JOIN USThey are synonymous with grandeur. The Banarasi saree is among the most coveted of silk sarees that are created in our country.
The city of Varanasi, considered one of the oldest and holiest cities in the world, is famous for many things — its highly venerated Kashi Vishwanatha and Annapurna temples, the ghats where the most ancient Hindu rituals take place, a great classical music tradition, and of course, the gorgeous eponymous silk sarees.
Rituals and temple-hopping done, we decided to visit the retailers and pick up a saree or two. Of course, only after checking out many more — hundreds more, actually! The Banarasi saree is exquisite and comes in a wide variety of makes. There is an astonishing range of colours, motifs, patterns, borders, textures and styles to choose from. And there are so many retailers — from tiny shops to large glitzy showrooms. You can also see weaving centres and meet weavers if you want. There are many weaving centres around the city and in and around the entire district of Varanasi.
The textile-centre reputation of Varanasi aka Banaras goes back several centuries. Our guide told us enthusiastically of how textiles were made here from the time of Prince Siddhartha who later became the Buddha. He told us of a story we later heard from a few other retailers, eager to supply information on the history.
We were told that Buddhist literature narrates how Siddhartha, in the process of renunciation of the world, takes off his royal wear — silk clothes which were woven in Kashi. A local told us that Jataka literature also mentions the same. Others told us how during the 14th century, the cotton-weaving tradition of this city turned to silk. And soon their speciality became brocade weaving. This fabulous brocade work is one of the reasons why it soon became the favoured choice of royalty and the wealthy people of India. Even today, a delicately-woven, splendid Banarasi saree is de rigeur in a bridal trousseau among the richest families. Such customised sarees are made by highly skilled weavers and often become family heirlooms.
Depending on the kind of weave and patterns, Banarasi sarees are categorised as tanchoi, jangla, Banaras tissue, Banaras organza, vaskat, jamdani, mixed jamdani, kora cutwork, satin border, butidar and so on. Whatever the name, the finest sarees among these are all dazzlingly beautiful products. And what is more, like so many of the other renowned saree-weaving traditions of India — like chanderi, uppada, mangalgiri, Kanchipuram for example — the weavers of Varanasi have also moved on with the times. So, apart from making sarees, they have also started creating dress materials, scarves, dupattas, stoles, shawls, mufflers and home-furnishing items. The products rich in pure zari and heavy brocade are the most expensive.
It was explained to us that brocade is a textile in which patterns are created in weaving by thrusting or transfixing the pattern-thread between the warp, resulting in that beautifully woven look. In zari brocade, weavers use gold or silver thread with gold polish and silver threads (these are threads drawn out of real gold or silver, as the case may be), which are transfixed either as special weft or warp to result in that rich, lustrous look — a glittering raised ornamentation. We were given a demo of how the zari threads are inserted and drawn out between warp at calculated intervals, resulting in the buti which follows a perfect line by line pattern.
We were especially taken in by the softness and sheen of the zari-rich Banarasi tissue sarees. The glazed look of these tissue sarees is characteristic and what gives it its USP. The beautiful texture of the tanchoi sarees took our breath away. Tanchoi resembles the jamawar shawls of Kashmir in its weave and paisley motifs. We noted that the prices of Banarasi sarees ranged from Rs 2,000 to Rs 90,000 (for the heavily brocaded ones). Some of the elaborate wedding-wear sarees commissioned by the customer according to their tastes would cost a few lakh rupees each.
Going around the textile centre, you will find what are called karkhanas where a master-weaver has several weavers called kaarigars working under him. There are also single-loom weavers. Whatever their status, they are all indeed a creative lot. The vast variety in colour, styles and designs has to be seen to be believed. There are geometrical patterns, animal and bird depictions like peacocks and parrots for example, bells, and the popular creepers and floral patterns, especially lotuses.
Within each of the varieties mentioned, there are different kinds. So, under butidar sarees, we were told that there are resham butti, jari butti, latiffa butti, jhummar butti, jhari butta, patti butti, baluchar butta....! Tanchoi also has several avatars — satin tanchoi, mushabbar, satin jari tanchoi, atlas or gilt... And Ganga-Jamuna sarees are those which use a pattern of light and dark shades, so called because the waters of these two rivers after which these are named, are said to be light and dark in their colours. It was exhausting just listening to the master-weavers reeling off the names and giving details. It all testifies to the creativity and innovative talent of the Banarasi saree weavers’ creativity.