Mekhela chador

An Assamese girl wearing mekhela sador dress and bindi on the centre of her forehead.
On display, a hand-woven mekhela chadawr in pat silk depicting an exquisite pattern of wildlife in Kaziranga.

Mekhela Sador (Assamese: মেখেলা চাদৰ, English: Mekhela Sadowr) is the indigenous traditional Assamese dress, very similar to other traditional dresses of Southeast Asia (worn as a sarong) worn by women of all ages except children.

Draping

There are two main pieces of cloth that are draped around the body.

The bottom portion, draped from the waist downwards, is called the mekhela (Assamese: মেখেলা). It is actually a form of a sarong, a very wide cylinder of cloth that is folded into one or two pleats to fit around the waist and tucked in. The folds are to the right and are very less (maximum two), as opposed to the pleats in the Nivi style of the saree, which are folded to the left and have multiple pleats. It is completely different from a Sari and is in fact very much similar to traditional attires of other South-East Asian nations. Strings are never used to tie the mekhela around the waist, though an underskirt with a string is often used.

The top portion of the two-piece dress, called the chador (pronounced: Sadowr), is a long length of cloth that has one end tucked into the upper portion of the mekhela and the rest draped over and around the rest of the body. Unlike the Pavadai Davani, the chador is tucked in triangular folds. A fitted blouse is often worn, though in the past and tradionally another garment called a riha was and is still worn. A riha is still worn as part of the Assamese bridal trousseau and in other indigenous traditional events like Bihu etc, but sometimes over a fitted blouse.

Patterns

Ornamental designs on the mekhela-chadors are traditionally woven, never printed. Sometimes a woven pattern, called the pari, is stitched along the sides of a chador, or along the bottom of a mekhela.

Weaving materials

Traditional mekhela chadors are made from the following materials:

Some modern low-budget sets are also made with varying blends of cotton and muga or pat silk with synthetic materials.

Availibility

The mekhela chador is available in many stores across Guwahati and other cities of Assam. They are also available through various websites.[1][2][3][4]

  • How to wear a Mekhala Chadar: The traditional Assamese attire
  • Rhitupon Bora and Tamina Das (2011). Silk Weaving Tradition of Sualkuchi, Assam. D'Source, IIT Guwahati. Archived from the original on 2012-10-15.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Mekhela Chador". Archived from the original on September 26, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Mekhela Chador". Assam Silk Shopping. Retrieved April 2015. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  3. ↑ "Mekhela Chador". Rajmati Sarees. Retrieved April 2015. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  4. ↑ "Mekhela Chador". Sri Sai Tex Art. Archived from the original on 2013-03-09. Retrieved April 2015. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
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