When it comes to tradition and fashion, Bengal and Bangladesh have a lot in common. It was only after the partition of East Pakistan that both underwent boundary limitations and became separate entities. We can find a lot in common as far as tradition, festivals, and attire go. The Magadh and Mauryan dynasty has also left its effect on Bengal in many ways. The people are very culture conscious and prefer to dress traditionally during festivals, though, for day-to-day life, a more westernized approach towards fashion has been seen since the last few decades.
The traditional attire of men is the ‘Panjabi and dhoti’, dhoti being a loincloth made of silk or cotton worn around the waist and Panjabi is a kurta that reaches the knee when worn. The fabrics used mostly are cotton and silk, in Bengal. Men also wear the ‘lungi’ which is wrapped in a different manner around the waist than the dhoti. Mostly, worn at home in Bengal, it is comfortable clothing in the sultry summers of the state. ‘Dhoti’ usually is plain white in colour; however, with modernisation, the old dhoti and lungi have adopted more modern prints like checks and batik. The colour white mostly depicts the clothing of Bengal. Coloured ‘dhotis’ are also widely available across the markets to punch in with varied ‘kurtas’.
For women, the ‘saree’ is the attire that depicts its culture and tradition. The saree is a piece of fabric that measures five to nine yards in length and two to four feet in breadth. It is wrapped around the waist and the other part hangs from the shoulder. This is how everyone wears the ‘saree’, in other parts of India as well. However, as per Bengali tradition, there is a special way to wear the ‘saree’, called ‘Ath Poure’, that differentiates Bengali women from the rest of India. Sarees were earlier made from cotton and silk. Cotton for everyday wear and silk for special occasions, but modernisation and development of fashion scene in the country has been the catalyst in the traditional outfit; the sarees now come in a variety of fabrics from Chantilly to Velvet to Chiffon and so on.
Bengal is an industry with different kinds of fabrics woven in the small villages and districts by local artisans, which are used to make a variety of sarees. Bengal has given birth to Gorod, a silk-like material with a red border on white background, in fact, this kind of saree forms the base of Bengali fashion. This type of saree colour combination is considered auspicious and worn during festivities. Other types of sarees are Baluchari, Sonachuri, Murshidabad silk, Tangail, Tusser, Tant which is woven by the local artisans. The texturization of the sarees and bodywork is another story altogether. The ‘kantha’ stitch can be done on most silk sarees and gives it an exclusive touch, demanding thousands of rupees from the market.
In Bengal, though with time, women have adopted the North Indian Salwar kameez, western dresses like jeans, tops, gowns, and dresses, yet during the Pujas like Sarasawati Puja, the streets are painted with Yellow sarees with a red border for the young and old alike. And during ‘Durga Ashtami’ the annual Anjali is given wearing white sarees with beautiful red borders. For a non – Bengali, this kind of look is the identification of Bengali Women, amongst other cultures.
Fashion may come and go, but the ‘saree’ will remain the epitome of culture for Bengali women.
Shopping around for the saree in Bengal is a task, which foreigners adopt without tiredness, skimming through the shops and malls in the fashion hubs in Kolkata, like Gariahat, Burra Bazar, Bahu Bazar, Hatibagan, Newmarket, and Rashbehari, to name a few.
Not to forget, the red coral bangles, the white conch bangles, the kaan bali and sindoor which completes the look of any traditional Bengali woman are the mark of the rich legacy of Bengal.
