Made of handwoven, starched cotton, the mundum neriyathum is the traditional attire of women in the state of Kerala. It consists of two unstitched pieces of white or cream-coloured cotton fabric, the upper neriyathum (also known as kavani) and the lower mundu, with the latter also being an independent garment. As with the mundu, the mundum neriyathum is traditionally woven by the Shaliar and Devanga communities in Balaramapuram, Chendamangalam and Kuthampully.

The mundum neriyathum is believed to be distantly descended from two pieces of clothing dated to the first century CE or possibly earlier: the antariya, a lower garment draped in a manner similar to the mundu and dhoti, and the uttariya, a long scarf-like piece of fabric from which the neriyathum (and the less common melmundu worn by men) was derived. The mundu is wrapped around the waist, and the length and drape of the cloth varies greatly across the many communities in Kerala. The neriyathum is either worn diagonally across the chest and over the left shoulder, resembling the pallu of a saree, or tied across the chest and tucked into the blouse, covering the body down to the knees.

Historically, both men and women in Kerala were required to bare their upper body when in the presence of a member of a higher caste. Upper castes therefore effectively wore the mundum neriyathum attire most of the time, unless they were engaged in a private darshan, or an audience with the image of a deity. Frustration with the caste-based permissibility for wearing the neriyathum led to the Channar Revolt, a series of protests and revolts by women of the lower caste Nadar community which began in 1813, and grew into a larger emancipatory movement over the course of the nineteenth century. The Nadar women were supported by local Christian missionaries and other members of lower castes, who were all met with violent opposition by the government-supported upper castes and Travancore royalty. After a series of attempted compromises — such as the permission to wear a jacket or cloth that was visibly coarser and duller than the upper caste neriyathum — Nadar women were permitted to wear the upper cloth at all times. The movement continues to be regarded as a landmark in the anti-caste history of south India.

Today, the mundum neriyathum is usually of two kinds: the set mundu or settu mundu, which is for everyday use and features a variety of colours, and the kasavu saree, which is worn by women for festivals such as Onam and has a gold zari border known as the kasavu. The weaving centres of Balaramapuram, Chendamangalam and Kuthampully received Geographical Indication (GI) tags in 2009, 2011 and 2015 respectively.