East Region Traditional Dress

West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar, Sikkim and the North Eastern States comprises East India.

West Bengal
Saree is the traditional dress of women in West Bengal. The only difference is in the way of wearing it. The Bengali style of wearing a saree has no pleats and is elegantly draped around the body and the pallu has a bunch of keys (for married ladies) that falls over the shoulder. The tradition saree is of cotton but for formal occasions, they prefer to wear silk sarees. Baluchari, Jamdani are famous traditional sarees of West Bengal.

Orissa
Women in Orissa wear the Oriya Sari, a simple drape which seems to be the base for all the other Eastern Saris. It is often draped with a five yard cotton ikat cloth. Traditionally the women of Orissa dress in sarees of blue, red and magenta and other deep colours, with ikat patterning. These beautiful and eye catching saris are made within the state. In Orissa there are many different designs and motifs woven in cotton and silk to create the distinctive saris of Orissa - Bomkai, Sambalpuri which are cherished by women in India.

Bihar
Saree is also the traditional dress of women in Bihar.

Sikkim
The original inhabitants of Sikkim are said to be Lepchas. The female Lepcha wear a two piece dress. The bhutias are the people of Tibetan origin who migrated to Sikkim. The ladies dress consists of a silken "Honju" which is a full sleeve blouse and a loose gown type garment. The ladies are very fond of heavy jewelry made of pure gold. The traditional clothes of the Lepchas are woven in exquisite colour combinations.