Sari or Saree is a traditional dress in South Asian culturesand is extremely popular since centuries. Sari or Saree is an ancient word of Sanskrit meaning ‘a strip of unstitched fabric’.  Women in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Myanmar and Malaysia wear Sari in many styles some of them date back to the ancient Indus Civilization, some from medieval times and some are fusion of traditional and modern styles and fashions.

Party Saree . Image : Fashion ka Fatka

The usual length of Sari is about 4 to 9 meters and it is dressed up with a blouse or pullover which is locally known as Choli. Usually, one side of Saree has beautiful border decorated with embroidery which is draped around the shoulder. The other side is adorned around the blouse or Choli. The styles of wearing the Sari vary from region to region like in typical Indian style Sari is hanged over in a very simple way in which it is wrapped around the waist and the other end is worn over the shoulder with the uncovered belly. This style is adopted by the women of the states of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Bihar, Uttrakhand in India. In Gujarati style, Sari or Saree is wrapped from right to the left shoulder and in Maharashtra State of India it is used like a man’s traditional dress ‘Dhoti’. Sari is similarly as much popular dress in Pakistan specially in formal functions. In the Indo Pak tribal areas Sari is draped from the front and whole body is covered. Similarly in many other parts of this South Asian continent it is used in different ways.

Embroidered Saree

In the ancient times Sarees were decorated with gold or silver embroideries and in the modern times Sarees are prepared with artificial and automated designs, patterns and silk threads. Banaras Brocades or Varanasi Silks Sarees are used as a symbol of prestige by the rich women. The time to time variation in fashion has never affected the usage of Sari.

Ajrak the traditional attire from Sindh , Pakistan  is the idiosyncratic cloth used by the locals of Sindh and Southern Punjab as symbol of grace and high esteem. Males use it as turban and Shawl while women use as their Chaddar and Dubatta. It is normally colored with indigo , crimson , white and black patterns.

Ajrak , the traditional attire from Sindh, Pakistan , Photo Credit : Asif Hassan

The handmade printing process of Ajrak is called resist printing. Carved wooden blocks are used for this process which is really a challenging job as all of this has to be harmonized  perfectly on the cloth. The making of these blocks is quite arithmetic jobs as all the graphs are drawn with geometric tools. The carving of the blocks is also very technical and skillful task. Normally the craftsmen waste the blocks after accomplishment with the patterns. The use of Ajrak is a continued tradition of Sindh for thousands of years. It is traced from the ancient Indus civilization. The world famous statue of the King Priest discovered at Mohenjo-Daro exhibits a shawl display around his shoulders. It is decorated with a threefold pattern  intermixed with tiny circles, that are colored inside with red shades. A similar artifact has also been discovered in Mesopotamian remains. The same threefold pattern usage is found in the present Ajrak.

Ajrak the traditional attire from Sindh, Pakistan is made in almost all cities of  Sindh. Its usage can be observed in all segments of Sindhi society. It is a prestigious gift often presented to the guests in their honor. The locals also wear Ajrak on mirthful events such as weddings and cultural programs.