Mundu or pyjama: dressing small boys for festivals

For girls, the choice is usually between a pavadai and a frock. For boys, families in Kerala weigh up two quite different outfits: the shirt or kurta with a kasavu mundu, and the kurta with a pyjama. Each suits a different age and a different kind of day.

The mundu looks right in a temple and in a family photograph, and grandparents usually love it. For boys under five, though, a wrap-around mundu slips loose within minutes. Ours are stitched on an elastic waist with a neat fold at the front, so they look tied but pull on like shorts. From about seven, boys can wear a traditional tied mundu if someone shows them how to tuck it twice.

The kurta pyjama is easier for active days, school functions and long journeys. Children can go to the toilet alone, sit cross-legged on the floor for a sadya and climb into a car without anything coming undone. Our yellow cotton set at ₹1,290 is the one parents reorder most for this reason.

Cost is similar. A kasavu shirt and mundu set starts at ₹1,390 for ages one to four, and a brocade kurta with a matching pyjama is ₹1,790 plus ₹450 for the pyjama. Our suggestion: the mundu for the main morning of the festival and the photographs, and a kurta pyjama for everything else. If you can buy only one, choose by your child’s age. Under four, choose the pyjama. Over seven, let them try the mundu.