The traditional costumes of Maharashtra reflect the state's rich cultural diversity. Women typically wear saris like the nauvari or lugade styles, which are draped in different regional patterns. Paithani saris from the town of Paithan are renowned for their intricate zari embroidery. Men generally wear a dhoti with shirt and turban. Regional communities like the Kolis have distinctive styles of saris, loincloths and jewelry. Traditional attire is now blending with modern influences, especially in urban areas, though historical costumes remain an integral part of Maharashtrian identity and festivals.

1. Costume of Maharashtra

2. History
• As Maharashtra is a vast state, the people
of this colourful state wears different types
of costumes, take different cuisines, has
different forms of dances and music
according to the physical features of their
locality.
It can be said that costumes of
Maharashtra truly reflect the identity of a
typical Maharashtrian culture..
Maharashtra has a vast textile history,
which has contributed to its rich variety of
costumes.

3. Clothing of women

4. Costumes of women
•
• . They wear the sari as sadi or lugade. It
covers about half the length of the back. Its
width varies between 42 to 45 inches and it has
two length wise borders, called as 'kanth' or
'kinar'. It has also two borders breadth wise
at both the ends, which is called as 'padar'.
One side is more decorated than the other.
• The Maratha Brahmin ladies and ladies of
other classes too wear this lugade with the hind
pleats, which are tucked into the waist at the
center of backside. The decorated end is
thrown over the left shoulder.

5. Different draping style
• In Maharashtra, women wear the nine yard
sari which is passed through the legs and
tucked in at the back. The sari comes in a
profusion of colours, textures and designs,
determined largely by the region.
• There are several ways of draping a sari,
which is first wound around the waist,
before being pleated seven or eight times
at the centre and tucked into the
waistband. These pleats are called the
patli. The remaining sari, called the pallu is
then pleated again and draped across the
left shoulder to fall gracefully behind.

6. • The Maratha ladies allow it to cover
their front and back over the head.
The sarees are made from cotton or
silk. There are different types of
sarees such as paithani, banarasi,
chanderi, kanjivaram, etc. depending
upon the material used and types of
kanth and padar.

7. Paithani saree
• Paithani is a variety of sari, manufactured
in the Paithan region of Maharashtra.
Paithani saris are handmade, from the
finest quality of silk, and are considered to
be one of the richest saris in the state. The
art of making these sarees goes back to
more than 2000 years ago. Zari threads,
drawn from pure gold, are used to adorn
the sari with intricate designs. The
intricate thread work results in the saree
being finished in a long time.

8. sarees
• Silk is woven to constitute the body
of the royal Paithani silks. And into
this rich silk texture, pure Jari-made
of gold and silver threads, are
interwoven, to give the Saree the
ornamented get-up. The bright
Paithani sarees are very popular as
the bridal costume in Maharashtra

11. • Motifs and Colors
Since the Patithan region is quite close to the
Ajanta caves, one can find the influence of the
Buddhist paintings in the motifs used on the
Paithani sarees. For the body of the sari, some very
common motifs are Kamal or lotus flower, Hans,
Ashraffi, Asawalli (flowering vines), Bangadi Mor
(peacock), Tota-Maina (male & female parrot),
Humarparinda (peasant bird), Amar Vell and Narali.
One can also see motifs like Circles, Stars, Kuyri,
Kalas Pakhhli, Chandrakor, Leaves Cluster, etc.
For the pallu, the common motifs are Muniya (a kind
of parrot), Panja (geometrical flower-like motif),
Barwa (12 strands of a ladder), Laher, Muthada
(geometrical design), Asawali (flower pot) and Mor.

12. Motifs of paithani saree

15. Colors
• The colors usually used for making a
Pathani saree are yellow, red,
lavender, purple, sky blue, magenta,
peach pink, purple, pearl pink,
peacock blue/green, yellowish green,
violet red, black and white, black
and red, red and green, etc.

16. colors

17. Weavivng technique
• Weaving
• Paithani saris are silks in which there is no extra weft forming
figures. The figuring weave was obtained by a plain tapestry
technique. There are three techniques of weaving;
• Split tapestry weave - the simplest weave where two weft threads
are woven up to adjacent warp threads and then reversed. The warp
threads are then cut and retied to a different colour.
• Interlocking method - two wefts are interlocked with each other
where the colour change is required. The figuring weft is made of a
number of coloured threads, weaving plain with warp threads and
interlocked on either side with the grounds weft threads are
invariably gold threads which interlock with the figure weft threads,
thus forming the figure. This system of interlocking weaves, known
as kadiyal, is done so that there are no extra floats on the back of
the motif thus making the design nearly reversible.
• Dobe-tailing method - two threads go around the same warp, one
above the other, creating a dobe-tailing or tooth-comb effect.
• Weaving could take between 18 to 24 months, depending upon the
complexity of the design.

18. • A heavily brocaded Paithani sari will take
anywhere from six months to one and a
half years to get fully ready. Infact, even a
plain and simple sari takes at least one
month for being completed. This is the
main reason why the saree commands
such a high price in the market. The pallu
as well as the border of the saree is
especially heavily embellished, with the
help of the gold thread. The trousseau of a
Maharashtrian bride is incomplete without
a Paithani sari.

19. Nauvari saree
• The Nauvari saree has a historical
background. During the Maratha rule,
women were entrusted with the grave
responsibility of helping their male
partners, at emergency period of wars. To
facilitate easy movement, the
Maharashtrian women then introduced the
Nauvari Saree.
• The fabric of Nauvari Saree is usually
cotton, and for special occasions, silk tops
the priority list.

20. • Nauvari Sari happen to be the
traditional attire for women in
Maharashtra . The sari
measuring nine-yards in length,
and is thus known as Nauvari.
The way, the sari is draped,
makes the woman seem
wearing trouser-like dress.

21. • Nauvari-nine yard sari or draped
cloth choli-blouse ... cross
border in gold thread,with floral
motifs woven in a tapestry
technique .

22. • Rani lakshmibai depicted in
history wearing nauvari saree.
Avatar of goddess durga is also
depicted in nauvari style saree.

26. Jewellery of
maharastrian
• The Maharashtrian women prefer to deck
themselves in beautiful jewelleries. Most of the
designs of the jewelleries are of Peshwa and
Maratha style.
• Among the most favored jewelleries are the haar,
nath or nose ring decorated with pearl or vibrant
coloured stones.
• Some of the necklaces they wear include bangdya,
Kolhapuri Saaj, tode and patlya.

27. • 'Patlya' (two broad bangles), 'Bangdya'
(four simple bangles) and 'Tode' (two finely
carved thick bangles) are the typical
jewellery on the hands of women from this
western state. The Maharashtrians are
fond of pearls too. 'Chinchpeti' (choker),
'Tanmani' (short necklace) and 'Nath' (nose
ring) are a combination of pearls and red
and white stones. The 'Bajuband' (the
amulet) is also a favourite. Flower-shaped
earrings are a clear preference with the
people here.

28. earrings
patlya

29. nath
tanmani
tode

30. Kolhapuri jewellery

31. Costume of men

32. • Costumes of men
The dhoti and shirt is a very popular costume of
men. The typical Maratha dhoti is made from cotton
cloth, and generally varies from 2.5 to 3 meters in
length.
• It is with or without borders on both the sides. The
headdress is freshly folded turban known as pheta,
or a folded cap of silk, cotton or woolen fabric.
• The pre-formed turban known as pagadi is rarely
seen in the present days. Sometimes, a jacket is
worn over the shirt. It is known as bandi.

33. • The Maratha Brahmans are very
particular about the securing of
their dhoti, which always had to
have five tucks, three into the
waistband at the two sides and
in front, while the loose end is
tucked in front and behind.
Once Nagpur hand-made dhotis
were famous for their durability.

34. Marathi turban

35. Costumes Worn on
Festive Occasions
•
For ceremonial occasions men prefer
to dress after Indian style in a
spacious looking long coat, called
"Ackan", and "Chudidar Pyjama" or
"Survar" slightly gathered at the
ankles-end with bracelet-like
horizontal folds. A folded woolen or a
silk cap and "Cadhav" or pump-shoes
perfects the ensemble.

36. Foot wear
• Hand-made leather chappals and sandals
of Kolhapur district of Maharashtra are
world famous. These are popularly known
as the Kolhapuri chappals, and known for
its simple styles, quality of leather and
design. Different artisans all over the
district make these chappals.

37. Embroidered kolhapuri

38. Kolhapuri chappal

39. Koli community
• Kolis possess an individuality.
Standing out distinctly, even in the
sea of humanity that is Mumbai, is
the koli who has not given up his or
her traditional attire. The dress of a
Koli woman consists of two or three
garments namely a lugat(sari), a
choli (blouse) and a parkhi (a
shoulder scarf

40. Koli saree

41. • Lugat is the lower garment, nine
yards in length in bright floral
designs. It is worn in a peculiar
way so that when draped at the
waist it reaches just below the
knees and is drawn up tightly
between the legs.

42. Men's wear
• The men generally wear a surkha (a loin
cloth). It is a square piece of cloth, thrown
diagonally in front on a string tied round
the waist. The lower end of the cloth is
tightly drawn through the legs and knotted
at the back so as to cover the divided of
the buttocks. A waist-coat and close fitting
cap complete the attire. When not at sea
the modern Koli wears a pair of pants and
shirts.
•

43. Koli costume

44. jewellery
• Fond of jewellery, even their men wear
armlets, bangles and earnings.
• The women don’t believe in bank accounts
and invest almost all their savings in gold.
They wear traditional chunky typically Koli
jewellery like the earnings patterned like
the Pisces symbol (fish swimming in
opposite directions) worn by almost all of
them.
•

45. Lavani style saree
• The Lavani Dancers are dressed in bright
colored saris and bedecked in golden
jewelry; the Lavani dancers usually get
dressed graciously swayed their bodies to
the beat of the dholaks enticing the
audience. Scholars usually say that the
origin of Lavani dance was in the temples
where the dance and musical
performances were held as part of worship
of the gods. Indeed, beautifully dressed
women enchant the audience with their
dance and song .

46. Lavani dance

47. Lavani saree

48. Influence of modern
culture
• However, the western culture has made its
presence felt throughout the country, and
Maharashtra is not an exception to that. We can
find the shifts in fashion in Maharashtra. Traditional
costumes of Maharashtra are replaced by the
stylish western clothes. Maharashtra's capital,
Mumbai, is a cosmopolitan city since the turn of the
last century. Hence, gradually the trend of wearing
nine yard sari is becoming outdated.
• The sarees of five and six yards have become popular among
the fashionable young ladies of Maharashtra in the urban
areas. These types of sarees are worn over the parkar or
ghagara, popularly known as petticoat. The old fashioned
choli are now replaced by the blouses and polkas. The cholis
are modified into the blouses, with close-fitting sleeves up to
the elbow and low cut necks.

49. INSPIRED FROM
MAHARASTRIAN
SAREES

50. •Thank you