Mundu
The white cotton wrap worn round the waist in Kerala by women and men, often with a gold kasavu border.
Also: mundum, kasavu mundu, double mundu
A mundu is a length of cloth wrapped round the waist and tucked in, falling to the ankle. In Kerala both men and women wear it. Women's mundus are usually white or cream cotton, and the best known has a border of gold zari called kasavu. The same cloth is the lower part of the set-mundu worn for Onam, Vishu and temple visits. In an older form, the mundum neriyathum, a second cloth, the neriyathu, is worn over the shoulder. The mundu is a drape of the dhoti type, not a saree, though it belongs to the same family of unstitched cloth.