The Traditional Textiles of India

Annibuta Sari of Andhra

These saris from the south Indian state of Andhra have extra gold thread in the weft and pallu, which is made of tissue. The specialty of the annibuta sari is that the entire saree is woven with temple motifs. A traditional pit-loom is used to make these sarees. It’s a traditional art form and can be mastered by continuous practice only to get perfect designs.

Brocades of Varanasi , Uttar Pradesh

Banarasi Brocades as the world knows it is called by the name kinkab in Varanasi. A high quality weaving is done using gold and silver threads. Silk Threads are also used as well. The most common motifs include scroll patterns and butidars designs. The other designs are Jewelry designs, birds, animals, flowers, creepers, paisley motifs. Hindu religious and Mughal motifs also influenced the brocade designs. When a Gold embellishment is done on a silver background it is called ganga-jamuna in the local language.The designs are first drawn on paper. The person who draws this is called naqshaband. The main weaver is assisted by a helper. This design is then woven on a small wooden frame to form a grid of warp and weft. The requisite number of warp threads and the extra weft threads are woven on the loom. The famous tissue sari of Varanasi is unbelievably delicate, combining the use of gold and silver metallic threads.

Chanderi Saris of Madhya Pradesh

In the heart of India beyond forests and valleys, is the famous weavers town of Chanderi in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh. Once Chanderi cottons were comparable to Dacca muslins. When the British introduced mill-made fabrics to complete with Indian handlooms the weavers of Chanderi created the present form of the Chanderi saris. They used a silk warp with a fine cotton weft without compromising on the intricate gold borders and jewel like buttis, and the weave continued to remain as delicate and exquisite as it was.Colour was introduced into Chanderi weaving about 50 years ago. Till then only white saris were woven, which were then washed in saffron to give them their characteristic golden hue and fragrance. Flowers were also used for dyeing these saris into soft pastel colours. Now the saris are available in a range of light and dark colours with and without the gold borders and buttis. Plain colours are also woven to be used as a base for printing, embroidery and other embellishments.

Cotton Zari Saris of Andhra

Simple and elegant cotton saris, either with broad borders on both sides or with a single decorative, heavily patterned pallu are woven in Andhra Pradesh. The distinguishing mark is the korvai where the weft threads do not enter the borders. Single-border saris require two shuttles and double-border saris require three shuttles. Country jacquard is used for designs on the borders.Gadwal and Kothakota weave fine cotton saris with rich gold borders and heavy panel-like pallus. Cotton saris with richly woven pallus and borders in gold with opulent designs are also made in places like Siddhipet and Armoor.Upada in Andhra Pradesh is famous for the jamdani technique. The saris are usually in cotton, silk, and a mixture of cotton and silk and the motifs woven are simple and traditional. These white and gold saris are particularly dramatic.

Cut-Work-Textiles of Uttar Pradesh

The cut work of Banaras is a cotton inlay in cotton developed for furnishings, especially drapes, where it helps cut down the glare of the mid-ay sun. Extremely popular with the urban consumer, the design repertoire covers geometric, floral, and paisley patterns. The technique is suitable to light and transparent fabrics and the motifs are formed with extra weft threads which hang loosely at the back. After weaving these threads are cut away.

Dharmavaram-Silk-Sari of Andhra Pradesh

Indian beauties are known for draping themselves in saris. Sari is the national dress for the women folk of India. Anantapur district in Andhra Pradesh is very well known for its silk saris. The beauty of dharmayaram sari speaks about the volume of hard work and the artistry done by the craftsmen. The borders of the sari is the highlight of this five yards of material because of the brilliance of its colours. Traditional designs of butis and dots are the motifs.

Gadwal-Saris of Andhra Pradesh

Gadwal in Andhra Pradesh is known for weaving saris in cotton weft, with richly brocaded gold borders and pallus with elaborate designs. These saris were originally woven for the royalty and the nobility. The borders and body of the sari are traditionally in dramatic colours. Now Gadwal is changing with the times and saris in silk and tassar are also being woven here.

Ganga-Jamuna-Saris of Maharashtra

The double-coloured Ganga-Jamuna saris are traditional Maharashtrian saris. The main characteristic of this sari is the plain weaving with solid colours on either side --- both sides of the sari can thus be worn. This sari is woven on double cloth principle with two shades of colour in the warp and weft.

Gharchola Craft of Gujarat

The gharchola is the traditional Hindu and Jain wedding sari and the numbers of squares in it is ritually important, being multiples of nine, 12, or 52. The making of the gharchola is a complicated and time-consuming process. A starched silk odhni or sari is fixed to a large wooden frame using nails. The sari/odhini, coloured red or green, is divided into a network of squares by rows of white tie-dyed spots or woven bands of zari. Motifs within each compartment range from elephants, parrots, and flowers to dancing girls.

Hand Block Printing of Balotra, Rajasthan

The traditional block-printing running in parallel lines technique of Ajrakh has attained a peak of excellence at Balotra. Although a desert climate but good water is one of the main reasons which imparts good colors which is so important for hand-block printing. The speciality of the block printing of Balotra is that it is done on both sides of the cloth. This is very diffult technique because there should not be any imbalance in the design-transfer from the block to the cloth. The reverse side hand block printing is done simultenously even when the other side of the design print is wet. The hand-block printed fabric from Balotra is therefore very exclusive and relatively expensive.

Ikat/Bandha of Orissa

Ikat or bandha of Orissa has gloriously woven, blurred, and gem-coloured motifs in silk and cotton. The dominant motifs in this craft include animals and birds, with the traditional designs being fish and conch shell as well as bolmala, chandankora, and sachipar. As the design-type is single ikat, the designs on the material are blurred; however, this trace-design has a beauty all its own.The intricate process involves tie and dye --- knotting sections of the yarn before dipping them in colours one at a time, and finally weaving them to produce motifs in multi-hued tones. While Sambalpur is famous for its double-ikat textiles, Sonepur is known for its gold embroidered ones.

Jamdani Weaving of Uttar Pradesh

The main centres of Jamdani weaving in Uttar Pradesh are Tanda (Fyzabad district) and Banaras. Jamdanis are very thinly textured muslins(white thin cloth) with floral, bird and animal motifswhich are woven on the loom. The warp is unbleached gray yarn and the motifs are woven with bleached white yarn. At banaras the craftspersons use gold thread in addition to the bleached and unbleached white threads. The finest Banaras muslins are called Kasivastras. Tanda fabrics are exceptionally frail and only white yarn is used for the weaving. The threads used for decoration are not cut at the edges, but are left hanging in the spool and then introduced into the figured pick.The craftspersons today also follow the traditional jamdani pit looms to form traditional designs. The weaving done is with two threads of yarn of the same count as the background are used to weave the floral motifs which are done by means of extra spools, The kind of weaving done is known as twill-tapestry, which is same as embroidery where the bamboo-spindle takes the place of the needle. Jamdanis are very suitable for saris, caps and angarkhis.. The motifs of flowers used for the weaving are chameli, pomera, genda, mogra, kamana, , juhi, khas ishqapench, harsingar and phulbanjari. Aribel, Kangura, Jaldar, Saro, Marava, Haravver, Lahar, Purmatan, Kharibel are few motifs which are very regularly used in jamdani weaving of Uttarpradesh.

Kanchipuram-Saris of Tamil Nadu

Kanchipuram is the famous weaving centre in Tamil Nadu. The weaving community in Kanchipuram is called Salgars (from the Sanskrit word, salika meaning weaver), and they claim descent from Sage Markanda, the weaver of the gods. Earlier the design-jacquards were made from round lamp-wicks but now mechanised hooks and jacquard boxes are used. The designs on the body of the sari are woven with gold thread and the motifs range from figures to temple gopuras (towers) along the border. One of the traditions of the Kanchipuram saris is the contrasting borders.Two weavers work on three shuttles to make the sari; the pallu is also done separately, especially if it is of another shade. The meeting of the body of the sari with the border is characterised by a zigzag design, the vanki design, which can also be found all over the body. Typical motifs used in these saris are the sun, moon, chariots, swans, peacocks, parrots, lions, coins, mangoes and leaves. Patterns are also formed by lines and squares and when the jasmine motif is found either inside a square or scattered all over, it is called mallinaggu. The Thandavalam motif has parallel-line motifs running all over the body of the sari. In the pattu motif, the pallu and the border alone have floral motifs independently woven on them. Other motifs used are creepers, peacocks and the rudraksh or red-dented seed pattern on the body and end-borders of the sari.These saris are usually made in brilliant reds, saffron, orange, emerald, henna green, maroon, peacock blue and ochre with bright contrasting borders. These days silver is being used in addition to gold. Weavers also make tissue saris, using only gold or silver metal threads. This tradition of silk sari weaving at Kanchipuram arose out of temple-traditions with the famous Kamakshi temple situated there. Upper-caste families wore only silk and weddings and festivals (Deepavali, Pongal, etc) were an occasion for the purchase of many silk saris.

Kantha Embroidery of West Bengal

The Kantha Embroidery is the predominantly the most popular form of embroidery practised by the rural women. The traditional form of Kantha embroidery was done the soft dhotis and saris. The thread for this craft was drawn out of the borders of the used cloth. It is a simple running stitch made on the edges. When five to six layers of the cloth were embroidered together it formed a quilt. Fewer layers of the cloth is used to make clothes for other purposes. The outer layers of the cloth comprises of white or light colored clothes which made the embroidery perceptible. Depending on the use of the finished product they were known as Lepkantha, Sujni Kantha etc. The mebroidered cloth is used as stoles for women and shawls. The clothes also find use as covers for mirrors, boxes, pillows etc. The entire cloth is covered with running stitches and usually has beautiful folk motifs, floral motifs, animal and birds figures and geometrical shapes. Themes from day to day activities are also a common subject for the embroidery. Such stitches on the cloth give it a slight wrinkled wavy effect. The contemporary Kantha is not necessarily done on old multiple layered saris or dhotis. It can also be seen on the present day garments like the sarees, dupatta, shirts for men and women, bedding and other furnishing fabrics. For these fabrics and dresses the base fabric used is cotton and silk.

Karvatkati Saris of Maharashtra

The Vidarbha region of Maharashtra is the place of origin of the karvat kati (saw-edged) sari, so named after the border design which resembles saw-teeth. This sari is generally used during ritual functions and is woven on a pit-loom using three fly shuttles with silk, tussar, and cotton yarns of various counts.

Kasuti Embroidery of Karnataka

Kasuti embroidery is a special craft practised mainly in Uttara Kanara district or North Kanara district. Its secret lies in the fact that it can be done only by counting the threads of the weft and the warp. There is no possibility of tracing or implanting the design prematurely as outlines. With considerable dexterity, an ordinary sewing needle is used to create a variety of designs with coloured threads on the cloth. The embroidery is done only by women. The two kinds of stitching are gavanti (line or double running stitch) and murgi (zig-zag lines done with a darning stitch). The two sides are neat and identical. Negi is the ordinary running stitch used in large designs, creating a woven design effect. Menthi is a cross-stitch used for architectural patterns.This embroidery is done mainly on handloom irkal saris.The motifs here range from architectural designs to a cradle and from an elephant to a squirrel. The main motifs are religious and are found to be larger near the pall; as they move downwards in a sari the motifs get smaller and smaller. Vertical, horizontal, and diagonal stitches are used. The motifs have to be completed as the stitching line comes back to fill in the blank spaces.Coorg has its own embroidery which is like Kasuti. In this the cross-stitch and the line or double running stitches are combined. The motifs are religious or taken from everyday life.

Khan Textiles of Maharashtra

Khan fabric is a woven butidar textile piece, originally made in 30 inches widths. It was usually used for making cholis and blouses. It is now woven using fly shuttles in a pit-loom with a lattice dobby attachment taking 60/40 counts coloured warp and weft yarns. The finished products include saris, scarfs, and dress materials.

Kodali-Karupper-Saris of Tamil Nadu

The first Karpur sari was exhibited in the Vishwakarma Exhibition inLondon and was defined a work of art and genius. Village of Kolli Karpur is famous for its Kodalikareppur /Karpur saris, and furnishings.The Karpur sari is a mixture of hand painting, block printing and brocade weaving. The rareness of the Karpur sari deceit in its perfect combination of these three distinct and different techniques. Its district characteristic is that the motif has an uncolored outline, which reflects the base fabric colour. In difference the residual area is filled by either two or three colours like red, yellow blue or black. To obtain this uncoloured outline the fabric is resisted with a wax line. On a sari the colours are both painted or printed with blocks.The pallu is woven with a cotton weft. The weaving of the fabric is shared with zari in the Jamdani method on the main body and the border. Zari weft can be traced in the motifs like the star in the border and tilakam in the body of the sari.

Kora Cotton Saris of Tamil Nadu

Saris of very fine cotton are woven widely in Coimbatore district. The kora cotton sari has a kora silk warp and a cotton weft yarn. The sari has a self-designed jacquard all over.

Kornadu Saris of Karnataka

These saris are a mix of cotton and silk and are woven with a blue cotton yarn and a silk yarn in several colours other than blue. The border motifs are varied and the body of the sari has checked or striped patterns.

Kota Doria Saris of Rajasthan

Kota, a small district situated in southeast of Rajasthan is very famous for its delicate kota doria saris, These dorias are fine woven fabrics containing a special type of check pattern in the weave itself, locally called khat. These saris are very delicate, lightweight and porous and this makes them favorable towards surface ornamentation techniques like batik tie-and-dye, chiknar work, hand-block printing, embroidery and appliqué work.Buy Kota Doria Saree In Real Zari Border at Whole sale prices.You can even Buy Kota Doria in yardage for suits and other dress materials in 11 mts and 13 mts.You can even custom order kota doria sarres to be printed in vegetable dyes and other hand block prints.

Kurainadu & Kodambakkam Saris of Tamil Nadu

Kurainadu and Kodambakkam saris are the blend of cotton and silk mixture. These saris are complimented with the beautiful geometric and floral designs. Some typical motifs are bells, toe ring armlet, rose-water pot, big seed and flowers. A variety of checks are also used as designs.

Maheshwari Saris of Madhya Pradesh

The motifs of maheshwari saris have been derived from the temple carving and the carving of the palace built by Rani Ahilyabai Holkar. Rani lived near the banks of Narmada.Maheshwari saris are woven by men as well as women folks. The weaving done is intricate with geometric designs with no motifs on the body of the saris. Weaving is done with a fine silk warp and cotton weft. Lines play a vital role as vertical stripes, and large checks are woven to shape up the pattern.

Nagpur Saris of Maharashtra

These saris are woven on pit-looms mainly with pure cotton yarn.The uniqueness of the Nagpur saris are the designs that are woven with the Nagpuri wooden dobby. Designs are woven in stripes and checks with fly shuttles, complimenting the finely textured body with richly attractive borders.

Narayanpet Silk Saris of Andhra

Various types of colourful silk saris, with intricate brocade work in silk and zari, are woven at Narayanpet. As the silk threads are not of a very high count, the saris are both light-weight and festive.

Paithani Saris of Maharashtra

A Blend of silk with a gold weave is the beauty of Paithani saris. Women weave the saris on a wooden loom skillfully mixing colours of blues, magentas and purples interspersed with gold threads. Asavali (vine and flowers), Narli (coconut design) and petal design are the few traditional motifs. Due to the closeness of Paithan to the famous Ajanta caves, there are motifs of Buddha weaved standing or in the sitting posture and motifs of gold coin are also recorded in paithani weaves. In the earlier days zari work, mixing intricately designed gold with copper threads was done to provide strength but these days zari work is done in beautiful designs on the pallu and border and highlight the sari. The more intricate and heavy the zari work is; more is the price of the sari. Sometimes to make the sari affordable, cotton and other blends of fabric are used as a substitute.

Patola Silks of Gujarat

Patola silk of Gujarat displays an exclusive and complicated craftsmanship. Patola silk fabric is one of most complex textile-weaving techniques in the world. The warp as well as weft threads are coupled and dyed into an complicated pattern, and while weaving the craftsperson has to ensure that the warp and weft threads intersect perfectly to produce the preset pattern. Patan in north Gujarat is the most famous centre for weaving. Figures of parrot and elephant are very popular, while geometrical and floral motifs are also woven.

Poornakumbham Cotton Saris of Tamil Nadu

Sari is the national dress of India. Poornakumbham saris are the fine cotton textured saris which are woven with rudraksha motifs highlighted with pearls or neuththu and cross lines.

Silk Weaving of Assam

Assam is the home of several types of silks, the most prominent and prestigious being muga, the golden silk found exclusively in this state. Muga apart, there is pat and eri or endi, the latter being used in anufacture of warm clothes for winter. The silk commonly found in Assam is non-mulberry silk. Pat which is mulberry silk is found in small quantities. Endi is yellowish in colour and is found in rough and smooth varieties; it derives its name from the castor leaves on which the worm feeds. This is woven, into shawls and clothing for the winter.There are two types of muga silk, depending on the leaves the worms feed upon: champa adakari and mejamkari. Muga silk has a golden sheen and is in high demand all over India for embroidery purposes. It grows more lustrous with each wash. This was used, together with zari, to weave fabrics for royalty. Today, the zari has been replaced by multicoloured cotton threads. The designs woven into these fabrics are drawn from the flora of Assam and, as in other parts of India, are symbolic of the different tribes and ethnic groups of the area.The main centre in Assam for silk-weaving is Sualkuchi. The texture is delicate, with dainty designs and natural colours. The main dress of the women here is the lungi called mekhela. This is usually plain but sometimes has motifs all over its body and can have elaborately designed ends. The other items of clothing include the chaddar, which goes over the shoulder, and the riha, which is tied to the waist. The motifs are usually flowers, birds, animals, leaves, and geometrical designs. One speciality of this region is the bamboo weft designs, eight in number, which are used as variations in weaving patterns.

Tie & Die/Lehriya/Bandhini of Rajasthan

Tie and die is a multi colored craft of Rajasthan. A large number of colours are used because once the base colour is tied in, a lot of colours can be applied on to the fabric at different stages and then tied and detached gradually. The motifs that are used are birds, leaves, animals, creepers, and human figures in dance poses.Designs are known by their names such as mountain design, dol design and kite design. Dots are used to make up the designs. A different colour on either side is also practiced by the craftsmen. Lehariya has long lines in a variety of colours found all over the body of the sari or dress material. Turbans are also a good outcome. The lehariya cloths have their own names depending on the designs. Bandhanis are related to festivals, seasons and rituals for which there are particular patterns and colours.

Tie & Dye/Bandhej of Gujarat

Art of tie and die is popularly known as Bandhej in the Gujarat region. Jamnagar, Anjar, and Bhuj are the main centres where artists work traditionally on bandhej.First step towards the procedure is the dipping of cloth into a colour after which the cloth is folded to a quarter of its size. The designs are created with the combination of small dots and circles. The borders are broad and are worked both in matching and contrasting colours.The tying of the border and the release of the colour is called sevo bandhavo. The colouring method involves the lightest shade being worked in first order , after which this is tied and a darker colour is introduced. An unlimited number of colour schemes are used. The quality of the bandhej can be judged by the size of the dots: the smaller and closer to the size of a pinhead the dots are, the finer is the quality of the bandhej. Red, , maroon , yellow, and golden, black are the common shades.

Tie & Dye/Bandhini of Madhya Pradesh

Tarapur and Umedpura are the main centres where as Bhairongarh is a smaller centre. Pillya is a woman's upper garment made in the bandani style and is a specialty of Jawad. Another specialty of Jawad is the parandas or the colourful long hair strings.Procedure of coloring is the same as of other states. The popular motifs include the dana pattern that is created by chains of grain on the body of the fabric with detailed designs on the borders and pallu. squares dots, flower dots, birds and flowers are the common and popular motifs.

Tie & Dye/Chungadi of Madurai, Tamil Nadu

The method of tie and dye is locally known as Chungidi and Madurai is the key place in Tamilnadu. The colours used are red, Purple, blue and black. The specialty here is the kolam or rangoli patterns. The kolams are all geometric in nature and the borders of the sari are in contrasting colours.

Tie & Dye/Telia Rumal/Ikat of Andhra

Ikats and brocade silks in Andhra Pradesh are skillfully woven at home under the supervision of master weavers. The wages at the end of the day depends on the quality and richness of the silks woven and the weaver who makes plain silks does not earn much. Pochampalli in Nalgonda district and Chirala in Guntur district are famous for their work in tie-and-dye weaving. This craft involves a detailed and sophisticated process where the warp and the weft are tied and dyed according to a predetermined design. Both cotton and silk fabrics are prepared using this process. A unique item called telia rumal (literally oily handkerchief) is made at Pochampalli which involves dipping the yarn into an oily solution before weaving. The patola or ikat saris of Pochampalli are generally centered on geometrical designs. A large variety of cotton lungis or cotton sarongs (draped around the waist ) for men are also prepared using this technique.

Tribhuvanam Silk Saris of Tamil Nadu

Silk yarn is made available through the government agencies and the weavers of the Thribuvanam silk saris are highly skilled. Saris are woven, with a special box fixed above the loom, in natural floral and animal designs.

Venkatagiri Saris of Andhra

Venkatagiri saris are woven with locally made jalas and are among the best examples of the jacquard weave. The weaving is fine and the body of the sari is in sheer cotton, ornamented with gold motifs like dots, coins, leaves, parrots, or simple geometric designs.