geometrical designs are specialty of
Venkatgiri in Nellore district of Andhra.
• Although traditional Venkatgiri saree is woven with
cotton threads, but you can also find silk Venkatgiri
sari.
• This sari looks gorgeous with its silver zari border or
brocade designs.

17. Venkatgiri saree

18. NARYANPET SAREES
• The Narayanpet saris are noted for their broad
borders and pallus or pullavs.
• These saris are made from cotton or cotton
mingled with silk yarn.
• The main characteristic of the traditional
Narayanpet sari is the alternate red and white
bands of the pullav.
• The borders are generally colored maroon red or
chocolate red with white or colored lines on them.

19. Narayanpet saree Green narayanpet saree

20. KOTHAKOTA SAREES
• Kothakota sari is similar to the Gadwal sari.
• The pallus have rich ornate zari works and the
borders are broad, their color contrasting with
the color of the body of the Kothakota sari.

21. Kothakota saree

22. PONCHAMPALLI SAREES-IKAT SAREES
• Ponchampalli, in Nalgonda District is famous for ikat
sarees. Other districts being, guntur, chirala,
golconda etc.
• Ikat weaving is known by the name chit-ku in these
places.
• It was only since 1970, when weavers in
Pochampally began manufacturing this sari on the
lines of Ikat or tie and dye technique of textile
manufacture.
• Ikat sarees of AP appear to have closer ties with
Gujarat than Orissa.

23. A little girl wearing a
Ponchampally saree Ponchampally work shop: Ikat weaving

24. • Pochampally or Pochampally Ikat sari weavers use
silk from Bangalore and zari from Surat.
• The 8-metre (26 foot) saree called zjanani, has ikat
bands in the end piece and is woven in
ponchampalli.
• It requires a weaving -pattern, wherein the yarn is
arbitrarily dyed in zigzag or geometric structures.
• The motifs used are both traditional as well as
contemporary.

25. Pochampally saree

26. TELIA RUMAL
• Telia Rumal is a square shaped loincloth made in
Andhra Pradesh using the tie-and-dye technique.
• It was also known as Asia rumal in the past.
Pochampalli, Chirala, Koyalagudeni and Puttupaka
village specialize in this art. The word ‘telia’ refers to
the oily smell imparted by the use of alizarin dyes
and ‘rumal’ means square.
• Alizarin, iron or indigo and numerous vegetable oils
are involved in the making of this cloth.
• The fabric is oiled and then tied in certain areas to
prevent the dye from percolating.

27. Telia rumalBedsheet made of telia rumal technique

28. • The tied fabric is dipped in the dye.
• The end product is a soft luminous cloth featuring
intricate designs.
• The colors, which included red, pink and purple,
vary in their intensities depending on the oil
mordant that is used.
• Motives were either geometric or figurative,
sometimes of clocks and airplanes.
• This cloth can be worn as a headgear, stoles, lungis
and even as saris.

29. Red Telia saree

30. KALAMKARI
• Around the 19th century prntiing blocks were
introduced and from then on very little
freehand kalam drawing was done.
• Large figurative kalamkari wall hangings were
made.
• Kalamkari sarees, kurti (tops), salwar-kameez,
have become the order of the day and have
become the popular costumes of Andhra
Pradesh. This particular art form is prevalent
in Machilipatnam of Andhra Pradesh.

31. Kalamkari work

32. • The Kalamkari fabric contains the paintings of
mythological figures and events with
vegetable colours .
• They follow a color code: all Gods are blue,
female characters are golden yellow, bad
characters and demons are red.
• This free style of pictorial expression called for
the use of kalam.

33. BANJARA EMBROIDERY
• Banjara embroidery is noted for its lively
decoration cowry shells, coins, cotton etc.
• They wear ghagras and blouses in bold
applique and mirror work.
• They make beautiful quilted rumals, bags and
purses usually on brown or sometimes blue
cloth.
• The color and style of embellishment of these
textiles are dictated by climatic and cultural
factors.

34. Banjara embroidery

35. NIZAMS OF HYDERABAD
• The crowning glory of the costumes of Andhra
Pradesh is the awesome Hyderabad’s pearls.
• The enthusiastic NIZAMS of Hyderabad inaugurated
pearl trade.
• The pearl small-industries , craftsmen and jewelers
are situated near the well-known Charminar.
• The cost of pearls varies according to radiance,
shape and size.
• In the museum of the Nizams, one will get to see
the exotic, rich, vibrant, amazingly crafted costumes
worn by the Nizams heavily ornamented with
precious and semi-precious stones and gems.

36. Last nizam of hyderabad-osman ali
khan

37. My inspiration is from the different sarees
of Andhra Pradesh. The silhouette itself
defines the pleats and feminity of the
saree and the vastness of the ghagra.
Motives like parrot, leaves and geometric
patterns have been used which play a very
important part in the costumes of Andhra.
Gold threads are used which is a
prominent part of almost all the sarees of
Andhra. The skirt includes the texture
imbibed from the vibrant ornamentation
and usage of mirrors and conch shells of
the Lambadi tribe. The yellow color pleats
define the magnificent and flowy pleats of
the ghagra and saree.

38. THANK YOU