Antariya, cotton saree from India: what it is and how it is worn

The antariya comes from ancient India, where it served on the lower half of the body: a long strip of fine cotton or silk, taken between the legs, its end tucked behind, with pleats falling at the front. It was worn together with the uttariya, and Pali Buddhist texts of the 6th century BC call the sari śāṭikā a later form of it.

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A single long strip, white or coloured, of fine cotton or silk
Its end is tucked behind; the front falls into long pleats
Mentioned in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata
Worn as a pair with the uttariya, the upper cloth
Pali texts of the 6th century BC call the sari śāṭikā its evolved form

What is Antariya?

The antariya was worn on the lower half of the body in ancient India. It is a single long strip, white or coloured, of fine cotton or silk. The wearer takes it between the legs, fastens the end behind, and lets the cloth lie loosely over the legs. Down the front it gathers into long pleats. A second piece, the uttariya, was usually worn with it, covering the upper body. Texts from two different traditions mention the garment, and sculpture shows it too, but the sources name no individual weaver and no single region for it.

Where does Antariya come from?

Two epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, both mention it, so the antariya reaches back into a very old layer of Indian dress. Hindu deities appear in it, paired with the uttariya, in temple sculpture and other iconography across the Indian subcontinent. Buddhist writing in Pali, which the article dates to the 6th century BC, calls the sari śāṭikā an evolved form of the antariya, and describes that later dress as one of a three-piece set worn by women. The name itself is Sanskrit, a compound of antara with the suffix īya.

How is Antariya made?

The article says little about how the antariya was made. Fine cotton was the usual fibre and silk was also used, so the cloth could be either. No loom, dye method or weave is named in the sources, so the technique behind the fabric is not recorded. What is recorded is the pairing: the antariya was normally worn with the uttariya, the upper piece, and the two were used together as a set.

Antariya, drawn

The cloth Field white, checks motif. Drawn from this page, not from one saree.

Draped A sketch of the usual Nivi wrap in this saree's colours.

Plain weave: the weft thread goes over one warp thread and under the next, then the reverse on the next row.

Colours, motifs and borders

The design of the antariya is described only in outline. Colour could go two ways, plain white or some other colour, and the sources name no particular shade. Nothing is said of motifs, borders or a decorated end, so the look of the cloth came from the fabric itself rather than from ornament. The shape matters more than pattern here. The strip is drawn between the legs, gathered at the back, and left loose over the legs, with the pleats running down the front.

How Antariya is worn

The long strip goes between the legs and is tucked at the back. Over the legs the cloth stays loose. The front is where the pleats gather, falling in long folds down the length of the legs. Above, the upper body was covered by the uttariya, the piece usually worn alongside it, so the two were used as a pair. The sources mention no blouse, no petticoat and no fastening, and they give no length or measurement for the cloth.

Styles of Antariya

Old as it is, the antariya did not stay fixed. Early Buddhist writing in Pali, which the article dates to the 6th century BC, describes the sari śāṭikā as a form that the antariya grew into. That dress belonged to a three-piece way of clothing women, so the later versions carried more pieces than the original strip. The article also lists related garments, placing the uttariya, the aprapadina, the choli, the nivi and the sari near it.

What Antariya means

In Hindu temple sculpture and other iconography across the Indian subcontinent, deities are shown in the antariya and the uttariya, so the garment sits inside religious art as well as dress history. It also belongs to the country's epic memory, since the Ramayana and the Mahabharata both mention it. Because the sources place the sari, the choli and the nivi near it, the antariya is generally read as part of the long story behind the modern saree, an ancestor rather than a current everyday item.

Questions people ask about Antariya

Where does the antariya come from?

It comes from ancient India. The sources mention it in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, and place it in Hindu temple sculpture and iconography across the Indian subcontinent. Buddhist texts in Pali from the 6th century BC describe a later garment, the sari śāṭikā, as a form it grew into.

How was the antariya made?

It was made of fine cotton, and silk was also used, so the cloth could be either. The sources give no loom, dye method or weave, so the making is not described in detail. What they do describe is the garment's use with the uttariya.

How is it worn?

The strip is passed between the legs, tucked at the back, and left loose over the legs. In front it falls into long pleats. It was usually worn together with the uttariya, the upper cloth, so the two were used as a pair.

Is the antariya a saree?

Not exactly. The sources describe it as a garment for the lower body from ancient India, while the sari śāṭikā of Pali Buddhist writing is called an evolved form of it. The article groups the sari, the choli and the nivi with it as related dress.

What colours does it come in?

The sources describe it simply as white or coloured, and they name no specific shade, motif or border. The interest lies in the shape instead: pleats at the front, an end tucked behind, and cloth lying loosely over the legs.

Good reading and sources

Where this page comes from

The facts on this page come from the Wikipedia article "Antariya", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence, and from its Wikidata record (CC0). EveryPallu rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.

It may contain mistakes. Traditions, weaves and prices differ from one weaver, town or shop to the next, and it is not buying advice. If something is wrong, tell us. Last refreshed 2026-10-03.

Antariya