Ghagra choli origins

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Gagra choli, sometimes spelt Ghagra choli or Gaghra choli is an Indian dress worn by women and has had its origins in Northern India, particularly in the Punjab area with spill overs in the Rajasthan and Gujarat states. In the real olden days, it started out as a royal attire worn by the queens, princesses and other royalty but then it flowed down to the masses.

In modern times however, the ghagra choli dress has encompassed almost all parts of India from the north to the south as well as east to the west. From the metropolitan areas of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkatta, Bangalore and Chennai to the small villages and towns of the interior, it has now become an acceptable social dress for formal as well as informal functions.

Besides India, the ghagra choli dress has now been embraced by many non-Indian cultures, especially in the western countries of UK, USA, Canada, France and other parts of Europe. In these parts of the world, fancier versions of the gagra choli are worn by modern women for fanciful parties and get togethers.

The choli is the upper part of the dress costume and the ghagra is the lower part of the dress costume, the former being above the waist and the latter below the waist. While the gagra choli is really a Hindi term for the dress, it is beginning to become part of the English vernacular as well.

In the southern part of India, an early predecessor of the modern ghagra choli is called the paavaadai shattai, the first of the two terms being worn at the bottom and the second of the two terms being the top.