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A langa voni (also called "pavadai daavani" in Tamil or "laṅga davaṇi" in Kannada) is a traditional dress worn in South India by girls between puberty and marriage.[1][2] It is also known as the two-piece sari or half sari.[3] Girls younger than this may wear it on special occasions.
It comprises a langa or paavadai, a skirt which is tied around the waist using string, and a voni, oni, or daavani, which is a cloth usually 2 to 2.5 metres (6 ft 7 in to 8 ft 2 in) in length. The voni is draped diagonally over a choli (a tight fitting blouse, the same as that worn with a sari). Usually, the garment is woven with cotton or silk. A variant of this is the ghagra choli of North India (the difference between the two being the direction of draping the voni or dupatta). The modern day "lehenga-style sari", worn by Indians across the subcontinent mainly for special occasions, is inspired by the langa voni.