Purushu Arie was founded as a fashion blog in 2009 while Purushu was studying fashion design at NIFT New Delhi. In 2017, Purush Arie's blog evolved into India's 1st exclusively ungendered clothing label. Purushu spoke about gender neutral revolution through fashion at TEDxChennai in March 2018. Purushu's signature silhouettes include tailored lungis and saris. Purushu Arie designs with the ethos of sustainable intersectional inclusivity that defies gender, caste, & class status quo.

Kalaignar Karunanidhi’s Style & Clothing Politics

For most Thamizhans, fashion and style is beyond the paid manufactured trends found in magazines. Veshti clad Thamizh men are more likely to ask, “What’s Gucci my nigga? What’s Louis my killa?” Thamizh Nadu is a unique place where more fashion trends have trickled up from the lifestyle of common man than the trends that have trickled down from elite class & castes. The clothing of Dravidian politics was mostly simple but boasts rich Thamizh heritage and history. The unique style statement of Dr. Kalaignar Karunanidhi was embedded with deep political statements. Kalaignar Karunanidhi’s clothing politics only added to his radical voice. Honouring the legacy of the stalwart Dravidian leader, here’s a walk through Kalaignar Karunanidhi’s clothing politics.

 

MGR with Periyar, Annadurai and M. Karunanidhi at a DMK meet in then Madras.

In front row (left to right): Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi, MGR and Periyar wearing vestti-sattai at a DMK meet in then Madras. Image: The Hindu

VESHTI-SATTAI

In Madras, the Chief Ministers often wore the humble white vetti and the opulent bespoke suits belonged to their bureaucrats. Crisp white shirt and vestti is the trademark fashion of men in Tamil Nadu politics. Kalaignar continued this Dravidian legacy by adopting the kara border veshti-sattai as his political uniform.

 

 

Kalaignar Karunanidhi & MGR wearing black glasses

Kalaignar Karunanidhi & MGR wearing black glasses. Image: Newstm

BLACK GLASSES

Karunanidhi started wearing black glasses after he met with an accident in the late 1960s that damaged his left eye. The black glasses which he wore for more than half a decade was changed to amber brown upon his doctor’s recommendation just a few months before his demise. Coincidentally, Kalaignar’s long-time friend and eventual political rival MGR also wore black glasses. Together, the duo created unprecedented crazy for black goggles in Tamil Nadu.

 

 

Kalaignar Karunanidhi and former Prime Minister of India, Shri. Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Alliance of the theist and atheist: Kalaignar Karunanidhi and former Prime Minister of India, Shri. Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Image: Rediff

YELLOW SHAWL  – KALAIGNAR SWAG

Dravidian ideologues chose to wear the common man’s thundu, a traditional cotton towel with kara borders in protest against the caste prejudice involved in wearing shawl over the shoulders. From there on, towels/thundu emerged as the raging iconography of Dravidian politics that vehemently opposed Brahmanical supremacist hegemony. Everyone from Periyar, Anna, MGR, Kalaignar to contemporaries like Vaiko have worn towels over shoulders. Though Karunanidhi initially wore white thundu featuring kara borders, he later chose the yellow shawl which became a trademark of Kalaignar swag. In MGR ruled 1980s, more than 20 people were killed by the police in the baton attack and shooting in a series of protests led by PMK founder Dr. Ramadoss. After the demise of MGR, Karunanidhi succeeded in the elections and negotiated with the Vanniyar Sangam leaders headed by Dr. Ramadoss, and eventually segregated Vanniyars among the Most Backward Caste community. Kalaignar Karunanidhi gave a 20% reservation to the community, and as gratitude to his social reform, PMK leader Ramadoss presented Kalaignar M Karunanidhi with the yellow shawl. The colour yellow denoted the Vanniyar flag and Kalaignar Karunanidhi donned the yellow shawl since 1989.

 

 

Kalaignar Karunanidhi in black shirt

Kalaignar Karunanidhi in black shirt. Image: TOI

BLACK SHIRT

Symbolism was deeply embedded in Kalaignar’s clothing. Black shirts and flags were raging iconography of protest and anarchy in Thamizh politics. The colour black which was often associated with death, bad-luck and other things inauspicious, was encouraged by Dravidar Kazhagam founder Periyar EV Ramasamy. Kalaignar Karunanidhi, a staunch rationalist and crusader of superstitions, proudly wore black shirt to mock and protest irrational forces.

 

 

karunanidhi in coat suit

M. Karunanidhi addressing the third meet of the International Conference of Thamizh Studies, inaugurated at the College de France in Paris on July 15, 1970. Image: The Hindu

GLOBAL THAMIZHA

It may be hard for the present generation to imagine Dr. Kalaignar in anything other than traditional vetti-sattai and yellow shawl he wore for several decades. However the five-time Tamil Nadu chief minister also donned Western suits in early 60s and 70s especially when he travelled abroad to represent Taamil Nadu on a global platform.

 

 

Karunanidhi wearing lungi Madras checks

Karunanidhi wearing Madras checks. Image: New18

ROOTED IN MADRAS

The global Thamizhan was still rooted and grounded in the iconic Madras checks. Simple and comfortable lungis were integral part of Kalaignar’s leisurewear clothing.

6 Comments
  • November 8, 2018

    Wonderful collection of pictures and a well-worded and researched article! Absolutely loved the usage of ‘Tamizh Nadu’ 🙂 Keep up the great work Mr. Purushu.

  • jack
    Reply
    February 1, 2019

    Thank you for sharing. I’m fascinated with your website.
    I am going to publish this to my facebook wall.

  • vinayaka
    Reply
    April 26, 2019

    best pictures awsome

  • May 21, 2019

    Hey,
    Thanks to the awesome collection of blogs. I like this blog, it has a lot of information..
    Thanks & Regards
    Rahul Gupta
    IndiBlogHub.com

  • Myhoardings
    Reply
    August 28, 2019

    Good Collections Photos

  • Qdot International
    Reply
    October 5, 2019

    nice article.

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