What to Wear in India

Namaste. How do you dress for your pilgrimage and how do you respect Indian culture while you're on this journey? So important. As a woman, specifically, it's a whole new world to experience, especially because we're so used to dressing ourselves in a particular way in the West. In my experience of hosting and living in India, the most important thing that I tell my friends and my guests is that as a woman, when you show up in India, you get to unfurl your femininity in a new way.

You get to have clothes made for you. You get to dress colorfully in a way that might be new for you. You get to adorn yourself with fabrics, silks, different beautiful textiles that you might not wear in the West. But all in all, the most important piece is that you feel beautiful and that you also are respectful. Showing respect in India means that you will also keep yourself safe.

This is very, very key to moving on your pilgrimage in a way that really keeps you out of harm's way and keeps you protected. If you show respect and you dress appropriately, you will be rewarded by so much respect from the people you encounter. Dressing in sleeveless items or in short skirts or shorts, you will get a lot of negative attention and you will be drawing this attention to you and it won't be pleasant. As a man, you might be wondering how to come to India and how to dress appropriately. The case is so opposite for men in this way on a pilgrimage.

You will see men walking around in India wearing only a piece of cloth wrapped around their waist and if it's a hot day and you want to dress exactly the same way, that's okay. As a man, you have a different set of rules which come much more from your morals and from the way that you receive people than women who are perceived at first glance. As you arrive in India, you might also be wondering how do I dress for yoga since this is my big intention in my trip. Dressing for yoga in India is a bit more conservative than in the West. You'll see people practicing in salwar kameez.

What's a salwar? A salwar is a big pair of cotton pants and they are so comfortable, but we'll go over that in a minute. Dressing for yoga, I would just say bring things with you that you feel comfortable in but that are covered up. Dressing stretch pants to India is problematic because since we don't have tumble dryers, your clothes won't dry that fast. So my suggestion is to practice getting used to doing your yoga in things that are a little more lightweight and woven and covering.

When you're practicing at home or in your room where you're staying, it's no problem to dress however you choose, but when you go to a group practice, you should try to follow the code of keeping your shoulders covered and keeping your sleeve just a little bit longer than short sleeve and not wearing anything that exposes you above the knee. If you are visiting a yoga ashram or you're visiting Mysore and practicing ashtanga yoga, some of these rules may be a bit conservative. When you're amongst a group of Westerners and in a setting that isn't as public, it's okay to let these rules relax a bit. My intention here is to just keep you as safe as possible. The traditional styles of dress in India are religious and they have a really fascinating history.

Most people, especially women who come to India, are mystified by the sari and the sari is a six-meter piece of cloth which could be woven silk or cotton, but these days a lot of women have chosen to wear synthetic saris that are really colorful because they can wash them as many times as they want and they will hold this really, really vibrant, vibrant color. Why the sari? What does the sari mean? The sari, the six meters, is tucked into a petticoat and wrapped around the woman and then done in a series of pleats which are tucked into her belly. After the belly tuck, it's wrapped around her one more time, pleated again, and then wrapped over her left shoulder.

The sari is meant to accentuate the fertile parts of the woman's body and also protect them. In the same way that in the Hindu religion, the men wear a string from their left shoulder to their right hip. The women wear the sari from their right hip to their left shoulder. It's an honoring of them in the same way. Women wear the sari mostly after marriage.

You'll see occasionally unmarried women or women that are in business wearing saris if they're unmarried, but in the traditional culture, the sari is an honor of the woman being married and being fertile and in the stage of her life where she brings forth life. The other types of traditional Indian dress are what are called kurta pajama or salwar kameez, and there are many others, but we won't go there. We'll start with the basics. The kurta pajama is the traditional garment for men, and you'll see men in these very handsomely starched kurtas, which is a long shirt with pockets, and they will be made from beautiful hand-woven cottons or silks, and they'll wear them with a starched pair of white pajamas, and these pajamas are really thinly fit to their legs, and this is a very handsome and elegant way. The other style of dress for women in India that's very popular in traditional clothing is a kameez that's worn with a churidhar or a salwar.

Kameez means a shirt, and salwar refers to a type of pant which has pleats in the front and has very loose kind of bell-shaped legs. The churidhar is a different type of pant which is very long and very lean and takes a little bit of work to wriggle into, but this is another way to really dress elegantly, and when you are in India, you'll be able to look at different materials and have them tailored for you into the perfect salwar kameez churidhar, whichever you choose. So have fun with it, and enjoy.