Baluchari Sarees

The most well-known Bengal Silk sari, which carry its legendary name, is the
Baluchari sari - a product of exquisite design and fabulous weaving technique.
Produced in the town of Baluchar in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, Baluchari
sarees are nation and world wide popular because of their artistic and unique design.
'Baluchari' is one of the most popular weaving techniques of Bengal.

Fabric in Baluchari Sari

Silk weaving of Baluchar continues to be an important landmark of Bengal's
handloom tradition. Baluchari sarees are woven in Bengal silks which are much
acclaimed in the world over, since ancient times. Like silk, cotton baluchari sarees
are also woven in a fascinating and exquisite range. The cloth is very fine and
transparent with a soft drape.

Design and Colours

The sari has large flowing kalka motifs in the centre surrounded by narrow
ornamental borders. These are framed by a series of figural motifs worked in rows
around the kalkas. These motifs are woven diagonally and are worked in four
alternating colours, white, blue, yellow, red and green on a shaded background. The
motifs are entirely in silver zari.

The various designs depicting narrative folktales in the pallu of the sarees are as:

 A woman riding a horse holding a rose in one hand with her plait flying behind
her.
 Pleasure boat, with two lovebirds on top.
 Traditional muslim court scenes.
 Women smoking hookah.
 Puranic tales or legends of Ramayana and Mahabharata are also depicted on
the classic baluchari sarees etc.

The most distinctive feature of Baluchari sarees is their elaborate borders and pallu.
 • Baluchar is a silk weaving center in Murshidabad, West Bengal.

• Baluchar is famous for its silk brocade saris.

• The designs in the pallav are outstanding. Motifs include Indian

courtiers and European officials of the 17th and 18th centuries
shown smoking hookah, riding on horse back etc.

• These saris are woven in ‘charka’ silk. No gold is used. The

colors are deep maroon, madder purple and turmeric yellow.

Jamdani Sarees
Jamdani sarees are much sought after by fashion-conscious working women for their
elegance, comfort and light weight. Bengal is a large hub of jamdani sarees suppliers
and different kind of jamdani sarees.

Fabric in Jamdani Saree

Jamdani is an ancient finely woven cotton fabric called muslin with geometric or floral
designs. Jamdani sarees are in cotton, pure silk and tussar silk.

Colour
While the original Bangladeshi sari is almost invariably on a beige background, the
Indian weavers are a little more adventurous in their choice of color schemes. A very
classy look pervades in the traditional colour.

Various types of Jamdani Sarees :

Daccai Jamdani
Daccai Jamdani sarees are distint from other varieties by its very fine texture
resembling muslin and the elaborate and ornate workmanship. These sarees have
multicolored linear or floral motifs all over the body and border and have an
exquisitely designed elaborate pallu. The mango motif signifying fertility, growth, and
marital bliss is a very popular design in Jamdani sarees.

Tangail Jamdani
These sarees have Jamdani motifs on Tangail fabric and hence known as Tangail
Jamdani. The traditional tangail borders had a "paddo" or lotus pattern, "pradeep' or
lamp pattern, apart from the popular "aansh paar' which was common to Shantipur.
From the use of a single colour on the border, they began to use 2 to three colours to
give it 'meenakari' effect.

Shantipur Jamdani
This variety of sarees have a powder fine texture.
Dhaniakhali Jamdani
Having a tighter weave than the "tangail" or "shantipur", Dhaniakhali Jamdani is
more hardy. Its bold body colours and contrasting borders and absurdly low prices
make them very affordable.

Shantipuri : Smooth, translucent, densely woven off-white ground; compactly

patterened narrow border that trap the high contrast colours within a fine mesh; the
fine white stripes above the border called the jalchuri is the characteristics of
shantipuri, softening the transition from the ground to the border. The anchol
endpiece marked only by a combination of broad and narrow stripes. Smooth, limp &
soft fabric. These have given way to a wide variety of jacquard borders and the
bodies are filled with what are referred to as Tangail style, butis or motifs in extra
weft , in cotton, art silk and even lurex.

Dhonekhali : Near opaque off white ground, a plain narrow 2.5 inches wide coloured
border emphasized by fine stripes above. Weft stripes marked the end piece. The
colours the borders are red, black, violet, orange, green etc. Sometimes the borders
are emphasized by serrated edge motif. Sometimes the border was broadened to 6
or 8 inches. The ground was dyed in numerous colours and adorned with a wide
varieties of stripes and checks. The use of Muga in the accent stripes gave way to
art silk and zari. Design by dobby and jacquard , compact texture.

Dhakai Jamdani : has extra weft loom embroidery at every pick in borders and end
piece and often in the body. Traditionally woven in Dhaka upto 200s (80-120). The
finest jamdani had a high reed/pick with white and natural cotton ground with a
slightly lower count yarn or a plied yarn for extra weft creating a shadow effect on the
ground. At times silk or gold and silver zari were used to enhance patterning. The
most well known of the coloured jamdanis was the Neelambari with an indigo ground
ornamented in gold/silver or red that glowed out of the darkness of the ground.

Tangail : gross simplification of jamdani technique of Dhaka which has given it the
extra weft ornamentation on the second, third and even fourth pick in the body and
end piece. This combined with extra warp patterns, part of which probably came
from the original medium-count Tangail, in the form of lata-pata vine pattern. It later
picked up all the Shantipuri evolutions on the dobby and jacquard as well.

Chanderi Sarees
Chanderi sarees are the famous sarees produced in a small town called Chanderi in
Madhya Pradesh. Chanderi sarees are very light and ideal for Indian summers. Its
beauty lies in its simplicity, airy feel, narrow borders and decently designed anchals
with buttis. The Chanderi sarees give a sophisticated look to whoever who wears it.

Types of Chanderi Sari

 Narrow border: These are the plain sarees having a very narrow border of
complementary-warp zari and an endpiece containing a few narrow zari
bands, or one single, wider band.

 Broader border: These are the sarees with broader borders woven in
supplementary warp zari with coloured supplementary-warp silk
embellishments, woven into small repeat floral or geometrical designs. The
endpiece consisted of the border elements repeated twice as two parallel
bands, often with narrow woven lines and many buti woven between them.

 Wide border: The third type called do-chashmee (two streams) is no longer
made but had wide borders with brightly coloured supplementary- warp silk in
a satin weave upon which were supplementary bands of white geometric
patterns. In some sarees the borders were reversible.

Fabric in Chanderi Sarees

The Chanderi sari is woven in cotton as well as silk. Chanderi silk from India is the
result of traditional methods of hand-weaving that have been developed over the
centuries, and passed down through generations. Chanderi silk is considered the
fabric of choice for sarees produced for royalty, due to its light-weight quality and
intricate designs.

Colours and Design

 These sarees are a rare fusion of soft & contrasting colors.

 The plain cotton ones are with borders and have stripes and floral patterns.
 There are also ones which have butis on the body of the saree as well.
 Silk sarees are woven with zari borders and have zari and thread work all
through the length of sari, giving it an elegant and dazzling look.
 Chanderi sari is known for soft colors and the harmonious balance between
the border and the body of the saree.
 These sarees are also known for their contrasting colors and the depiction of
animal and human figures on them and patterns taken from the Chanderi
temples.

 Traditionally, the Chanderi had a silk warp and cotton weft, use bright but
subtle colours and rich gold borders making them quite distinctive. It has zari
ornamentation, enameled in soft tones, woven into the pallu/pallav (end-
piece), kinara (border), and body of the sari. In the last few decades, silk has
replaced the cotton weft to a large degree. The designs are produced by the
extra warp and weft techniques
Maheshwari Sarees
An important political and cultural centre situated in Madhya Pradesh, Maheshwar is
famous for a particular type of saree called Maheshwari saree, which is a speciality
of this city. These sarees are famous throughout India for their unique style of
harmonious balance between the border and the body of the saree. The grace and
elegance of these sarees is hard to match.

Fabric in Maheshwari Sarees

The Maheshwari saree is woven mostly in cotton and silk. The saree woven from
pure silk, is famous for its strength, elasticity and a unique luster of the fabric.
Nowadays these sarees are made in natural and artificial silk as well.

Colours and Design

The typical Maheshwari saree is either chequered, plain or has stripes, combined
with complementary colours. These sarees have a trademark border and pallu,
setting them apart from the Paithani, Patola, Kancheepuram and the rest. Originally,
the pallu is particularly distinctive with 5 strips, 3 coloured and two white alternating,
running along its width. The reversible border of the saree known as bugdi which
can be worn either side, is a speciality. It has a variety of leaves and flowers on the
border, in karnphool pattern, which is quite popular.

But now a lot of experimentation with respect to the fabric and motifs has been done
in Maheshwari sarees, no doubt to increase its appeal in a market of changing and
varied tastes. The use of zari and kinari is also unique to the Maheshwari saree. The
golden thread is used to weave exotic motifs and designs on the body, border and
pallu of the saree.

Paithani Sarees
Paithani sarees are the famous silk sarees of Maharashtra. It is a hand-woven sari of
gorgeous colours, intricate design and painstaking labour and treasured as a
valuable possession in every Maharashtrian family. No Maharashtrian wedding
trousseau is complete without the Paithani sari.

Fabric in Paithani Sarees

The Paithani sarees, are made of silk in rich, vivid colours with gold embroidery. In
the modern Paithani sarees, silver threads coated with gold are used instead of pure
gold threads.Intricate weave of silk warp and gold weft.

Design
Distinctive motifs such as stars, peacocks, mangoes, flowers, coins, fans, petals,
lotus, coconut etc. are woven into the sari. Many of these designs are found on the
border and pallu in different sizes and patterns. In the pallu, the base is in gold and
the pattern is done in silk, giving the whole sari an embossed look. Paithani are
generally decorated with the gold dot or coin motif. The speciality of the paithani is its
border and pallav. Gold threads run s right across the warp threads with motifs
picked up in silk thread and jewel like colours worked in tapestry styles similar to
meenekari work of gold jewellery. Ornamental zari borders of oblique square design
and pallavas mostly in peacock design.

Colours
These sarees have a special dhoop-chaav (light and shade) effect which is achieved
by bringing two different coloured silk threads together in the process of a simple
tabby weave. The shades vary from vivid magenta, peacock greens and purples.
The dominant traditional colours of vegetable dyes included blue, red and green,
black and white, black and red, pink, purplish red and yellow.

Gadwal Sarees
Gadwal sarees are the famous sarees of Andhra Pradesh made in a style influenced
by the Banarasi weaves. The Gadwal sarees with lavish design in pallu make them
beautiful and rich looking sarees befitting for any festive celebration.

Fabric in Gadwal Saree

Gadwal saree is made in cotton. While the ground of the saree is cotton, there is a
loosely attached silk border.

Colour
Traditional colours for these sarees are earth shades of browns, greys and off-
whites. However, brighter shades have been introduced for the North Indian buyer.

The Process
The most distinctive aspect of the Gadwal saree (and the one most difficult to do) is
where the silk pallu is joined to the cotton body - this is called 'doing the kechchu' -
back-breaking work that involves long hours of work and is invariably done by
women.

Design

 Copper or gold-dipped zari is generally used in these sarees.

 The motifs of the murrugan (peacock) and the rudraksh are popular.
 There can be mango design buttis all over body enriched by a dark contrast
colour pallu having intricate geometric pattern zari design and rich zari work
border too.
 There can also be self stripes design in body with zari buttis all over enriched
by a printed pattern work.
 Floral designer zari buttis and zigzag pattern zari work all over body are also
popular.

The silk cotton mix look in the Gadwal saree give the saree its unique charm and

Banarasi Sarees
Banarasi sarees are world famous for their royal look and rich feel. This saree is a
combination of style, beautiful craftwork and good quality. 'Banarasi Saree' is
considered to be the Indian 'SUN' in the world of fashion and has been a subject of
great inspiration and appreciation world-wide. It was in the Mughal era Baranasi
saree came into popularity and got fashion currency. Today, this Indian fashion sari
has witnessed a continuous growth in demand in both Indian and International
markets.

Fabric
There are mainly four varieties of Benarasi saree available today. They are

 Pure silk (katan)

 Organza (kora) with zari and silk
 Georgette
 Shattir

Design
The Banarasi silk saree is popular for its rich and intricate weave and zari work.
Banarasi Sarees have designs with original gold and silver thread. Some of the
designs on the body of a banaresi sarees are as follows:

 Benarasi sarees often depict scenes of villages, fairs, flowers, dancing

monkeys and clouds. Traditional designs remain the base appeal for Benarasi
sarees.

 There are also temple and mosque designs. They come up in all shades.

 Most brocades usually have designs that exhibit Mughal patterns such as
intricate intertwining floral and foliate motifs, kalga and bel.

 A distinct feature found along the inner, and sometimes outer, edge of borders
in this saree is a narrow fringe like pattern that often looks like a string of
upright leaves called jhallr.

 The pallus of these sarees have elaborate pure gold and silver designs
densely woven with gold and multicolor thread which lend the saree its
elegance.

 Its major attraction lies in colorful dying of silk fabric.

 The brocade that is used in producing these sarees are Amru silk brocades
which are world famous. Jamvar, Navrangi (nine colors), Jamdani etc. are
other brocade types from the range of Banarasi sarees.

Owing to its beautiful designs and colors, a banarasi silk sari always has come to
occupy a special place among buyers, throughout the world. The people with rich
taste love the beauty and intricate design of the Banarasi sarees as these are very
elegant and gorgeous.

1. ZARI BROCADES: In which the patterning is in zari or gold/silver thread.

 The Kincab/Kimkhab is a heavy gilt brocade, in which more zari work than
underlying silk visible. The zari comprises more than 50 per cent of the surface.
Often used as yardage in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, these are
popular wedding saris nowadays.

The bafta/ pot-than / baft-hana are lighter in gilt brocades than the Kimkhab, and
more of the underlying silk is visible. The zari comprises less than 50 per cent of the
surface.

Tanchois Sarees
Tanchoi sarees are another famous type of sarees of North India. Like the banarasi
sarees, these sarees are also produced by Varanasi weavers. These sarees are not
heavy like Banarasi sarees but can be worn for all types of occasion.

Fabric in Tanchois Saree

Employing a technique similar to that of brocade, weavers of Benaras make sarees
using colorful extra weft silk yarn for their unique patterns covering the satin ground.
This variety is known as Tanchoi. Tanchoi weaving is based on the weaving
technique brought from China by three brothers, called Choi (tan-three, Choi-
brothers). The tanchoi weavers wove silk saris and yardage, which was mostly used
by the Parsi community initially. Today, tanchoi fabric has remarkable fame in India
and the world over.

Design
Tanchoi saree resembles a fine miniature. In tanchoi sarees, the designs are
alway floral with interspersing of birds. Figures of flying birds, paired cocks
amidst floral sprays are worked on them. The usual ground is bright blue,
purple, green or red with areas patterned in tabby weave.

Sometimes the pallu is done more solidly with peacocks, baskets or bunches of
flowers or hunting scenes. Tanchoi silk sarees are also in dazzling floral, geometrical
and paisley designs. The weavers also use tone-on-tone colors as well as multiple
color combinations in jacquard weaving.

Tanchoi from Gujarat creates an extra weft layer to produce the effect of embossing
on silk. There are also combination of brocaded gold butis and borders in a
background of self patterned tanchoi. Some tanchoi sarees have a rich gold border
and two gold bands on the pallav. The more exclusive ones have gold checks with
lotus roundels all over which are known as butis.

AMRU BROCADES: In these brocades, the supplementary weft patterning is in silk

and not in zari. A traditional Amru brocade is the Tanchoi. The Tanchoi 'is a …
densely patterned, heavy fabric…with no floats on the reverse - the "unused" threads
are woven into the "foundation" at the back. Traditionally, the face of the fabric has a
satin weave ground (warp threads) with small patterns made by the weft threads
repeated over the entire surface' (Lynton: p. 56).
It is believed that in the last half of the nineteenth century, three Parsi brothers by the
name of Choi learnt the technique of weaving these brocades in China and
introduced it in Surat (Gujarat in western India). A descendant of the brothers
continued to makes Tanchoi in Bombay till the 1950s but was forced out of business
by the less expensive versions of the Varanasi weavers. [tan = three; tan Chhoi =
three Choi]
TANCHOI – Tanchoi was brought to India from China by the three (tan) Choi
brothers (hence the name) who settled in Surat initially to weave the fabric with a
different technique-a combination of Indian and Chinese style. The colors are subtle,
the drape is light and the intricate work with extra floats which are blended into the
fabric gives it an embroidered look based on the satin weaving style.
In Varanasi, where a large production of such saris/fabrics still flourishes, one
interpretation of the term is tan-chhai, evoking ‘a pattern which covers the field or
the body’.
Despite these ambiguities, the term refers to a medium weight fabric of satin silk,
woven with several continuous wefts that are carried together at the back but
individually pattern the face. Occasionally, select details of the pattern may also be
brocaded with discontinuous supplementary weft of silk.

Kanjeevaram Sarees
Kanjeevaram silk sarees are perhaps the most well known of Indian silk sarees.
They are the famous sarees of Tamil Nadu. They are world famous for their royal
look and rich feel.

The Kanjeevaram sari gets its name from the town it originated in - Kanchipuram, a
little temple town in Tamil Nadu. The Kanjeevaram sari is not only the choice for
weddings in South India and elsewhere but also worn at all other auspicious and
religious occasions. The Kanjeevaram sari is a tradition often passed on from mother
to daughter over several generations as an heirloom in much the same way they
might pass on jewellery or diamonds. A Kanjeevaram sari is made to last a lifetime.

Fabric in Kanjivaram Sari

The Kanjeevaram sari is made of a heavy silk called Kanjivaram silk, so durable that
it can be washed in water at home. It is one of the most finest and most popular
forms of silk in Tamilnadu. Kanjee silk is thicker than almost all other silks, and is
therefore more expensive. The heavier the silk, the better the quality. While there are
light weight Kanjee sarees made from Korean and Chinese silk, only mulberry silk
produced in Karnataka and few parts of Tamil Nadu, is right silk for the classic
Kanjeevaram sari.

The Process
The creation of a Kanjeevaram sari is no easy task. The process begins with the the
silk thread being twisted, then dyed and dried in the sun after which it is ready for the
weaver's loom. The weaver creates the border, body and pallu separately and then
interlocks them together in an impossible to detach joint. A weaver takes about 10-
12 days to weave a simple Kanjeevaram sari while decorative ones could take up to
20 days. Kanjeevarams are favoured for their durability.

Design
Kanjeevaram silk sarees are always of bold and bright colour contrasts, favoured by
almost every Indian woman. Some common designs woven on the saree are as
follows:

 Peacock and parrot are the most common motifs.

 Major attractions are the also beautiful tribal designs.
 Now focus is also on contemporary patterns.
 These are sarees of vivid colour contrasts with traditional patterns derived
from the Pallava temples, palaces and paintings.
 You will also find scenes from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and
Bhagwad Gita being incorporated into these works of art.
 A decorative saree contains Zari interwoven with the silk; the 'zari' work in the
border and the Pallu are generally woven in gold-dipped silver threads. The
more the Zari the more expensive you can expect the sari to be.
 The sarees can also be a plain silk saree.
 There can also be little gold motifs scattered all over its body.
 There are also sarees with gold squares or stripes.

Every sari is an artistic creation, a unique masterpiece and no two sarees are alike.