Gadwal is a small Andhra town. The saris woven in the looms of Gadwal are inspired by the Banarasi sarees of Varanasi.
The Gadwal saris have the body made of cotton, while the border and the pullu are made of tussar or mulberry silk. The cotton and silk fabrics are woven separately and then attached together. Rich traditional designs adorn the pallu and the border. The mango motif is usually used in the designs. Yellow, parrot- green, pink and beige are the colours used most often.
The traditional interlocking-weft technique is used in the weaving process. The embroidery on the Gadwal sari is made of gold or copper threads. The motifs are traditional with parrots, geometrical patterns, leaves being predominant.
Gadwal Sarees show strong design links to the silk border - Cotton body Sarees of the Andhra Pradesh in Mahaboob Nagar District. Gadwal Sarees were traditionally woven in the interlocked-weft technique, called Kupadam or kuttu. A pure silk version of this sari also existed, usually woven in bright contrasting colours such as canary yellow or lime green. It is a three shuttle Saree. Most Gadwal Sarees are woven with interlocked - weft borders of contrasting colours.
Fabric in Gadwal Saree: Gadwal saree is made in cotton. While the ground of the saree is cotton, there is a loosely attached silk border.
Colour: Traditional colours for these sarees are earth shades of browns, greys and off-whites. However, brighter shades have been introduced for the North Indian buyer.
The Process: The most distinctive aspect of the Gadwal saree (and the one most difficult to do) is where the silk pallu is joined to the cotton body - this is called 'doing the kechchu' - back-breaking work that involves long hours of work and is invariably done by women.
Design:
Copper or gold-dipped zari is generally used in these sarees.
The motifs of the murrugan (peacock) and the rudraksh are popular.
There can be mango design buttis all over body enriched by a dark contrast colour pallu having intricate geometric pattern zari design and rich zari work border too.
There can also be self stripes design in body with zari buttis all over enriched by a printed pattern work.
Floral designer zari buttis and zigzag pattern zari work all over body are also popular.
The silk cotton mix look in the Gadwal saree give the saree its unique charm and elegance.