Kota sarees are popular among women all over the country. But the truth is that only a few of the Kota sarees sold across the country are original. And the these original ones come from places called Kaithun and Roteda near Kota in Rajasthan.
Kota in Rajasthan is usually identified with Kishore Sagar and Jagmandir palace. The history of Kota sarees is associated with a queen for whom this palace was built. When Kota’s summer heat became unbearable for her, Maharao Kishore Singh built the Jagmandir, designed in such a way as to protect her from the heat. But when even that proved to be insufficient, the weavers were summoned to produce cloths that will save her from the heat. These cloths have less number of ‘dhaagas’ in both the warp and the weft.
Another tale goes that the Maharao, while on a battle trip down south for the Mughal kings, was highly impressed by Mysore’s weaves and brought back some master-weavers to make those intricate sarees for his kingdom. These sarees are still called Masuria. Some people believe that Masuria refers to the small checks, about the size of a lentil seed (ie, masur), that are the most common motif in Kota-Doriya cloths.
One can come across many varieties of Kota-Doriya sarees at the famous Bheru Gali in Rampura Kota and many other shops elsewhere. These shops are probably the outcome of the commercial power looms in Benares, Surat and many other cities. The genuine Kota sarees are still made manually in Kaithun and Roteda near Kota. The raw materials – cotton and silk – are sourced from Coimbatore and Karnataka. The gold thread or zari comes from Surat.
These places have around 1,250 looms – each one producing no more than five sarees a month. Master-weaver and businessman Asghar Ali from Kaithun says, “Roteda has been spinning white doriya sarees for the buyers at Kaithun and has ventured into other designs as well.”
The saree’s weft is woven using a reel mounted on a thin frame that is flung from side to side between the raised warp. Pedals set in a pit below the loom are used to raise the warp for this ‘shuttle’ to glide through. The warp is also prepared by a wonderful, even if slow, process that requires two individuals to walk round and round a long framework of sticks on which the fibre is stretched. The tools of a doriya weaver are indeed magical as the weaving lies entirely on the craftsmanship.
Traditionally, ‘Kota-Doriya’ (doriya means thread) sarees were always white in order to beat the heat but are now available in five different shades of white – sea foam, jasmine, conch shell, moon and cloud. Apart from that, other colours are also used to make these cloths. A full-fledged Kota-Doriya shop is also functional here. Thanks to the initiatives by the state government , Doriya is now contemporary and a hot favourite among fashionistas.
