Why do we wear white after a death, and for how long?

white signals simplicity and grief; most families wear it until the 13th day, though customs differ.

In most Indian traditions white is the colour of mourning: plain, unadorned, without the festivity of red, yellow or gold. Wearing it tells the community that the family is in grief and quietly releases mourners from social expectations. The kartā often wears unstitched white cloth for the rites.

Most families wear white or very light colours until the 12th or 13th day, when the purification and the new clothes given at the end of mourning mark the return to ordinary life. Some keep simple, muted clothing for a month or until the first annual śrāddha. In parts of South India, mourners may wear plain clothes of any light colour rather than strictly white.

The older custom of widows wearing white for life is no longer expected by most families. A wife who has lost her husband may choose what feels right to her; no one should press her into lifelong signs of grief.

Source: common family practice

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