Breaking the Chains of Colonial Legacy: Delhi University Adopts Indian Attire for Convocation

Delhi University is breaking with tradition and ditching the conventional black gowns worn by students during convocation in favor of Indian attire. The 99th convocation ceremony, set to take place on February 25th, will see students and officials don "angvastras", a stole-like garment, inspired by Indian culture.  Officials will wear outfits made of khadi silk to promote Indian traditions. The university felt the need to "go back to our roots" and change the colonial issues associated with the traditional gowns. The designs of the attire were approved by the Academic and Executive Councils, with the university's logo and the tree of life symbol featured prominently. The color of the stoles will differ for undergraduate, postgraduate, and Ph.D students. There has always been a debate about these robes. According to Economic Times, when colleges were established in India, an effort was made to "Indianize academic robes." As a visitor at the Indian Institute of Forest Management's convocation ceremony in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, in 2010, the then-Union minister Jairam Ramesh took off the robe he was wearing and described it as a "barbaric colonial legacy." The traditional Indian clothing of sarees for women and kurta-pajamas for men has already been adopted at many Indian Institutes of Technology, including Roorkee, Bombay, and Kanpur. The change in attire symbolizes a step towards breaking the chains of colonial legacy and embracing India's rich cultural heritage.