Community drapes
The Parsi drape
The Parsi way of wearing a saree, with the pallu from the back over the right shoulder, often in the embroidered gara.
Presented by ClearTrust Free for wearers, makers and the curious.
Parsi women, the Zoroastrian community of western India, wear the saree with the pallu coming from behind over the right shoulder to the front, a version of the seedha pallu. The cloth most tied to the community is the gara, a saree embroidered in a style that came in with the nineteenth century China trade.
Wrapped step by step
Each drawing shows the cloth so far, with the newest step outlined in gold. The figure is a front view; the wearer's left is on your right.
Step 1 Tuck the plain end into the petticoat at the right hip. Step 2 Wrap the cloth once round the waist. Step 3 Make even pleats at the front. Step 4 Tuck the pleats at the navel. Step 5 Carry the free end round the back and over the right shoulder to the front. Step 6 Spread it over the chest so that the embroidery shows, and tuck the end at the left waist. Step 7 For a ceremony, draw part of the pallu over the head. Finished The Parsi drape, seen from the front.
Where it comes from
The Parsis settled in Gujarat and later in Mumbai, and their dress took on Gujarati habits. In the nineteenth century, Parsi traders in the China trade brought back embroidered silks, and local workers in Surat learnt to copy the style. The result is the gara, an embroidered saree with birds, flowers and scenes, which families keep and pass on.
How it looks
The pleats are tucked at the navel, and the pallu goes round the back and over the right shoulder to the front. It is spread over the chest and held at the left side. For the formal wear the pallu may be drawn over the head, with a small cloth, and it is lifted and settled so that the embroidery shows.
Who wears it and when
The gara is worn at weddings, at the navjote, the initiation, and at Navroze, the new year. White sarees are a common choice for the wedding and the lagan. Daily wear is in cotton or in plain silks in the same drape.
Sarees worn this way
Sources and further reading
Original text and drawings by the EveryPallu desk, written with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. The drawings are simplified diagrams of the order of wrapping, not a lesson: how a drape is worn differs from family to family. If we have something wrong, tell us.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Sari: Suyash.dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Banarasi sari: Ekabhishek, CC BY-SA 3.0, source