Sarees

The traditional Uppada Saree from a small village called Uppada from the state of Andhra Pradesh, India.

Uppada, a beach town situated 20 kms from Kakinada is famous for wonderfully designed cotton sarees. At Peddapuram, 20 kms from Kakinada one can shop for exquisitely designed silk sarees produced by local artisans. Bandarulanka, 4 kms from Amalapuram is yet another well-known place for choicest silk and cotton sarees woven locally.

Guntur sarees from Andhra Pradesh are woven near the coast and are the softest and sweetest simple cotton village style sarees.

They feature fine threadwork borders, usually narrow, with pallus ranging from simple stripes and sparce bhutties to elaborate weft ikats. The fields are plain or check with or without bhutties.

They are soft but strong enough for the working women of India.

These are the perfect dance sarees as they are stable and less transparent than many South Cotton Sarees. Their timeless allure is comfortable for everyday wearing.

The Dharmavaram sarees from AP is famous for silk sarees all over the world. The sari is from the Dharamvaram village of Andhra Pradesh and is also known as Andhra’s Kanchipuram sari.

Venkatgiri sarees from Andhra Pradesh are a crisp and lightweight cloth, woven with a shiney finish yarn in very fine guage.

Venkatgiri Sarees blend the simplicity of cotton with the ornamental zari butas. Again, these Sarees are elegant with their unique charm.

The Venkatgiri saris with their bright colors resplendent with golden dots, leaves, parrots and simple geometrical designs are specialty of Venkatgiri in Nellore district of Andhra.

Although traditional Venkatgiri saree is woven with cotton threads, but you can also find silk Venkatgiri sari. This sari looks gorgeous with its silver zari border or brocade designs.

Narayanpet is a town in Andhra Pradesh that specializes in handloom saris.

The Narayanpet saris are noted for their broad borders and pallus or pullavs. These saris are made from cotton or cotton mingled with silk yarn. The main characteristic of the traditional Narayanpet sari is the alternate red and white bands of the pallu. The borders are generally colored maroon red or chocolate red with white or colored lines on them.

Mangalgiri saris of Andhra are simple saris with broad borders woven with gold or copper thread. The cotton body has small checks or stripes against a backdrop of bright color. The pallus don solid zari or small golden stripes.

These sarees have a heavy zari border and simple mono-striped pallu of solid or striped zari threads. The field colors are often very vibrant shot weaves or small checks that dance and glimmer in harmony with the rich zari. The cloth is super finely woven with a crisp finish. .

Kalamkari Sarees are hand made in villages in A.P. and are most associated with Machlipatnam on the coast.

The Literal translation of the word kalamkari is Pen Craft.

The intricate pictures are drawn with kalam or bamboo reed using Natural Dyes. Tree of life theme is very popular and comes in many forms. The cotton fabric gets its glossiness by immersing it for an hour in a mixture of myrabalam and milk. Contours and reasons are then drawn with a point in bamboo soaked in a mixture of jagri fermented and water; one by one these are applied, then the vegetable dyes. After each color, the Kalamkari is washed. Thus, each fabric can undergo up to four washings. Various effects are obtained by seeds, plants and crushed flowers

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.

Pochampalli, located near the capital city of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, is probably one of the most flourishing center of modern handloom industry and producing ikkat Sarees on a large scale. It is the place where threads and colours find their way into the hands of skillful weavers and meander into the market as beautiful sarees and dress material is the most typical weaving village in Nalgonda District of Andhra Pradesh.

Pochampally weave is popularly known as ikkat or tie and dye weave. The uniqueness lies in the transfer of design and colouring onto warp and weft threads first and then weave them together. The fabric is cotton, silk and sico - a mix of silk and cotton. Increasingly, the colours themselves are from natural sources and their blends.

Pasa-palli’. Pasa is the word for the chequer board and it is a very popular game almost exactly like ludo. Pasa palli is therefore the saree full of chequers – maybe they played on their sarees.

This element is usually found all over the saree and is not restricted to one area of the piece.

The "pasapalli" sari with its distinctive black-and-white squares is a replica of the chessboard.