Girls in Pavadai Chattai Dress Photos

This gallery contains photos of girls in pavadai chattai photos, the traditional south indian dress for young unmarried girls.

On a whim, Saumya's mother bought her a Kancheevaram pavada recently.
"Wearing pavada and blouse to college is very uncomfortable and inconvenient. Getting on and off buses, in heavy pavada, is very difficult. It is a decorative outfit, and not a functional one. Hence, it is best to wear it on select occasions. I buy it only once a year, during Onam, and that's the only time I wear it; that is, if there are no marriages to attend," says Siddhi Devi, a B.Com student at Mar Ivanios College.

She prefers jeans and salwar kurta, as they are "very convenient to wear". But she is quick to add, "This does not mean I dislike pavada and blouse."

Even mothers don't want to force the pavada on their daughters. Says Usha, mother of 14-year-old Sharada, who studies in Holy Angels Convent, "Of course, the pavada is very beautiful and traditional, but I don't compel my daughter to wear it. And it is not like she never wears the pavada. We get her one for Onam, weddings or other occasions. At times, she herself demands that she wants to wear it to some function."

Cisy Vinod too does not force her daughters to wear the pavada. "These days, girls have strong views about anything under the sun. Try telling them what they should wear, and you will know," she says.

Sharada disgarees with the view that the pavada is "uncomfortable". "I find the dress very convenient. It's a change from the regular clothes such as jeans, skirts and salwars we wear. But it is definitely not a good idea to wear it on all days of a month."

Mothers, however, would love to see their daughters wear the pavada-blouse frequently. "It gives a certain dignified look to the teenager. I love the dress. But there is no way I can get my daughter to wear it often. Just as the sari has displaced the mundum neriaythum, salwar kurtas have replaced the pavada - blouse," says Lekha Nair, mother of a 20-year-old who hates the pavada-blouse.

Pavada often means the pattu pavada, stitched in shiny Kancheevaram. "I can't think of the pavada in any other material. The gaudiness is part of the fashion statement it makes," says Divya Gopakumar, a Class X student of Holy Angels' Convent.

But not everyone agrees. "Pavadas in printed georgette or other synthetic fabrics, which made good formal as well as casual wear, were popular a decade ago," says Lakshmi, a housewife.

Some girls dislike the pavada because it is "revealing". "With salwar kurta, I can wear a dupatta. But what do I do with a pavada-blouse set? Even a half sari is revealing," argues Smitha, a degree student at Government Women's College.

"I beg to differ," Divya says. "By the way you wear it, you can make even the most decent dress look revealing. It is a question of taste and choice. Take the case of saree. Different generations have worn it in different styles. Does Urmila Matdonkar wear the saree the way Nutan did?"

Some girls say that the pavada-blouse attracts unwanted attention. "In a sea of college-going girls in salwar kurtas, you are a speck. But in pavada and blouse, you are the cynosure of all eyes. I like the dress, but not the attention of the local Romeos," says R. Shirin of the College of Engineering.

As far as dressing is concerned, Hindi films and TV channels are the textbooks for youngsters. "If the Raveena Tandons, Shilpa Shettys and Rani Mukherjees do not wear the pavada (they may not have even heard of this dress!), will our girls do?" asks Revathy, a housewife. "Even Malayalam films have few heroines clad in pavada."

At some point, the pavada did become the garb of the not-so-modern heroine, the village belle. But even in this case, it was a different version of the pavada -- a cross between the north Indian ghagra/lehenga and our traditional pavada.