Dhoti

File:Shad Suk Mysiem.JPG folk dancers wearing "Jaiñboh" dhotis and other ethnic garb]]

The unstitched dhoti is also referred to as "dhautra" (IPA: /dʱɑwtɽɐ/) in Sanskrit, which means rope or cord. It evolved from the ancient antriya, which was passed in between the legs, tucked at the back and covered the legs loosely, then flowed into long pleats at front of the legs, the same way it is worn today as formal dhoti.Govind Sadashiv Ghurye (1951) Indian Costume{{rp|130}} While a casual and short dhoti wraps around both legs firmly, in this style the back side of the dhoti is pulled to the front and tucked at the waist, before tucking the two loose ends at back, creating firmly fitted trouser-like dhoti that wraps around both legs. This style is more commonly worn by farmers and martial artists.Indian Costume by Govind Sadashiv Ghurye 1966Ancient Indian Costume By Roshen Alkazi 1996 Stitched garments became popular in the Indian subcontinent, with the coming of Persians, Greeks, and "barbarians"; nonetheless, the dhoti prevailed in sakaccha as well as vikaccha forms.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6zj3DwAAQBAJ&dq=barbarians+vikaccha&pg=PA305 | title=Hindu World: An Encyclopedic Survey of Hinduism. In Two Volumes. Volume I A-L | isbn=978-0-429-62465-0 | last1=Walker | first1=Benjamin | date=9 April 2019 | publisher=Routledge }} In the Sunga period, there were two broad modes of wearing the dhoti, the sakaccha and the vikaccha.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=G9eHPXL6UE0C&dq=vikaccha+sakaccha&pg=PA63 | title=Costumes and Ornaments as Depicted in the Sculptures of Gwalior Museum | isbn=978-81-7099-002-4 | last1=Ayyar | first1=Sulochana | date=1987 | publisher=Mittal Publications }} In the sakaccha way, the cloth passed between the legs and was tucked at the back; vikaccha meant wearing the dhoti in the form of a lungi.{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/stream/StylisticChangesInTheCostumesAndJewelleryInIndianArt/Stylistic+changes+in+the+costumes+and+jewellery+in+Indian+art_djvu.txt | title=Stylistic Changes in the Costumes and Jewellery in Indian Art }} In the past, there were variations in the styles of wrapping the dhoti based on castes, as in the case of Bombay's Sonars and the Peshwa Brahmins; for this reason, English attire has been described as "caste neutral".{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uZc2AQAAQBAJ&dq=Brahmin+Kshatriya+dhoti&pg=PA113 | title=Indian English and the Fiction of National Literature | isbn=978-1-107-04000-7 | last1=George | first1=Rosemary Marangoly | date=21 November 2013 | publisher=Cambridge University Press }}{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v3UyEQAAQBAJ&dq=dhoti+caste&pg=PT35 | title=Destruction of Caste | isbn=978-93-6318-452-7 | last1=Ambedkar | first1=Bhimrao | date=20 November 2024 | publisher=Diamond Pocket Books Pvt }}

File:Gandhi_Salt_March.jpg

During British rule in colonial India, the dhoti remained a national symbol of resistance and cultural identity when worn without a shirt.{{cite web | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/19/opinion/l-half-naked-fakir-meets-overdressed-king-052586.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150524192136/https://www.nytimes.com/1986/10/19/opinion/l-half-naked-fakir-meets-overdressed-king-052586.html | archive-date=24 May 2015 | title=Opinion | HALF-NAKED FAKIR MEETS OVERDRESSED KING | work=The New York Times | date=19 October 1986 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/gandhi-jayanti-when-mahatma-gandhi-turned-half-naked-fakir-in-tamil-nadu/story-MoII4MJJiSe0aPjuPIUpqO.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191003022411/https://www.hindustantimes.com/art-and-culture/gandhi-jayanti-when-mahatma-gandhi-turned-half-naked-fakir-in-tamil-nadu/story-MoII4MJJiSe0aPjuPIUpqO.html | archive-date=3 October 2019 | title=Gandhi Jayanti: When Mahatma Gandhi turned 'half-naked fakir' in Tamil Nadu | art and culture | Hindustan Times | work=Hindustan Times | date=2 October 2019 }}{{cite web | url=https://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/half-naked-fakir.php | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240810010403/https://www.mkgandhi.org/articles/half-naked-fakir.php | archive-date=10 August 2024 | title=Half Naked Fakir | About Gandhi | Articles on and by Gandhi }} At the height of the Indian Independence Movement, weaving khadi was a symbol of the swadeshi movement.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ministerwhite.com/blogs/blogs/gandhi-weaving-a-nation-together/|title=Gandhi - Weaving a nation together|last=Sankaralingam|first=Sathrukkan|date=2 September 2020|website=Minister White Blog|language=en-US|access-date=2 September 2020|archive-date=11 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201011005702/https://www.ministerwhite.com/blogs/blogs/gandhi-weaving-a-nation-together|url-status=dead}} In 1921, Gandhi championed the dhoti, often topless (without a kurta or shirt), to promote and identify with the handicrafts produced by the rural and the poor of his homeland.{{Cite web|title=What made Gandhiji wear only Loincloth or Dhoti|url=https://pib.gov.in/newsite/printrelease.aspx?relid=149833|access-date=7 October 2021|website=pib.gov.in}}{{Cite web|title=Importance of Veshties in Tamil Culture|url=https://ramrajcotton.in/blogs/news/importance-of-veshties-in-tamil-culture|website=Ramraj Cotton|access-date=13 July 2022}}

File:In Welcome of Buddha - ACCN 34-2542 - Government Museum - Mathura 2013-02-24 5941.JPG, 1st century CE]]

File:A Manipuri Dancer in traditional Krishna attire.jpgi dancer dressed as Krishna in yellow dhoti]]

The garment is known by various names based on language, such as:

class="wikitable" |+ !Native script !Transliteration !Language or region

চুৰিয়া, ধুতি |Suriya, Dhuti |Assamese

ধুতি |Dhuti |Bengali

ધૉતિયુ |Dhotiyu |Gujarati

धोती |Dhotī |Hindi, Maithili, Nepali and Pali

मर्दानी |Mardānī |Hindi

ಧೋತ್ರ ಕಚ್ಚೆ ಪಂಚೆ |Dhotra Kachche Panche |Kannada

धोंतर, आंगोस्तर, आड नेसचे, पुडवे |Dhontara, Āṅgostara, Āḍa nesace Puḍave |Konkani

മുണ്ട് |Muṇṭ‌ |Malayalam

धोतर |Dhotara {{sup|a}} |Marathi

ଧୋତି |Dhotī |Odia

ਚਾਦਰਾ |Chaadra |Punjabi

வேட்டி |Vaetti |Tamil

పంచె, ధోవతి |{{transliteration|hi|ISO|Pañce}} |Telugu

{{lang|ur|{{nq|دھوتی}}}} |Dhoti |Urdu

colspan="3" |{{small|{{sup|a}} In Marathi, a dhotar is not the same as a pancha (plural panche). While the former is worn around the waist, the latter is normally a towel used after bathing (compare below).}}

{{multiple images

| align = left

| caption_align = center

| image1 = Indian Relief of Ashoka, circa 1st century BC, from the Amaravathi village, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh (India), in the Guimet Museum (Paris).jpg

| width1 = 200

| caption1 = A Chakravati wears a pancha in an ancient style. First century BCE/CE. Amaravathi village, Guntur district (Musee Guimet).

| image2 = Didarganj_Yakshi_statue_in_the_Bihar_Museum.jpg

| width2 = 112

| caption2 = The Didarganj Yakshi depicting the dhoti wrap

}}

The pancha is worn by many conservative Jain men when they visit derasars or basadis for puja, as unstitched clothing is believed by some Jains to be "less permeable to pollution" and therefore more appropriate for religious rituals than other garments.{{cite book |last=Cort |first=John E |date=2001 |title=Jains in the World: Religious Values and Ideology in India |url=http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/†0195132343.001.0001‡↓↓/acprof-9780195132342 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=221 |doi=10.1093/0195132343.001.0001 |isbn=9780195132342}} They also wear a loose and unstitched cloth, shorter than the pancha on top.

File:Water pump, Varanasi (15563170660) Cropped.jpgi man in dhoti with a Central Asian kurta, in Uttar Pradesh.]]

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), known for its distinctive dress code, prompts Western adherents to wear pancha, usually of saffron or white cloth folded in ethnic Bengali style. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi was known for wearing a white silk dhoti.{{cite news |title=Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a Guide On the Beatles' Spiritual Path, Dies |first=Lily |last=Koppel |work=New York Times |date=6 February 2008 |page=C.10 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/world/asia/06maharishi-1.html?_r=1}} Traditionally, men wear the dhoti topless (without upper garments) while entering certain mandirs (Hindu temples) in South India, as stitched garments supposedly counter the energy of the idol.{{cite web | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/city-women-get-talking-about-dresscode-in-temples/articleshow/55751537.cms | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250122061219/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/city-women-get-talking-about-dresscode-in-temples/amp_articleshow/55751537.cms | archive-date=22 January 2025 | title=City women get talking about dresscode in temples | work=The Times of India }}{{cite web | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/karnataka-rigid-dress-code-put-in-place-at-mahabaleshwar-temple/articleshow/66274918.cms | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250122060859/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/karnataka-rigid-dress-code-put-in-place-at-mahabaleshwar-temple/amp_articleshow/66274918.cms | archive-date=22 January 2025 | title=Karnataka: Rigid dress code put in place at Mahabaleshwar temple | work=The Times of India }}{{cite web | url=https://www.deccanherald.com/opinion/sartorial-quirkiness-995426.html | title=Sartorial quirkiness }}{{cite web | url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/deep-focus/who-says-god-likes-topless-men-but-not-jeans/articleshow/50513608.cms | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301125348/https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/sunday-times/deep-focus/who-says-god-likes-topless-men-but-not-jeans/articleshow/50513608.cms | archive-date=1 March 2021 | title=Who says god likes topless men but not jeans? | work=The Times of India | date=10 January 2016 }} The dhoti is often worn with a shirt in other places.{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FkY3vxzzWdcC&dq=some+women+wear+a+long+blouse+with+saree&pg=PA36-IA32 | title=Census of India, 1961 | date=1962 }}

The dhoti was worn by farmers, pehlwano (wrestlers) and shepherds (grazers) of Sikhs in the Punjab region; it was discouraged during the Punjab Subah Movement due to the inter-communal tensions prevalent at the time.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UUdYFH9skIkC&dq=sikh+dhoti&pg=PA333 | title=East of Indus: My Memories of Old Punjab | isbn=9788170103608 | last1=Brard | first1=Gurnam Singh Sidhu | year=2007 | publisher=Hemkunt Press }}{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aSzbGKyLqicC&dq=sikh+dhoti&pg=PA140 | title=Dynamics of Punjabi Suba Movement | isbn=9788176291293 | last1=Lamba | first1=Krishan Gopal | year=1999 | publisher=Deep & Deep Publications }} The dhoti was also worn by South Canarese Christian men to their pre-nuptial ceremonies, church weddings and receptions until the 1960s, when they fell out of favour; since then, grooms have been styling the black suit and tie instead.{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1177555 | jstor=1177555 | title=The Marriage Customs of the Christians in South Canara, India | last1=Silva | first1=Severine | last2=Fuchs | first2=Stephen | journal=Asian Folklore Studies | year=1965 | volume=24 | issue=2 | pages=1–52 | doi=10.2307/1177555 | url-access=subscription }}

File:A Rajasthani farmer in dhoti and traditional head dress.jpg in Rajasthan]]

There is a distinction between the dhoti and the lungi, a similar garment often worn by people at their homes. The lungi is more casual and comfortable, while the dhoti is considered formal and is sometimes worn by politicians.{{Cite web|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2014/07/23/no-dhotis-please-were-indian/|title=No Dhotis Please, We're Indian|last=McLain|first=Sean|date=23 July 2014|website=Wall Street Journal|language=en-US|access-date=3 November 2017}}

File:Vellattam_of_the_Bali_theyyam_03.jpg.]]

File:Kalari_Pattu.jpg martial artists wearing the kalari dhoti.]]

File:Mundu_black_shirt.jpg

File:ANBU TAMIL INDIAN COSTUME IN VENICE ITALY 1.jpg

{{clear}}

{{div col|colwidth=18em}}

• Dhaut Pariksha
• Dhoti Lota Aur Chowpatty
• Harem pants
• History of clothing in the Indian subcontinent
• Khadi
• Kaupinam
• Longyi
• Pathin
• Sarong
• Sompot Chong Kben
• Sinh (clothing)
• Wrapper (clothing)

{{div col end}}

{{Commons category|Dhoti}}

{{reflist}}

{{Clothing in South Asia}}

{{Folk costume}}

Category:Hindu religious clothing

Category:Indian clothing

Category:Pakistani clothing

Category:Folk costumes

Category:Skirts