PAITHANI SAREES

-JAYATI GUPTA -JHARNA SINGH -AAYUSHI JAIN -UDITA CHUNDAWAT

THE MAKING OF PAITHANI SAREES

PAITHANI SAREES
The Paithani saree is known the world over for its uniqueness. It is one of the most beautiful sarees in the world. Beautifully crafted, with anexquisite zari border, this saree is truly a poemin silk. Paithani sarees are the famous silk sarees of Maharashtra. It is a hand-woven sari of gorgeous colours, intricate design andpainstaking labour and treasured as a valuablepossession in every Maharashtrian family.

HISTORY

The Paithani derives its name from Paithan, the place where it has been produced for 2000 years. It is essentially a silk saree with an ornamented zari pallu and border.

The motifs used are mostly traditional vines and flowers, shapes of fruits and stylized forms of birds and the saree is of ten known by the motif that dominates its border or pallav Asavli (vine and flowers), Narli, Kuyri, Bangdi Mor(peacocks in the bangle) and so on.

 In the making of a Paithani saree pure silk is used along with the zari or goldthreads drawn from pure gold. It takes almost six months to one and a half years to weave an intricately brocaded Paithani saree. Paithan,is the home of the Paithanisaree. The art is as ancient as the river Godavari. The Maratha Peshwas had a special love for this Paithani fabric. The paithani is still most celebrated textile of Maharashtra.

Over the years the traditional method of weaving these sarees has remained unchanged. Women operate wooden looms and weave the sarees in vividblues, purples, and magentas, mixed with gold threads.

TYPES OF PAITHANI SAREES

Classification by Weaving
Kadiyal border sari (Warp and weft of the border are of the same color,body has different colors for warp and weft) Kad/Ekdhoti (Single shuttle used for weaving of weft and colors of warp yarn different from that of weft yarn)

Classification by Color
Kalichandrakala (Black sari with red border) Raghu (Parrot green sari) Shirodak (Pure white sari)

FABRIC USED IN PAITHANISAREES

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. Pure silk is used in the weaving of the body and pure gold and silver zari is used in the pallu and the border. The process of preparation of a Paithani saree can take a time period ranging from a month to years. It is because of the seasons that this saree is rather expensive.

Manufacturing Process

The art of fine weaving and the complex processes of bleaching and dyeing and the arts of hand and loom embroidery were perfected by the people of India long before conditions in the textile industry were modernized
.

Manufacturing processes Dyeing The kali/vakhar is brought from Bangalore which is a bundle of silk threads ultimately known as one thok. The raw material is dipped in hot water and diluted in khar (salt), for about 15 mins. The material is then squeezed by putting a rod in between the kali to remove the excess of impurities and again dipped in cold water for about 2-3 times. The dye bath is prepared in which the proportion varies according to the hues and shapes

The kali is dipped in the dye bath, removed, and dried completely. This is repeated 2 to 3 times. It is then washed in cold water to make it much smoother and lustrous.

Loom It takes approximately one day to set the silk threads on the loom. Weaving Paithani saris are silks in which there is no extra weft forming figures. The figuring weave was obtained by a plain tapestry technique. There are three techniques of weaving;

Split tapestry weave - the simplest weave where two weft threads are woven up to adjacent warp threads and then reversed. The warp threads are then cut and retied to a different color. Interlocking method - two wefts are interlocked with each other where the colour change is required. The figuring weft is made of a number of coloured threads, weaving plain with warp threads and interlocked on either side with the grounds weft threads are invariably gold threads which interlock with the figure weft threads, thus forming the figure. This system of interlocking weaves, known as kadiyal, is done so that there are no extra floats on the back of the motif thus making the design nearly reversible.

Dobe-tailing method - two threads go around the same warp, one above the other, creating a dobetailing or tooth-comb effect. Weaving could take between 18 to 24 months, depending upon the complexity of the design. Today there are many weavers who are working for the revival of this treasured weave.

PAITHANI SAREE TODAY

The Paithani saree has very few takers.Only those who are aware of its exquisiteness and its heritage prefer to go for one. The declining popularity of the Paithani saree can be attributed to its traditional look, the high price and the stiffness of the saree. The traditional motifs used in the saree give it a very orthodox look. Moreover, the fabric used in the saree gives it certain stiffness, due to which draping becomes a bit difficult for the wearer.

To overcome these drawbacks, it is necessary that more innovative motifs be used in Paithani sarees. It has also become necessary to use a different fabric in Weavers are trying to make certain changes in the traditional Paithani saree so as to bring down the cost of production and the price. It is to make the process of production more capital intensive rather than labor intensive.

GOVERNMENT INCENTIVES: Paithani is removed from Schedule of Additional Excise duty. VAT is Exempted. Exemption from Electricity Duty . Interest Subsidy to textile, hosiery and knitwear SSI units:Textile, hosiery and knitwear small-scale industries setting up in different parts of the State will also be eligible for Interest subsidy.

SWOT Analysis
Strengths: It is an Independent & Self-Reliant industry. Abundant Raw Material availability that helps industry to control costs. Availability of Low Cost and Skilled Manpower provides competitive advantage to industry. Availability of large varieties of cotton fibre.

Weakness: Industry is highly dependent on Cotton. Lack of Technological Development that affect the productivity and other activities in whole value chain. Unfavorable labor Laws. Higher Indirect Taxes.

OPPORTUNITIES:

Growth rate of Paithani Industry is 6-8% per annum. Large Potential Domestic and International Market. Emerging Retail Industry and Malls provide huge opportunities for the Apparel, Handicraft and other segments of the industry. Greater Investment and FDI opportunities are available.

THREATS:

Competition from other developing countries, especially China. Continuous Quality Improvement is need of the hour as there are different demand patterns all over the world. To balance the demand and supply. To make balance between price and quality.

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