Thuppatti
Thuppatti used by Parava Catholic married women since long following the dress style of Mother Mary....That tradition was almost compulsory in Coastal area.. Unfortunately every women not in a position to purchase Thuppatti..
Hence they avoided attending Holy Mass.. Seeing this pitiyable condition Rev Fr Antony Suasainathar Fernando introduced First Mass for the poor woomen priorto to the sunrise.. Also he made it a point to prepare Thuppatti locally at UVARI and gave it free to the poor ladies..
In Sippikulam and Keelavaippar Villages use of Thuppatti was almost upto 1960 as far as I remember. It was made out of Long Cloth a thick fabric with Lace to decorate.
- Kalaban Vaz
“Thupatti,” a traditional long white cloth which wraps the body from head to foot, leaving the face open. Mr Ali of Bismi Textiles (located in Dunlop street) shared with me that in the past, the full Thupatti was 12 metres long. The longer it was, the easier it was to wrap around the body. By the 1990s, the length of the Thupatti reduced to 8 metres and the version that is commonly used today is just 4 metres long.
While the 100% cotton 12 metre cloth known as “cambric” used to come from England, presently, the material is produced in Thailand and stitched in Singapore. Some forms of Thupatti are also produced domestically in India. You can still observe the full Thupatti being used in some parts of Tamil Nadu such as Lalpettai, Parangipettai and Nagapattinam to name a few.
As not much studies have been done on this traditional attire, do share with us if you know more information!
-FNZB
Sources: J.P. More, “The Marakkayar Muslims of Karikal, South India,” Journal of Islamic Studies vol 2 no.1 1991.
