South Indians on social media noticed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi chose to wear a mundu with a blue kara (border) for the ‘diya jalao : 9 pm-9 minutes’ event on Sunday. It was teamed with a long sky-blue kurta and a traditional Assamese gamosa.

The mundu, kurta and gamosa combination was a message of national integration, says BJP Kerala chief K Surendran. “And for us Keralites, not just that he wore a mundu, he even lit a traditional Kerala nilavilakku,” he says. This isn’t the first time Modi has worn a mundu Kerala style. During his visit to Kerala in 2019, the PM had dressed traditionally, while visiting the Guruvayur temple.

Kochi-based designer Sreejith Jeevan, whose label Rouka features mundus with experimental borders and classic-quirky elements, says the garment is likely to get a fillip after this. He adds, however, that the mundu already has wide acceptance in Kerala, as many youngsters still think of it as ‘cool’.

The Prime Minister’s garments are usually handmade in his home-State Gujarat, and he made news when he appointed Bollywood designer Troy Costa to design a new look for his first overseas visit after assuming office in 2014. While this latest kurta-mundu may set off a trend, Smitha Sreejith, Mahila Morcha State Secretary, says: “Fashionable as it may be, the larger message here is one of national unity in an hour of crisis.”