What to Wear for Onam 2026: A Simple Guide for the Whole Family

For the women, the kasavu saree

The kasavu saree is the still centre of every Onam photograph. Unbleached cream cotton in the body, a broad line of gold at the border, and a pallu that carries a little more zari than the body itself. On Thiruvonam morning the mother of the house drapes it first, often in the Kerala style with the pleats a little narrower than a south Indian six yard, and the pallu brought over the left shoulder without a pin. If you are dressing for a family that keeps the older ways, the kasavu is the safe and beautiful answer. If you want a little colour, choose a piece with a green or maroon selvedge under the gold. The border reads a shade richer and the saree still belongs to the day. Our current pieces sit in the onam edit and every one of them is woven in Kerala.

For the men, the mundu and the kasavu shirt

The men of the house wear a mundu on Onam, usually a plain cream mundu with a matching kasavu border, folded once at the hem. Under it, a crisp cotton shirt in a natural colour, sometimes with a fine kasavu piping at the cuff for the elders. Older uncles will often wear the settu mundu in the full two piece style with the neriyathu draped over the left shoulder like a shawl, and it is the most quietly elegant thing in the room. Younger men can pair a plain white mundu with a linen shirt in ecru, sand, or dusty green. Avoid black. Avoid loud prints. Onam dressing works because everyone is dressed in the same family of colours, and no single person is trying to stand out.

For the girls, the pattu pavada

Little girls wear the pattu pavada on Onam, a long pleated skirt in temple silk with a fitted blouse and a soft dupatta. The classic pairing is a mustard skirt with a green blouse, or a peacock blue skirt with a pink blouse, and a thin gold border at the hem of the skirt to match the kasavu of their mother. For girls under six, a simple cotton pavada with a small kasavu border works beautifully and lets them run around during the sadhya without complaint. Braid the hair with jasmine, add a small jimikki, and you have the photograph of the year.

Colours that work across the family

The safest palette on Onam morning is the one Kerala has always used. Cream, gold, mustard, temple red, forest green, and the deep peacock blue that the state paints its boats with. Photographed together in a courtyard beside a pookalam, these colours read as one family without any effort. Modern palettes work for the reception in the evening, but for the morning worship and the sadhya lunch, keep to the tradition. It will age better in every album for the next fifty years.

A quick order of dressing

Start the day with a full oil bath if the family keeps it, then dry the hair and part it for jasmine. Slip on the blouse before draping. Iron the mundu and the saree the night before and hang them flat overnight. Wear the gold last, so nothing catches on the pallu as it settles. Keep the jewellery simple. A pair of jimikkis, a thin gold chain, one or two bangles, and a small brooch to hold the pallu in place. Onam is not the day for a full temple set. That is for the wedding season a few months later.

Where to find the pieces

For the kasavu sarees, our current Onam edit is small on purpose and every piece is woven in Kerala this year. If you cannot see the piece you had in mind, message us on WhatsApp before you order and we will happily point you at similar work from the same weavers. For the men we do not stock mundus this season, but we are happy to recommend the two studios in Bengaluru we trust for a good settu mundu. And for the girls, the pattu pavada is best bought from a maker who can measure, which is why we always send our clients to a local tailor rather than the internet.