#100sareepact Saree #3/100 This saree was originally bought for my MIL, who loves whites and creams and looks great in them. However, off late she seems to have got it into her head that she should wear only auspicious colours like reds, yellows and greens. So this came back to me. Helps that my husband loves white and paisleys smile emoticon I had landed from the US that morning, all jet lagged, but had to attend a small ceremony in the neighborhood…to my husband’s delight I chose to wear this. Here’s what he had to say about this “Is there a more well-travelled motif than the teardrop design? It originated in 3rd century Persia, where it’s called Boteh. In Maharashtra, where it arrived by way of the Mughals, its name is Koyari. Further to the South, Tamilians refer to it as Mankolam. The ancient Chinese knew of it too and used it liberally.

As they did with several things of refinement, the Persians also shared the teardrop design with Europe. Needless to say, the British who it call Paisley, and the French whose term for it is Palme, like to pretend they invented it smile emoticon. In America, it helped define the aesthetic of 1960s counterculture.

So a woman in a Mankolam-patterned saree could be said to wear all of humanity’s culture on her sleeve. Literally.”