Clothing is a language; what we wear defines us. It reveals more than our aesthetics. Our clothes announce who we are, banker or painter, labourer or merchant, local or outsider. Some attires become iconic, be it the Nehru jacket, the Gandhi cap, Che Guevara’s beret, a priest’s dhoti, a Sikh’s turban and the mullah’s skullcap. However, in sheer popularity, the lungi and its cousins, the tehmat, the puliyakat, the sarong and the dhoti, are the preferred comfort clothing of tens of millions of people across South and Southeast Asia.
It’s fatuous to use Lungi as an offence even in present times. This simple, elegant drape has been around for longer than empires, ideologies and even religions. References to ‘Lungi’ first come to us during the late medieval period. However, its origins date back to prehistory, when we have the first depictions of humans in various rock paintings found throughout the continent. The longer lungi started out as a loincloth. As humans became more advanced and learnt to grow cotton and weave it, a longer piece of fabric made its appearance. In India, the earliest references to these unstitched pieces of cloth date back to at least the first millennium BC. We find references to the ancestor of the lungi, known as the antariya (drape-around for the lower body), the uttariya for the upper body and the kayaband, a sash to hold them in place. In the tropical and subtropical regions of South and Southeast Asia, where the winter season is short, these finely woven pieces of cloth were well suited. The uttariya went around the shoulders and covered the chest; the kayaband tied around the waist held both pieces together. These three pieces of cloth were the wardrobe of ancient India. The fineness of the fabric and embellishments of jewellery were the privilege of the rich. Climate decides clothing, and the lungi is a perfect example of it. Allowing for air circulation, foldable and made of cotton, its functionality is what has made it a much-loved garment among the masses. In Manipur and Assam, it is known as the phanek and mekhela, and in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it is known as the mundu (black or white) and saaram, lungi or vetti, respectively. From coastal communities to inland regions, the lungi thrives. Lungi is popular among men and women in Punjab, but has now gone out of fashion among women, who prefer the kurta and salwar. In Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and others, it remains in widespread use.
Thomas Herbert, an English traveller, refers to it in his book published in 1638, according to the Oxford Dictionary. The antariya tied around the waist covered the hips and legs; the elite wore it long, while the worker folded it up to the knees when toiling, much like today. The uttariya, or today’s gamcha, could be tied around the head in hot weather by a worker.
