Scientific reasons of wearing a saree

Since our childhood, we all know “SAREE” very well, as an all time favourite female dress. It does not need an introduction. A traditional, but extremely popular outfit for women, since ancient times to the modern times. Starting from a traditional outfit, to a journey of a glamorous party dress. A piece of cloth of 5 to 9 yards in length, so popular that, it is worn from the poor to the richest class of the society. So many different ways to wear, so many fabrics, so many designs. If I keep telling about Saree, probably a whole book will become smaller to narrate the whole story of Sari.

In spite of the wide spread use of the Sari, the modern society is now changing the style of women's clothing. Saree’s are still being worn in a wide section of mature and traditional women, however the modern women is limiting the use of Sari in the special occasions only. In marriages, festivals or in classy parties and functions, they are still being used as an up class designer dress.

The wrong reasons women give for the less use of sarees are mainly the high cost to buy, high cost to maintain, difficult to wear and manage, and another big reason is, blindly following the western way of living to the western style clothing. Everyone now likes to wear jeans, trousers, t-shirts, western style dresses and other clothes. And everyone now is in the competition of looking more and more attractive and younger than their age- which is not wrong, in a way.

Considering all above, I would say that every person has a right to look attractive in front of others, but at the same time before making choices one should consider all the pros and cons. There is an old saying “Everything that glitters is not gold”. It becomes very important to evaluate our decisions carefully, particularly when we break the age old traditions and values. We need to carefully see all the aspects and at the same time, we need to make sure that it is also good for us.

The style of wearing clothes has a big impact on our mind, body, soul and on the society also. We need to analyze the subject more deeply. First, why there was a need of clothing for the human beings, the general answer is to cover up our body and maintain our dignity. But this is not complete, and there is a bigger reason behind. The atmosphere of the earth contains both positive and negative energy. We all very well know that we need to protect our body from the negative energies. The clothes work as a shield to protect our body from these unfriendly energies. Secondly, our body needs to be covered, to be protected from the dirty looks of the people. These kind of looks contain a whole lot of bad energies. When someone stares at us in a lustful or in any negative way, there is a continuous flow of low level energies coming in to our body. It badly affects us in a very harmful way. Now if the proper clothing is there, quite a bit can be avoided. These clothes absorb these kind of bad energies and protect our body from being harmed. This is the real purpose of clothing.

Most of the western style clothes which are popular today are like tight fitting jeans, tight shirts or revealing upper wear. These types of clothing are considered modern but has more harmful effects then benefits. These tight clothes reveal the exact body structure in front every person passing on the road. It attract lustful looks which has far reaching deep impact on our mind body and soul. If the body is out of the shape, then they will be embarrassed and will have inferiority complex and depression due to their body, but they still have to wear them due to the fashion trend in the society. The Saree is the winner here, it covers fine details of the out of the shape body and makes the person looks decent. And if the person is very attractive, then also it accentuates it. The best part is Sari can be worn in any way, it can make you look very attractive and beautiful and it can also give you a traditional look. The "Pallu" part is used to cover the upper body. which saves the women from the unwelcome negative looks. The styles of sari can be changed according to the taste and need. Any look can be given with Saree which is unique, compare to the other women dresses.

Now finally, I would give the real scientific reason to wear a Saree over the western outfits. We all human beings are broadly made of two kinds of elements, Energy and Consciousness. First one is female in nature and the second is considered male. A woman has predominantly female energy and the man has male elements. The healthy energy movement in our body, and in Earth and in the Universe is all in the same way, it moves in circles. That’s is why a woman body is more curvy. To remain healthy, energies in our body should keep moving in circular motion. Any energy coming towards our body first touches our clothes and then it enters into the body and its energy channels and then to the internal organs . Sari is worn in circular motion around body. It keeps circling until almost until the end. So it is easy to understand that when an energy touches the sari, it travels in circles around the body, helping the energy move in the correct way, which makes the saree a winner in clothing. It helps to keep our mind, body and soul healthy. Another, good part is that, while energy traveling in 5-6 yards of cloth, the negative energies coming inside gets stuck in the cloth and it then cleans up with washing. These kind of heavy energies are lazy and cannot move a lot. In the atmosphere it travels with air. However, a cloth with lot of stitches, actually confuses the energy and is harmful for health. There is one very important thing to remember that the clothing should be made with natural fabrics like cotton. Synthetics are big energy blockers and quite harmful for overall health. Understand all the fitness apparel, made of lycra and synthetic fibres are doing you a lot of harm.

The mid part of the body is left uncovered in Sari, for which some feel that it exposes the skin. Actually, there is a big reason behind that too. The stomach area which is left uncovered, is the "Brahmasthan" of the body. Body receives a lot of life force energy from this area. This should be left open always. Even in Vaastu Science, the centre part of the house called "Brahmasthan", and is left open to sky. 

Advantages of Wearing Sarees

Silk Clothes.

Silk clothes have the capacity to attract and store electro magnetic energy. With the friction between the body and the silk clothes, electric energy is produced, which gives rise to electro static attraction.This energy, according to shastras, would act on the mind of the devotee. It is also said that the vibrations, which are generated while worshipping, are also stored by wearing Hence All over India, silk clothes are preferred during Poojas, be it a Maharashtrian lady in Ganesh Puja, or a Bengali lady in Durga Pooja or a Gujarati lady in Laxmi Pooja during Diwali and so the silk clothes.

Excellent Attention Grabber

If it is draped well, you carry yourself well and you have a reasonably agreeable persona. A Saree just happens to be one of those things that bring out the beauty in a woman.

Adapts to your figure

Women are very conscious about their attire matching or suiting their figures. Well, the Saree is just the right thing for such a purpose. One can adjust one’s style of draping a Saree to one’s figure. Tall and slim? Wrap it closely with an unpleated, long pallu. It will enhance your height without making you look too thin or bony. For a stout figure on the other hand, wear it a little loosely with a well pleated and pinned pallu so that it doesn’t make you look bulky and gives you a touch of elegance.

Sexy as well as brownie point earner:

It brings out the feminine side in women like few other garments. It makes you look elegant and sensual but never cheap.

It’s roomy

To people, a Saree looks complicated, difficult to handle and even claustrophobic. If that is the case, then the Saree has not been draped well or you don’t know how to walk wearing one (or both!) When a Saree is draped in the right manner and is pinned up in the required places, not only is it elegant, it is easy to handle (you DO NOT need to struggle with even one inch of the cloth; just let it comfortably BE on you.)

Poise and Grace

Is it easier to wear a pair of jeans or a party dress? Not really. Saree is equally easy to wear. It takes poise and grace to carry off a Saree beautifully. I would say that a Saree would go well for any occasion. For social events, it’s an amazing attire. It is not a task for the weak-kneed nervous women. When a woman wears a Saree for an occasion and walks amongst the party, her smiling head held high, it is her subliminal announcement of being calmly in control of herself and often, the heartstrings of some people around.

Virtues inculcated upon wearing a saree and its benefits 

Inculcation of humility 

Generation of modesty 

Increase in the stability of the mind and concentration of the chitta (Subconscious mind) 

Awakening of maternal feelings 

Feeling that a saree is the symbol of a Deity 

Development of bhav 

Increase in self-confidence 

Increase in Kshatravrutti (Attitude of a warrior) 

Increase in introversion and reduction in extroversion due to awareness of one’s true form 

The individual imbibes sattvikta (Spiritual purity) and chaitanya (Divine consciousness) in the environment on wearing a saree.

By wearing a saree, the person imbibes Chaitanya and sattvikta in the environment; these are retained in a circular form, and the person benefits from these for a longer duration. Though the sarees made from synthetic yarn are comfortable to wear, they have less ability to absorb sattvikta and Chaitanya. Conversely, sarees made from natural fibres, such as cotton and silk yarns, have a greater ability to absorb sattvikta and Chaitanya. Thus, wearing these sarees results in imbibing greater proportion of spiritual benefits.

Benefits obtained by Individual uponwearing a sattvik attire such as the saree

A. Due to sattvik attire such as the saree, mutual bonds between individuals are not limited to the psychological and intellectual levels, but they get a spiritual foundation and the bonds are created at the spiritual level.

B. When we look at a person wearing a sattvik attire, it creates a positive effect on the various chakras (Spiritual energy centres in the subtle body) of our body, and as a result, we experience pleasant sensations. This results in spiritual healing and thus reduces the manifestation of the mantrik.

C. Viewing a sattvik scene affects us spiritually and influences our mind and intellect. When we look at an individual wearing sattvik clothing such as a saree, dhoti etc., waves of Shakti ( Divine Energy), Anand (Bliss) and Shanti (Peace) emitting from these are registered in the mind, and they leave a positive impression on the mind.

Receiving sattvikta and experiencing reduction in distress due to negative energies upon wearing a saree

Wearing a saree results in spiritual healing; thus, reducing the distressing energy covering around the body and the distress caused by negative energies.

Those facing distress due to negative energies have negative thoughts about wearing a saree. Since the saree is sattvik, when a woman who has distress due to negative energies wears it, she certainly experiences a change in energies around her.

Understand the importance of saree and wear it even though it may take longer to wear

Due to lack of practice [of wearing a saree], it may be initially difficult to work, but after a few days of practice one does not find it difficult. If this were not to be so, no woman would have ever worn a saree. In the earlier times, women would wear nine-yard sarees. Modern women do not like to wear a nine-yard saree. It is a matter of practice. One should remember that the above information has revealed immeasurable spiritual benefits of wearing a saree. Therefore, till the habit of wearing a saree develops, why should one worry if there are some difficulties initially. The Sari originated within the Hindu culture. Hindus believe that stitched clothing is impure. Hindus also believe that the belly button is very important and is a source of life and creativity. This is why the Sari does not cover the midriff. Another reason for the bare stomach is the Ancient Indian ideals of beauty. They value, like many other cultures, the juxtaposition of a small waist with larger hips and bust line. The Sari exposes the waist but also adds width to the hips and bust, emphasising and even exaggerating the female figure. This being said, the sari still maintains a woman’s modesty, as she is covered from head to toe with fabric, and it is only a small portion of her waist exposed. The first known depiction of the Sari is a statue of an Indus Valley priest wearing a sari-like drape and dates back to 100 B.C. Sculptures from the 1st-6th century AD depict dancers and goddesses wearing dhoti wraps. Cave murals from the 5th century show women wearing full body saris. In the early 1500’s, a traveler from Portugal described women as wearing very thin cotton or silk garments that wrapped around their waist and shoulder, exposing the arm and shoulder. There are many Indian myths and legends involving saris. Most come from ancient manuscripts such as the Vedic Scripts, Mahabharata, Silappadhikaram, Kadambari and Natya Shastra. Scholars commonly believe that the earliest texts recording saris are 5000 years old.

Western attire such as jeans, T-shirt, Chudidar, Salwar-Kurta, have become an inseparable part of the present day Hindu woman’s lifestyle. Conversely, the use of traditional Bharatiya attire such as nine-yard saree, which infect is the identity of the Hindu culture, has been restricted to womenfolk in the villages. Any attire unknowingly influences the attitude of the wearer. The prevalent rajasik-tamasik attire such as Chudidar, jeans, etc. makes a woman impulsive and inclined towards worldly pleasures. Conversely, sattvik attire such as the six-yard or a nine-yard saree, make a woman virtuous and Dharma-abiding. Abiding by Dharma increases devotion and bhava (Spiritual emotion) unto God and the individual begins to move on the path of God-realization. Another disadvantage of wearing rajasik-tamasik attire is an increase in the possibility of the distress due to negative energies for the wearer. In contrast, sattvik attire becomes an effective weapon in the battle against negative energies.

Every subject in Hindu culture is based on the science of Spirituality. In our culture, there is a tradition of wearing a nine-yard saree. In the earlier times, women used to wear nine-yard sarees only; but today, women find it inconvenient wearing it. Therefore, they have started wearing six-yard sarees. Today too, women in villages and some urban women wear nine-yard sarees during various worship rituals. Depending on the different States to which a woman belongs, the Pallu of a six-yard saree is draped on the left or the right shoulder. 

Scientific Reasons Behind Hindu Traditions

We are Indians and are proud of our Nationality. The traditions and culture of India is globally known. And if talking about women of India, we all know how many traditions and cultural activities we women follow and do, in our daily life.

Mostly people think that these traditions are made just to please God etc. and they have no logical or scientific reasons behind them.

Well, I am very pleased to say that each and every single Hindu tradition has a scientific reason behind it. In this post I am going to share top 15 scientific reasons for following some of the most popular Hindu traditions:

Namaste:

We Indians are known for hospitality and gestures. We welcome people by joining our hands together, bowing and saying “Namaste.” When we join our hands together, our finger tips touch each other, which in turn activate the pressure points of eyes, ears and mind. This activation of our sensual organs helps us in remembering the person for a longer time.

Tilak On Forehead:

We apply Tilak on forehead whenever we visit Temples or during festivals and also on special occasions. There is a major nerve point between the eyebrows on a forehead. When a Tilak is applied on this point, it prevents the loss of energy, thereby retaining our concentration point. It also activates the Adhya-chakra which supplies blood to our facial muscles.

Surya Namaskar:

The most important mantra of following a healthy lifestyle is to follow Surya Namaskar which comprises of 13 asanas and each posture has great benefits to the body. This is a tribute which we pay to Sun God.

Fasting:

We Indians believe in fasting on several occasions. We accumulate a lot of toxins in our body. Fasting relaxes our body mechanism and cleanses the body by detoxifying it. The digestive system gets to rest during fasting which leads to the cleaning process.

Touching The Feet Of The Elders:

This is a great Indian tradition which is still followed by all of us. We touch the feet of our elders to stay blessed. When we touch the feet of the elderly, positive thoughts are generated by their hearts, which produces positive energy. This energy is transferred to the hands and toes of the elderly. When we touch the feet, we become the receptor of the positive energy from our elders.

Idol Worship:

We have a strong belief on the Almighty. We do worship idols imagining them in the real Avatar. Scientifically it is proved that it increases concentration during prayers. It also gives a shape to our thoughts.

Ringing Bells In Temple:

These bells are designed in such a way that it balances the left and right brains. The sound is also strong enough for us to focus on our worship. The bell echo is powerful enough to activate the chakras in our body.

Throwing Coins In Water:

Coins are mostly made of copper which is a great way to keep out body healthy. During ancient times, river was the only source of drinking water. Thus, when coins were thrown in river water, it was a way to add the benefits of copper to the water, which would ultimately benefit the body.

Sleeping With Head Facing In The North:

When you sleep with your head pointing towards North, the body’s magnetic field becomes asymmetrical to that of the magnetic energy produced by the earth, inviting Blood pressure and heart related issues. We have always heard our Mother’s and Grandmother’s tell us this. Now we know why we need to listen to them.

Tying A Bun

The most sensitive spot is on the centre of the head. The tying bun helps in preserving the energy and boosts this centre.

Now we know why our grandmothers, aunt’s and mother wear this hairstyle most of the time.

Wearing Bangles:

You must have seen women wearing a bunch of bangles in their both hands. It is a must for married women in India. Bangles cause constant friction which in turn increases the blood circulation. The energy that passes out through the outer skin is reverted to our own body due to the round shape of Bangles.

Sindoor:

Sindoor is considered as divine. It distinguishes married from unmarried in India. It is prepared by blending turmeric, lime and the metal mercury. The mercury level controls the Blood Pressure and increases the sexual drive in a woman. Thus, women are suggested to apply the sindoor till the pituitary gland where the feelings are centered.

Piercing Ears:

The Indian girls have their ears pierced at a very young age as the skin is very delicate and it is less painful. The Indian philosophy says that ear piercing helps in intellect development. It increases the thinking power and also decision making abilities.

Toe Rings:

The toe ring is worn in the second toe by the Indian women. There is a specific nerve which connects the uterus and passes to the heart. Thus, it is proved that the toe ring strengthens the uterus and increases the blood flow to it, thereby keeping it healthy. It is also proved that it regularizes the menstrual cycle.

Applying Mehndi On The Hands And Feet:

You would be surprised to know the reason behind application of Mehndi on our hands and feet. It is a medicinal herb and is used for cooling purpose. The application of Henna on our hands and feet can actually de-stress us and can control the tensions during the wedding ceremony. Isn’t that cool?

I really hope you found this post very interesting. So now, when someone says that you are being orthodox as you follow old traditions, you have bundle of scientific reasons to explain them and fascinate them! Stay connected for more!