hilly breeze fashion chaubandi cholo by arpita roy

 .Chaubandi Cholo is a traditional woman's blouse of Nepali culture.The blouse is typically wrapped and can have an open or closed neck. It is often worn with a sārī-like wrapped skirt. A chaubandi cholo is often cotton in a red or white geometric print, however different color and use can distinguish different Nepali cultures.^[4

Wearing the chaubandi cholo as traditional wear has been encouraged by certain nationalist groups in Nepal and West Bengal.

istory of Sari-like drapery is traced back to the Sindh region of the Indus Valley Civilisation, which flourished during 2800–1800 BCE around the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. ^[4][5][6] Cotton was first cultivated and woven in Indian subcontinent around 5th millennium BCE. Dyes used during this period are still in use, particularly indigo, lac, red madder and turmeric.^[  Silk was woven around 2450 BCE and 2000 BCE.

The word sari evolved from śāṭikā (Sanskrit: शाटिका) mentioned in earliest Hindu literature as women's attire. The sari or śāṭikā evolved from a three-piece ensemble comprising the antarīya, the lower garment; the uttarīya; a veil worn over the shoulder or the head; and the stanapatta, a chestband. This ensemble is mentioned in Sanskrit literature and Buddhist Pali literature during the 6th century BCE This complete three-piece dress was known as poshak, generic term for costume.^[ Ancient antariya closely resembled the dhoti wrap in the "fishtail" version which was passed through legs, covered the legs loosely and then flowed into a long, decorative pleats at front of the legs. It further evolved into Bhairnivasani skirt, today known as ghagri and lehenga.^[] Uttariya was a shawl-like veil worn over the shoulder or head, it evolved into what is known today known as dupatta and ghoonghat.^[Likewise, the stanapaṭṭa evolved into the choli by the 1st century CE.

The ancient Sanskrit work, Kadambari by Banabhatta and ancient Tamil poetry, such as the Silappadhikaram, describes women in exquisite drapery or sari In ancient India, although women wore saris that bared the midriff, the Dharmasastra writers stated that women should be dressed such that the navel would never become visible.By which for some time the navel exposure became a taboo and the navel was concealed.^[ In ancient Indian tradition and the Natya Shastra (an ancient Indian treatise describing ancient dance and costumes), the navel of the Supreme Being is considered to be the source of life and creativity, hence the midriff is to be left bare by the sari.

It is generally accepted that wrapped sari-like garments for lower body and sometimes shawls or scarf like garment called 'uttariya' for upper body, have been worn by Indian women for a long time, and that they have been worn in their current form for hundreds of years. In ancient couture the lower garment was called 'nivi' or 'nivi bandha', while the upper body was mostly left bare. The works of Kalidasa mention the kūrpāsaka, a form of tight fitting breast band that simply covered the breasts.^] It was also sometimes referred to as an uttarāsaṅga or stanapaṭṭa.

Poetic references from works like Silappadikaram indicate that during the Sangam period in ancient Tamil Nadu in southern India, a single piece of clothing served as both lower garment and head covering, leaving the midriff completely uncovered.^] Similar styles of the sari are recorded paintings by Raja Ravi Varma in Kerala Numerous sources say that everyday costume in ancient India until recent times in Kerala consisted of a pleated dhoti or (sarong) wrap, combined with a breast band called kūrpāsaka or stanapaṭṭa and occasionally a wrap called uttarīya that could at times be used to cover the upper body or head. The two-piece Kerala mundum neryathum (mundu, a dhoti or sarong, neryath, a shawl, in Malayalam) is a survival of ancient clothing styles. The one-piece sari in Kerala is derived from neighbouring Tamil Nadu or Deccan during medieval period based on its appearance on various temple murals in medieval Kerala.

Early Sanskrit literature has a wide vocabulary of terms for the veiling used by women, such as Avagunthana (oguntheti/oguṇthikā), meaning cloak-veil, Uttariya meaning shoulder-veil, Mukha-pata meaning face-veil and Sirovas-tra meaning head-veil.^[44] In the Pratimānātaka, a play by Bhāsa describes in context of Avagunthana veil that "ladies may be seen without any blame (for the parties concerned) in a religious session, in marriage festivities, during a calamity and in a forest".The same sentiment is more generically expressed in later Sanskrit literature.^[45] Śūdraka, the author of Mṛcchakatika set in fifth century BCE says that the Avagaunthaha was not used by women everyday and at every time. He says that a married lady was expected to put on a veil while moving in the public.^[45] This may indicate that it was not necessary for unmarried females to put on a veil.^[45] This form of veiling by married women is still prevalent in Hindi-speaking areas, and is known as ghoonghat where the loose end of a sari is pulled over the head to act as a facial veil.

Based on sculptures and paintings, tight bodices or cholis are believed have evolved between the 2nd century BCE to 6th century CE in various regional styles.Early cholis were front covering tied at the back; this style was more common in parts of ancient northern India. This ancient form of bodice or choli are still common in the state of Rajasthan today Varies styles of decorative traditional embroidery like gota patti, mochi, pakko, kharak, suf, kathi, phulkari and gamthi are done on cholis.^[ In Southern parts of India, choli is known as ravikie which is tied at the front instead of back, kasuti is traditional form of embroidery used for cholis in this region. In Nepal, choli is known as cholo or chaubandi cholo and is traditionally tied at the front.

Red is most favoured colour for wedding saris and are traditional garment choice for brides in Indian culture Women traditionally wore various types of regional handloom saris made of silk, cotton, ikkat, block-print, embroidery and tie-dye textiles. Most sought after brocade silk saris are Banasari, Kanchipuram, Gadwal, Paithani, Mysore, Uppada, Bagalpuri, Balchuri, Maheshwari, Chanderi, Mekhela, Ghicha, Narayan pet and Eri etc. are traditionally worn for festive and formal occasions.^[53] Silk Ikat and cotton saris known as Patola, Pochampally, Bomkai, Khandua, Sambalpuri, Gadwal, Berhampuri, Bargarh, Jamdani, Tant, Mangalagiri, Guntur, Narayan pet, Chanderi, Maheshwari, Nuapatn, Tussar, Ilkal, Kotpad and Manipuri were worn for both festive and everyday attire.^[54] Tie-dyed and block-print saris known as Bandhani, Leheria/Leheriya, Bagru, Ajrakh, Sungudi, Kota Dabu/Dabu print, Bagh and Kalamkari were traditionally worn during monsoon season.^[55] Gota Patti is popular form of traditional embroidery used on saris for formal occasions, various other types of traditional folk embroidery such mochi, pakko, kharak, suf, kathi, phulkari and gamthi are also commonly used for both informal and formal occasion. Today, modern fabrics like polyester, georgette and charmeuse are also commonly used.^[

Nepal has many different varieties of draping sari, today the most common is the Nivi drape. The Bhojpuri and Awadhi speaking community wears the sari sedha pallu like the Gujrati drape. The Mithila community has its own traditional Maithili drapes like the madhubani and purniea drapes but today those are rare and most sari is worn with the pallu in the front or the nivi style. The women of the Rajbanshi communities traditionally wear their sari with no choli and tied below the neck like a towel but today only old women wear it in that style and the nivi and the Bengali drapes are more popular today. The traditional Newari sari drape is, folding the sari till it is below knee length and then wearing it like a nivi sari but the pallu is not worn across the chest and instead is tied around the waist and leaving it so it drops from waist to the knee, instead the pallu or a shawl is tied across the chest, by wrapping it from the right hip and back and is thrown over the shoulders. Saris are worn with blouse that are thicker and are tied several times across the front. The Nivi drape was popularized in Nepal by the Shah royals and the Ranas