Wear a Lungi and Relax

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Lungi is a casual wear very popular in South India and also in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Myanmar. This article explains how to wear Lungi in the south Indian style.

Lungis are very popular form of casual wear in South India. They are worn by all classes of people;  Men use lungi as a casual home-wear in daytime as well as bedtime clothing. Cotton lungis are extremely comfortable to wear in the hot and humid climate mostly prevalent in south India. Many labourers and artisans wear it as the main waist cloth and a regular daily dress.

Lungis (also known as Kailis in Tamil Nadu, India) are quite popular across Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra states in South India. Lungis are popular in Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, too. The standard cotton lungi is available in a variety of colors with stripes, checks or plain and also in white. They are mostly produced in hand looms and powerlooms. The standard lungi is 1.15m in height and 2.0 m in length, when open.

While standard lungies are produced “open” only, they however become a confortable wear only when the open ends are joined and stitched to form a “tube” (like a skirt). However people in Kerala mostly wear lungi in open condition, similar to wearing a “dhoti”, “Veshti” or  “Mundu”.  In Tamil Nadu, lungis are worn mostly after stitching the ends.

The typical way of wearing a lungi in Tamil Nadu ensures a firm grip of the lungi around the waist and it does not get loosened like a “Veshti”.

Here are the steps involved in wearing the lungi.

Step 1:

Insert your lower body into the “tubular” lungi as shown.

Step 2:

Stretch and flatten the “tube” so that the lungi touches your navel and back.

Step 3:

Not allowing the lungi to fall from your front, swing your hand to one side and grip the lungi as shown to get the first fold.

Step 4:

With this grip on one side ensured, swing the hand to the other side to grip. This is to get you ready for the second fold.

Step 5:

Now the lungi is firmly held with the two-folds at the waist level around the navel.

Step 6:

Now do the first roll by folding the edge downwards over your tummy.

Step 7:

Do the second roll and fold. You can do one or two more rolls, too to, adjust the overall height and also to increase the grip at your waist.

Step 8:

Now using your palms, roll the edge of the lungi downwards against your back. This will increase the grip all around the waist.

Step 9:

Just to check! If you pull your lungi down as shown, it should not get loosened from your waist!

Step 10:

Just to verify! A perfectly worn lungi will have an inverted V shaped partition as shown in the picture exactly at the middle. If not, adjust the centrality at your waist or redo the above procedures to get it right.

That's it! With lungi firmly at your waist, you can walk, run, jump, squat on the floor or roll on your bed. Those who are used to the convenience of wearing the lungi will vouch that it is much more comfortable, more secure and “more decent in covering” your private parts than a “Veshti” or Bermudas.
C.V. Rajan's picture
About this Author:
C.V.Rajan is a self-employed professional Mechanical Design Engineer, living in Chennai (India) and is an avid reader and writer. He is a spiritually inclined person and loves writing on a range of subjects like Hinduism, Spirituality, Peaceful living, Home-business, Management and Healthy living. He is also a short story writer.
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Comments

Hi C.V. Great article. My husband wears the lungi all the time at home. It is very comfortable. Reminds him of his schooldays in Cody.

Mary Norton's picture
By Mary Norton 1 year 5 weeks

    Well demonstrated. More useful to those who are not familiar with lungi

    MUTHUSAMY R's picture
    By MUTHUSAMY R 1 year 2 weeks