What Kasavu Means: The Story of the Kerala Saree

A short history

The kasavu grew out of the mundu, the two piece unstitched cloth that the women of Kerala wore long before the six yard saree became common in the state. The upper piece was called the neriyathu, and it was often woven with a thin gold border for weddings and temple visits. When the six yard saree spread through south India in the nineteenth century, Kerala took to it in its own way. It kept the cream body and the gold border of the neriyathu and simply lengthened the cloth. What emerged was the kasavu saree as we know it today, worn on Vishu, on Onam, on wedding mornings, and at every temple where the light is soft.

Why cream and gold

The cream of the kasavu is not a dyed colour. It is the natural shade of unbleached mill spun cotton, the same shade as the flesh of a young coconut. That the saree is undyed is part of its meaning. It is worn on days when the family wants to appear before the divine in the plainest possible cloth, and let the gold at the border do the talking. The gold itself is real zari in the older pieces, and a fine imitation in the newer ones, and the width of the border tells you how formal the saree is meant to be. A thin line of gold is for the temple. A broad kasavu border is for the wedding.

When it is worn

In Kerala the kasavu appears at almost every occasion where a family wants to feel gathered. On Vishu morning the mother wears it while she arranges the kani. On Thiruvonam the whole household turns out in kasavu, from the youngest child in a small pavada to the grandmother in a nine yard piece. Brides wear the kasavu at the muhurtham of a Malayali wedding, often draped in the older neriyathu style over a plain blouse. And through the year the kasavu is the saree that is quietly reached for whenever a family visits a temple. It never announces itself. It simply belongs.

Care

A kasavu likes the same care as a good cotton shirt. Air the saree after every wear, and store it folded loosely with a small muslin cloth between the folds. Once a season, wash it by hand in cool water with a mild soap, without wringing, and dry it flat in the shade. Never bleach a kasavu. The cream deepens beautifully with time on its own. If you spill something on the border, blot it with a soft cloth and take it to a traditional saree launderer rather than a chemical dry cleaner. Real zari lasts a lifetime if it is left alone. It suffers only when it is scrubbed.