South Asian Weddings

Torn on a sari...

I've found this gorgeous red and green sari with silver embroidered elephants that I would *love* for my wedding. But there's a problem. There are swastikas along the border.

I understand that the swasticawas a Hindu symbol long before it was ever a Nazi symbol, but I still don't know how comfortable I am with having them on my wedding outfit. On the other hand, silver embroidery's harder to find, and silver elephants? I've never seen any other sari with silver elephants.

What do you ladies think? Picture below for reference:



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Re: Torn on a sari...

  • edited December 2011
    I feel you.  Swastikas are a really common Jain symbol (FI is Jain, I'm white), to the point where if you look for "Jain wedding invitations," they almost all have one on them.  I know they're an ancient and revered symbol, but I can't get past my immediate reaction to them.  Moreover, not everyone knows about their history within Indian culture, and for me personally it's just not worth the double takes.

    That said, the sari is really gorgeous, and it's not easy to find ones with elephants on them.  It's all up to you - if you're not going to be fully comfortable in it, will you enjoy wearing it on your wedding day? 
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  • edited December 2011
    I understand you, but I think it looks pretty different from the red/black nazi symbol, especially since this one also has the dots.  Where did you find this sari?  Can you contact the seller to see if they can produce something similar without the swastikas?  Maybe add more elephants instead? :)
  • edited December 2011
    It's an ebay find; vintage, so not reproducable.
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  • edited December 2011
    That is a beautiful sari, but I can understand where you're coming from. During our engagement ceremony, the priest drew a swatika on a coconut for my FI and I think that took a lot of people aback. To us it has none of the negative connotations, but most people would not think of that or even realize that.

    I think if you're not comfortable with it, then even though it has the silver embriodery and the elephants, two things you love, the one thing which you don't will over shadow the rest of it.


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  • kpwedkkkpwedkk member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    It's a beautiful sari!

    Have you thought about getting additional silver sequences added to the border, maybe take it to a tailor, so that it doesn't look like a swastika, and maybe more like a pinwheel??

    "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart." ~ Miss K ~
  • edited December 2011
    Defeats the purpose of finding it cheap, lol. i think I'm just going to look for something less controversy-inspiring
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  • kpwedkkkpwedkk member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011

    "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart." ~ Miss K ~
  • edited December 2011
    awwww!! that sucks!

    i hope you checked out what kpwedkk just psted!

    xoxo
  • edited December 2011
    I did look through them - thanks so much for the links! None of them were *quite* right, but they were all pretty. I'm ok going without the elephant motif; red and silver is more important, since the jewelry that I have already purchased is silver with red stones. I've found a few others that are decent substitutes; narrowign down my choices for now, but I don't have to buy it until early November, I think.
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  • kpwedkkkpwedkk member
    Combo Breaker First Comment
    edited December 2011
    Beloved, okay, I did see a lot of borders on ebay too, for saris, in the elephantness, it just didn't match what you had 100%. I agree it's beautiful in every regard, and the symbol has been around for thousands of years until a certain European used it for his emblem, and messed up everybody's thinking... and he even put it backward.

    It is good to know about red and silver though :)  I'll keep my eyes peeled for you :) 



    "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart." ~ Miss K ~
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