Banarasi Brocade saree and its extravagant beauty

Banarasi sarees are often synonymous to the wedding sarees. These ever so gorgeous sarees from Varanasi speak volume of the extravagant splendors of the culturally enriched weaving patterns. When we come across the term ‘Banarasi’, our mind and heart go directly toward the wide array of ethnic sarees belonging to that region that Indian women love to adorn themselves with during the various traditional and religious occasions.

Banarasi: From Vedic Period to Moghul era

Varanasi is known for its beauty, religious values, ethnicity and also the large number of wholesale and retail shops selling Benarasi sarees. This beautiful city is also remarkably popular for being a brocade weaving centre. The weaving culture flourished extensively during the Vedic period and Moghul era. The art of weaving has always been a part of the life of people hailing from Banaras.

The evergreen beauty of the Banarasi Brocade sarees

There is a difference in normal weaving and brocade weaving. The textile patterns are crafted at the stage of weaving itself in case of brocade sarees. This is done mainly by transfixing the patterns in between the warp. While creating brocade designs in silver, gold or cotton threads, some sort of special threads are infused in between by means of skipping the passage of the regular weft. In case of normal weaving, the thread of the weft passes directly over and under the warp thread.

Benarasi brocade is created in a variety of forms and everything depends upon the types of design, threads and intricacy of the designs. Karchob is the heavily decorated brocade which has both gold and silver threads. Kamdani is the lightly decorated brocade work that is also popular.

Designs and motifs of Banarasi brocade

In Shikhar Garh designs, animal motifs like that of elephant, tigers, and lions are visible. In butidar design, beautiful floral motifs like chamelis, roses and lotuses can be seen. In beldar design, creeper motifs are used by introducing gold, silver and differently hued silk threads.

Giant power looms taking over the effort and work of the handloom Banarasi weavers

The local traders and gaddidars who are rich and powerful men in the society share an exploitative relation with the local weavers. The former prefer to enrich the market with cheap power loom Benarasi sarees that help them procure huge profits. The skill and labour of the traditional Benarasi weaver do not get proper value. In fact, most of the gaddidars have their individual power loom units in the city.

Preservation of the treasured Brocade weave

We at Indian Silk House Exclusives are making all possible efforts to preserve and encourage the treasured weave from getting extinct. Brocade Benarasi is one such beautiful weave which is in high demand and has been a part of our constant endeavour to conserve and make available for future generations.

By admin On December 30, 2018