Peacocks, parrots and paithani

Paithani’s rich history, dating back to 200 BC, is as enthralling as its intricate tapestry weave.

The Paithani saree is said to have hailed from the royal dynasties of the medieval town of Paithan near Aurangabad. Named after the town, the saree is believed to have been originally made with the finest silk threads from China and pure zari that was spun locally.

Within its folds is an affluent history and years of unstinted opulence. Using the refined craft of Indian handloom, every piece typifies a luxurious spread of motifs with liberal use of gold, as well as floral and bird-inspired motifs. “Did you know that our second century BC trade exchange records speak of Paithani silk being bartered for Roman wine and olive oil? Artisans of ancient Supratishthapuram city, presently known as Paithan, were gifted with this skill. Historians have noted that fine Paithani saris with delicate gold and silver threadwork were sold in Greece in exchange for gold between 200 and 400 BC,” says weaver Ram Manohar who lives at Aurangabad in Maharashtra.

Hailing from a family of silk weavers who preserve old records of ‘weaved Paithani material albums’ as models to refer to, Manohar says, “The floral and bird-inspired motifs that are signature to Paithani are now crafted from homegrown silk threads and zari. To create a genuine Paithani, it takes 500 grams of silk threads and 250 gms of zari.”

The modern versions of the saree from Paithan and Yeol in Maharashtra are crafted from homegrown silk threads from Bengaluru, while the zari is sourced from Surat, according to 47-year-old Aseefa Khan from Yeol, who has been perfecting her Paithani skills on the loom for the past 30 years.

The sarees are named after the exquisite motifs on them — tota-myna (parrot and mynah); asawalli (flower and vine); narli (coconut); pejli (leaf) panja (flying peacock), zardari and muniya (parrot in zari) on a pure silk cloth base. The creation of a Paithani saree can take anything between six months to two years, depending on the intricacy of the motif and design with three major types of weaving — the split tapestry weave, interlocking method, and dove-tailing method.

“Traders bring the raw material for us, and we do the weaving as we grew up learning the craft,” she says, adding that even an ordinary Paithani silk with less work in six yards, costing Rs 25,000, will weigh 700 grams. “That’s the kind of gold work that goes into it, while the nine-yard versions use more raw material and can weigh up to a kilogram,” says Aseefa. Yeola, with its near-3000 Paithani weaver looms, is a sleepy town in the Nashik District of Maharashtra. According to weaver Shirish Patil, the town was founded in the late 17th century by Raghujibaba Patil who moved here with families of master weavers. Amongst the generous spread of Havelis there, Shrinivas Soni, a sixth-generation weaver with ancestral roots in Rajasthan, says his Haveli shop is one of the oldest and most well-known. “With the film ‘Devdas’ we were talked about much more as we supplied Paithani sarees to Madhuri Dixit and Aishwarya Rai,” says Soni.

Strong influences and re-creations

Today it’s common to see zari replaced with gold threads too in Paithani work. Says Bharathy Harish, who runs a revival boutique, “If you look at the history of Paithani, there is a strong influence of both the Peshwa and the Moghul traditions.

Skilled artisans can make the motifs look so natural that it looks as if leaves have just been plucked from trees or flowers are actually blooming on silk!” Bharathy has had customers asking for a landscape on Paithani. “In a Chanderi saree, for example, the largest is an 8 x 8-inch pattern which gets repeated. But in a tapestry weave of a Paithani, the entire five-and-half metres can have a landscape weave! We have got Manasarovar, mountains and lakes done and tapestry weave allows you to weave like a painting!” she says.

The 2,000-year-old weave is done with the same technique as the Persian rug, says Arati Baandal who runs a designer label that works to promote Paithani. “Traditionally, a Paithani is in purple, yellow, red, pink and bottle-green. We are creating it in blue, mauve, grey and pastels. We are also adding checks and fusion borders.”A Paithani weave is like gara embroidery with no threads hanging and doesn’t get entangled with accessories. With both sides of a Paithani looking exactly the same, a true saree is thus distinguished from the plethora of imitations made on a power loom. The price of a Paithani saree varies from Rs 6,000 to Rs 7 lakh, depending on the artistry and the quantity of gold, zari and silver threads used in it.

Loom Chronicles is an occasional series on India’s diverse handlooms, their signature elements and the history hidden within their folds.