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Burma / Myanmar: Young Burmese girl in longyi with flowers in her hair. Colonial period painting, c. 1910

Burma / Myanmar: Young Burmese girl in longyi with flowers in her hair. Colonial period painting, c. 1910

A longyi is a sheet of cloth widely worn in Burma. It is approximately 2 m (6½ ft.) long and 80 cm (2½ ft.) wide. The cloth is often sewn into a cylindrical shape. It is worn around the waist, running to the feet. It is held in place by folding fabric over, without a knot. It is also sometimes folded up to the knee for comfort. Similar garments are found in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Malay Archipelago, and Juiz de Fora. In the Indian subcontinent (Bangladesh, West Bengal, South India, and Sri Lanka), it is known variously as a lungi, longi, kaili or saaram.