Sarees

Jamdani Saris are the traditional saris of Bengal. The art of weaving Jamdani evolved in Dhaka in Bangladesh (former East Bengal of undivided Indian) and Dhakai Jamdanis was famous among the women of the royal families.

After the partition of India, the centers of Jamdani sari weaving shifted to the looms of West Bengal. The villages of Shantipur, Dhaniakhali, Begampur and Farasdanga are famous for cotton hand loom saris or tant saris.

The most well-known Bengal Silk sari, which carry its legendary name, is the Baluchari sari - a product of exquisite design and fabulous weaving technique. Produced in the town of Baluchar in Murshidabad district of West Bengal, Baluchari sarees are nation and world wide popular because of their artistic and unique design. 'Baluchari' is one of the most popular weaving techniques of Bengal.

These are about 200 year old. The sarees look similar to Banarasi sarees. There is only one difference between the two sarees, Baluchari sarees use only silk threads and Banarasi sarees do use zari threads. The borders of the sarees depict stories from Mahabharata and Ramayana. The field of the saree is covered with small butis and a beautiful floral design runs across the edges.

Woven out of fine silk and bearing elaborate golden embroidery either along the border or all over, the famous Varanasi sari made in the holy city of Banaras in Uttar Pradesh state since the ancient times is ranked among the finest traditional sarees of India. These saris are quite heavy due to its rich embroidery and are donned by Indian women only during special occasions like wedding, parties and festivities. Most ladies wear heavy gold jewellery to complement the Banarasi sari.

Depending upon the intricacy of designs and patterns, a sari can take anywhere from 15 days to a one month and sometimes up to six months to complete.

Kashmir has extensive mulberry cultivation and silkworms feeding on this produce resilient silk. Kashmiri silk may be thin, but it is strong nevertheless, as is chiffon. Very little silk is actually woven in Kashmir - Kashmiri silk is the term used silk produced in Kashmir. It is mainly used to make saris.

Silk Saris embroidered in Kashmir are famous for two reasons; first the perfection of the hand-embroidery work and second the traditional patterns of embroidery employed on such Saris.